One of the most athletic junior college talents in the country has had to overcome a lot of diversity for himself. After academic issues and a troubled past, the gifted 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Kwintin Williams has seriously improved his academic resume, and is now on pace to graduate. As a result, many college programs are now in pursuit of Williams. He will take his first official recruiting visit this weekend to a program in the Big-West Conference.
On Friday morning, Williams will take a flight to California for an official recruiting visit to Cal State Northridge. Williams took an unofficial recruiting visit to the program earlier this year on his own, but he will now take a true recruiting visit.
Head coach Reggie Theus and his staff will look to reel in the athletic forward. Williams advised me that he is also receiving strong interest from Texas Christian (TCU), Washington State, UNLV, Arizona State, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Memphis, Minnesota, Portland State and Tennessee State currently. He plans to set up and take several more official recruiting visits after his visit this weekend.
"I have really worked hard to get into this position," said Williams. "I can't make a mistake, so I want to give myself options."
After a strong freshman season for Pima head coach Brian Peabody, Williams was prepared to have a big sophomore campaign. But after he decided to transfer junior college programs last summer and land at Arizona Western Junior College in Yuma, AZ, Williams learned that he would have to sit his sophomore year due to academic troubles. He also had questionable relationships with both college programs, which caused many schools to back off him throughout the year.
"I want to prove everyone wrong about me," said Williams. "I am very intense on the court, and that can rub people the wrong way. I made some mistakes in the past, but people will see that I work super hard and I am on a mission."
Williams has taken a large load of classes thsi year in an effort to raise his overall Core GPA, and also to pick up enough credit hours to graduate with his Associate of Arts (AA) Degree. He recently cleared the NCAA Clearinghouse, and now plans to graduate after one summer session - a tremendous job done by Williams who once had lower than a 2.0 CUM GPA, but now has raised his overall CUM GPA to a 2.8.
Williams had a great showing last summer in a couple different junior college events, but it was his performance last summer in Jerry Mullen's JUCO Showcase in Kansas City, during the busy recruiting month of July that exposed his talent to many division-I college coaches. In the event, according to Jerry Mullen, the nation's top junior college scout for the past 30 years, Williams was one of the top overall prospects in the event.
A native of Alaska, Williams was the top returning junior college prospect in Arizona's ACCAC junior college conference this season, before he was forced to do an academic redshirt.
"It was a very tough year for me," said Williams. "Not playing this season was rough, but I learned a lot about myself and I matured a lot. I had to do everything myself, but I managed. It will make it that much sweeter."
Williams also advised me that he is in no rush to make a college decision, but he is just focused on making the right decision for himself.
"It is tough, because I am so hungry to find a good fit," said Williams. "I am sure I will know, when it is right."
We will continue to follow the college recruitment of Williams closely, and bring you any recruiting updates as they continue to develop.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: Williams is a very strong and athletic 4-man that also possesses a good ability to step outside and handle and shoot the basketball, although he is still at his best around the painted area where he is able to finish strong at the rim with power dunks and strong finishes. Williams is a high-riser and is among the best overall athletes in America's 2017 junior college class. A 4-man, Williams should develop into a 3/4 man over time with continued hard work on his perimeter skills. A solid shooter, Williams is a good mid-range player and still needs to add more consistency to his long range jump shot to open up his full game. He is a solid ball handler. OK passer that sees the floor - a developing part of his game. Williams is an active and strong rebounder that is quick off his feet, and is a good finisher that gets to the free-throw line quite often. He runs the floor hard. A good low post defender, and solid defensively on the perimeter, but needs to focus more on this area of his game. Good shotblocker. One of the top juco prospects in the West for 2017.
