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Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Rivals.com, the leader in college football and basketball recruiting coverage. Be the first to know and follow your teams by signing up here.
MOUTH OF WILSON, Va. – With a full nine months until college coaches can contact him directly, per NCAA rules, Howard Williams Jr. is too young for the recruitment process to hit the overwhelming mark.
Quite on the contrary, the 6-foot-7 sophomore still gets excited to see college coaches parked on the sidelines at Oak Hill Academy practices ever since the NCAA recruiting period kicked off on Sept. 4.
“It’s all fun to me,” Williams said. “I get hype just seeing all the coaches and stuff like that. This is why I go so hard, so I’m loving all of it at this point.”
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Even as a sophomore, college coaches have mutual affection for Williams, after a dominant summer in the Nike EYBL E15 League where he averaged 15 points and nine rebounds a game for Mean Streets.
That’s already earned him offers from South Carolina State, Northern Illinois and Illinois.
LSU, Arkansas and Indiana State, where he plans to visit next month, have all ignited the recruitment process through Williams’ coach.
“Like I said this is all new to me, so I am having fun,” Williams said. “This is my first visit! I’m always around guys that have gone through the recruiting process or they’re still going through it, and they say how fun things are. I just want to experience it, so I can’t wait for my visit.”
Williams was the standout star of Wednesday’s scrimmage where Creighton head coach Greg McDermott said courtside watching him drain three after three and leading his team to consistent wins.
“It’s cool to see the coaches on the side watching and talking to them after the games,” said Williams, who checks in at No. 52 overall in the Rivals100 for 2027. “It makes me want to really work hard. I stay humble with everything that I do, but I definitely work hard to be the best.”
Williams’ size and skill set was a devastating combination for his teammates during the scrimmage. His special blend of quickness and awareness as a playmaker made him a consistently tough out all afternoon.
“I feel like the thing that separates me is my size and my footwork,” Williams said. “I’m one of those guys that can do everything on the court, so it makes it harder to stop.”
Williams transferred to Oak Hill this season from famed Chicago powerhouse Whitney Young to play in the uber-competitive Nike EYBL Scholastic where he’ll face fellow powerhouses like IMG Academy, Montverde Academy and Link Academy, among others.
“I can’t wait,” Williams said. “I love the competition. That’s the best part of the game to me. I want to play against the best because I want to be the best. That’s the only way to get there.”