Syracuse Basketball: 5-star Benny Williams huge leap in national rankings

Syracuse basketball 2021 five-star commit Benny Williams is done with high school and on the Hill for summer work-outs, although he recently picked up a strong national honor for his senior-year performance.

SI All-American has published its final SI99 national ratings for the 2021 recruiting cycle, and the 6-foot-8 Williams checks in at No. 28 overall.

Previously, the elite forward was No. 50 in these national rankings, according to SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister, so Williams ended up climbing a massive 22 placements.

As far as 2021 players who are headed to Atlantic Coast Conference teams for the upcoming campaign, only four prospects were above Williams. Three of those guys are committed to blue-blood school Duke, and the fourth will suit up for Florida State, which has proven one of the league’s best squads in recent years.

Syracuse basketball commit Benny Williams is highly rated by many recruiting services.

Williams played high-school ball in the Washington, D.C., area before suiting up for the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., for his senior season.

He is one of the highest-rated recruits for the Orange in recent program memory. Williams was selected for both the 2021 Jordan Brand Classic and the 2021 Allen Iverson Roundball Classic.

Additionally, Spalding honored Williams, who is a native of Bowie, Md., in the honorable-mention category of its All-American teams.

When Rivals.com recently unveiled its final national rankings for the 2021 class, Williams got rated as five stars and ranked inside the top 20, at No. 18 overall.

ESPN, 247Sports and the 247Sports Composite all have arranged Williams as four stars, although he was on the cusp of five stars in several instances.

The industry-generated 247Sports Composite has Williams at No. 29 across the country within his cycle, followed by No. 30 at ESPN and No. 38 via 247Sports.

Therefore, it’s safe to say that Williams is universally deemed a top-40 prospect in the 2021 class, with some recruiting services putting him in the top 20 or top 30. That’s pretty good, if you ask me.

He’s listed as either a small forward or a power forward, depending on the recruiting Web site. Either way, Williams is ranked in the top 10 at his position.

Of course, now what matters the most is how he fares in Central New York. I can’t wait to see him officially don an Orange uniform in the near future.