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2015 SVSM G Josh Williams commits to Akron


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Is this the same Josh (Joshua) Williams who's been playing so well for Barberton HS? Is he transferring to SVSM? The Josh Williams from Barberton is a highly rated class of 2015 combo guard who has had interest from Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Miami among others in addition to his offer from UA. Along with being an outstanding basketball player, he also has a 3.9 GPA, according to Michael Beaven.

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This is an EPIC get. Josh Williams is an absolutely fantastic player who was named 2nd-Team All-Ohio D-1&2 for Barberton last year as only a sophomore.

Other than Zeke, Josh will likely be the highest rated player ever landed by the Zips.

Btw, with JW transferring to St.V/M, the Irish are going to be ridiculous next year.

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Is this the same Josh (Joshua) Williams who's been playing so well for Barberton HS? Is he transferring to SVSM? The Josh Williams from Barberton is a highly rated class of 2015 combo guard who has had interest from Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Miami among others in addition to his offer from UA. Along with being an outstanding basketball player, he also has a 3.9 GPA, according to Michael Beaven.

That's him.

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His commitment to Akron is all the more remarkable when you have average local HS sports fans like this guy in the linked thread that are completely baffled that a player would choose to play for the Zips over offers from other schools. We fight against this crap every day, and sometimes I feel like it would still be there even if we won a national championship.

http://www.yappi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255501

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His commitment to Akron is all the more remarkable when you have average local HS sports fans like this guy in the linked thread that are completely baffled that a player would choose to play for the Zips over offers from other schools. We fight against this crap every day, and sometimes I feel like it would still be there even if we won a national championship.

http://www.yappi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255501

what's baffling is the author "akronareahoopsguy" would rather see a "akronareahoopskid" play in the big ten rather than his own backyard......

great get for the zips...now about that arena...

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Joshua Williams will be coming on board just as Nyles Evans graduates. That'll give us a pretty smooth transition at PG, especially since we'll still have Melo for one more season; the pressure of running the point won't be solely on a freshman's shoulders.

As an aside, on twitter I've noticed that current St.V/M senior 2G Jalen Hudson has been playing quite a bit of pickup ball w/ the Zips & seems to have a good relationship w/ players on the team. We only have 1 scholarship to award next year.

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Joshua Williams will be coming on board just as Nyles Evans graduates. That'll give us a pretty smooth transition at PG, especially since we'll still have Melo for one more season; the pressure of running the point won't be solely on a freshman's shoulders.

As an aside, on twitter I've noticed that current St.V/M senior 2G Jalen Hudson has been playing quite a bit of pickup ball w/ the Zips & seems to have a good relationship w/ players on the team. We only have 1 scholarship to award next year.

The Zips are NOT targeting a shooting guard with their one available scholarship for 2013-14. Bank it.

This is not a reflection on Jalen Hudson. The Zips are deep at the 2, 3 and 4 positions for the next couple of

seasons. Joshua Williams help fill needs at the point. That leaves the post as still a tad thin. Isaiah Johnson is a huge

(in more ways than one) help.

Look for the one scholly to be spent on a post player or a point guard. I would think getting another "think big" player

is the most likely.

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Williams is a real nice get for the Zips. It will be nice to finally have a PG on the roster with a little bit of size (and no, Quincy Diggs and Nick Harney don't count). Of course you always worry a little bit when a kid commits this early. Two years is an awful long time for a 16 year old to change his mind (sometimes multiple times). I won't count my chickens before they hatch by any stretch, but it sounds like he's a pretty solid verbal.

As for Jalen Hudson and the 2014 class. Something tells me that if he wants to be a Zip we will find room for him. He's a pretty talented kid, local, and you don't just turn that kind of talent away if he has legit interest in playing here. KD has over-recruited each of the last 3 years. It is the nature of our program right now that players are transferring out opening up additional scholarships almost every year. Way too early and entirely speculative prediction. Hudson lands in Akron. The Zips also add another PF with some size. Deji Ibitayo transfers out at the end of the season.

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Williams is a real nice get for the Zips. It will be nice to finally have a PG on the roster with a little bit of size (and no, Quincy Diggs and Nick Harney don't count). Of course you always worry a little bit when a kid commits this early. Two years is an awful long time for a 16 year old to change his mind (sometimes multiple times). I won't count my chickens before they hatch by any stretch, but it sounds like he's a pretty solid verbal.

As for Jalen Hudson and the 2014 class. Something tells me that if he wants to be a Zip we will find room for him. He's a pretty talented kid, local, and you don't just turn that kind of talent away if he has legit interest in playing here. KD has over-recruited each of the last 3 years. It is the nature of our program right now that players are transferring out opening up additional scholarships almost every year. Way too early and entirely speculative prediction. Hudson lands in Akron. The Zips also add another PF with some size. Deji Ibitayo transfers out at the end of the season.

How long have we been hearing that harangue? Per recent reports, Deji is going to give the starters a run for their money. The only place Deji might go is to the hoop, in the B&G.! :wave:

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How long have we been hearing that harangue? Per recent reports, Deji is going to give the starters a run for their money. The only place Deji might go is to the hoop, in the B&G.! :wave:

I'll believe it when I see it. Deji has mad athletic ability, but his entire body of work to this point screams great athlete, average to below average basketball player. Frankly, if some of the younger guys (McAdams, Gladden, Jackson, Kretzer) can't beat him out for playing time I don't think it would be a very good sign for our future.

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Williams is a real nice get for the Zips. It will be nice to finally have a PG on the roster with a little bit of size (and no, Quincy Diggs and Nick Harney don't count). Of course you always worry a little bit when a kid commits this early. Two years is an awful long time for a 16 year old to change his mind (sometimes multiple times). I won't count my chickens before they hatch by any stretch, but it sounds like he's a pretty solid verbal.

As for Jalen Hudson and the 2014 class. Something tells me that if he wants to be a Zip we will find room for him. He's a pretty talented kid, local, and you don't just turn that kind of talent away if he has legit interest in playing here. KD has over-recruited each of the last 3 years. It is the nature of our program right now that players are transferring out opening up additional scholarships almost every year. Way too early and entirely speculative prediction. Hudson lands in Akron. The Zips also add another PF with some size. Deji Ibitayo transfers out at the end of the season.

I agree that if Hudson wants to commit, there will be a spot for him. Hasn't KD gone on record and said that he won't let another C.J. McCollum situation happen? At the same time, who knows if Hudson is even interested in Akron. He is from Virginia and has only lived in Ohio for a little over a year. Plus, he has offers from VCU, Virginia Tech, George Mason and Richmond. But, if he does want to commit, no way does KD turn him down.

As for Deji, while he struggled last year, lets see how he plays this year before running him off. From watching some highlights from the Akron-Canton Pro Am, it looks like he has added 10 pounds of muscle (and he was hardly a string-bean last year). The question will be how well his shot comes around. If he has improved in that aspect, he will be in the rotation the next two years.

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BTW, I love the Josh Williams commit. While two years is a long time, and he will likely get some high-major attention/offers, I think the commitment sticks. KD has been in on him longer than anybody else (offered him in the 8th grade, I believe). Plus, going to SVSM with KD's connections there, helps strengthen the Zips' chances. Plus, Williams had no incentive to commit if it was a situation of "holding" a spot. He had his spot at Akron regardless ... again go back to KD saying that he won't let another C.J. McCollum situation happen. The kid has always been a big Akron lean (from what I've heard) and finally made it public that it was where he was going to play college ball. I'm sure the big boys will come calling and Williams will listen, but I think it will take another coach a ton of effort to pull him away from KD and Akron.

Hopefully, the Williams commit will be a springboard to get that SVSM pipeline flowing. The Irish are absolutely loaded with talent. And no, the Zips have no shot at V.J. King (and probably not Hudson, since he's not an Akron kid). But Josh's younger brother, John Williams, is going to be a freshman and will also be a big-time player. St. V also has another freshman coming in this year, Jayvon Graves, who also has the chance to be a high major. And there is a kid in V.J. King's class, Henry Baddley, who looks like he will be a big-time prospect. Overall, Akron's profile has never been higher locally. I think any kid from the Akron-Canton area (Lepear Toles from Canton Timken and Anthony Christian of Hoban being two more) is going to give a long look. And with Tree and Harney, I think the Cleveland kids will also begin to notice the Zips more (and the Cleveland area is absolutely loaded in the 2015 and 2016 classes).

Getting Williams aboard this early could lead to some monster classes in 15 and beyond, especially if Tree (and to a lesser degree Harney) blow up this year. Personally, I think Tree is a lock to have a huge year, which could get the Cleveland kids' attention moving forward.

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Williams is a real nice get for the Zips. It will be nice to finally have a PG on the roster with a little bit of size (and no, Quincy Diggs and Nick Harney don't count). Of course you always worry a little bit when a kid commits this early. Two years is an awful long time for a 16 year old to change his mind (sometimes multiple times). I won't count my chickens before they hatch by any stretch, but it sounds like he's a pretty solid verbal.

As for Jalen Hudson and the 2014 class. Something tells me that if he wants to be a Zip we will find room for him. He's a pretty talented kid, local, and you don't just turn that kind of talent away if he has legit interest in playing here. KD has over-recruited each of the last 3 years. It is the nature of our program right now that players are transferring out opening up additional scholarships almost every year. Way too early and entirely speculative prediction. Hudson lands in Akron. The Zips also add another PF with some size. Deji Ibitayo transfers out at the end of the season.

Hudson is from Richmond, VA, he's not an Akron local.

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I agree that if Hudson wants to commit, there will be a spot for him. Hasn't KD gone on record and said that he won't let another C.J. McCollum situation happen? At the same time, who knows if Hudson is even interested in Akron. He is from Virginia and has only lived in Ohio for a little over a year. Plus, he has offers from VCU, Virginia Tech, George Mason and Richmond. But, if he does want to commit, no way does KD turn him down.

As for Deji, while he struggled last year, lets see how he plays this year before running him off. From watching some highlights from the Akron-Canton Pro Am, it looks like he has added 10 pounds of muscle (and he was hardly a string-bean last year). The question will be how well his shot comes around. If he has improved in that aspect, he will be in the rotation the next two years.

Not to sound like I'm on a crusade against Deji, but we've heard all of this before. He looks like he's in great physical condition, he playing well in practice, the coaching staff wants to find more playing time for him. Then when the lights are on and the games really matter he looks completely lost. I don't know if it is psychological, if the kid just isn't a gamer or what, but I will believe in Deji when I stop reading about all the hype on him in the offseason and practice and start seeing it on the court.

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Not to sound like I'm on a crusade against Deji, but we've heard all of this before. He looks like he's in great physical condition, he playing well in practice, the coaching staff wants to find more playing time for him. Then when the lights are on and the games really matter he looks completely lost. I don't know if it is psychological, if the kid just isn't a gamer or what, but I will believe in Deji when I stop reading about all the hype on him in the offseason and practice and start seeing it on the court.

He's just going into his junior season. Sometimes it takes some time for things to click. I'm sure people were ready to run off Jimmy Conyers, but the light clicked for him his senior year. I just don't think people can write him off after two years (the first which was pretty much negated by injury). No doubt, he has to prove it on the court to continue to get PT, but I think it's to quick to write him off.

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Not to sound like I'm on a crusade against Deji, but we've heard all of this before. He looks like he's in great physical condition, he playing well in practice, the coaching staff wants to find more playing time for him. Then when the lights are on and the games really matter he looks completely lost. I don't know if it is psychological, if the kid just isn't a gamer or what, but I will believe in Deji when I stop reading about all the hype on him in the offseason and practice and start seeing it on the court.

I'm probably higher on Deji than most, but you're right - at this point it has to be proven on the court.

I hope people don't take that for granted right now - Deji probably would have been the best player on the team when I was a student. Now we're at the point where if a talented player doesn't step up, there's a line of kids waiting to take your spot.

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