Syracuse basketball 2023 priority recruiting target Mike Williams from Maryland plans to announce his college choice later this afternoon. The Orange is one of six finalists for the 6-foot-4 Williams, although another suitor is getting some buzz on a recruiting Web site.
As of Sunday morning when I wrote this column, LSU out of the Southeastern Conference had received an analyst prediction in the recruitment of the top-100 Williams on the 247Sports Web site.
Now, these sorts of projections aren’t always correct, although the recruiting analyst/scout who has logged one for Williams, Colby Giacubeno, is really good at this stuff. Per the 247Sports Web site, Giacubeno is 45/45 in his crystal-ball predictions for the 2023 cycle, and he’s also 76/76 all-time in these forecasts. Yikes. That’s not a good sign for the ‘Cuse in Williams’ recruitment.
In making a prediction in the direction of LSU for Williams, Giacubeno has assigned a medium confidence level.
Syracuse basketball will soon know whether it has prevailed for 2023 four-star guard Mike Williams.
Things have felt relatively quiet and tough to decipher in Williams’ recruiting process. I haven’t seen any other analyst projections for him on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com or the On3 Web site, at least not as of early Sunday morning.
More predictions could certainly come in later. Williams is expected to announce his college choice on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 3 pm EST on the 247Sports YouTube channel, 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein recently said.
For what it’s worth, under Williams’ bio on the On3 Web site, the recruiting prediction machine gives Syracuse basketball a slight lead, but it’s not an advantage that really gives me any sort of confidence that the ‘Cuse is going to win out here.
In late July, Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to Williams, who has earned around 20 offers throughout his recruiting process. Williams took recent official visits to the Hill, Clemson, DePaul, Wake Forest and, most recently, LSU. He also took an unofficial visit to VCU not too long ago.
Those six schools represent his finalists, according to Finkelstein. A top-100 national prospect per 247Sports, Williams is a senior at the Bishop Walsh School in Cumberland, Md.
He caught the attention of many recruiting analysts, scouts and college coaches over the summer, when Williams was a key player in helping lead the Baltimore-based Team Thrill to the 17U division title in the Under Armour Association league.
Recently, Rivals.com national analyst Rob Cassidy said that the Orange was “very much alive” for Williams, while On3 national analyst Jamie Shaw recently said that he thought the two possible “favorites” for Williams could be LSU and Clemson.
Syracuse basketball coaches have offered more than 20 guys in the 2023 class, and the ‘Cuse is still searching for its first commitment in this cycle. We’ll find out later today whether Mike Williams will become the first 2023 commit for the Orange.