St. John’s loses top recruit Brandon Williams to UCLA
Four-star wing Brandon Williams of Christ the King opted for UCLA over the Johnnies on Monday, passing on the chance to stay home and play for Mike Anderson. It is a significant blow to the Red Sto…
nypost.com
By Zach Braziller
St. John’s hopes of pairing one star recruit forward named Brandon with another was extinguished on Monday afternoon.
Four-star wing Brandon Williams of Christ the King opted for UCLA over the Johnnies on Monday, passing on the chance to stay home and play for Mike Anderson. It is a significant blow to the Red Storm’s recruiting class.
Anderson and his staff had recently landed new Christ the King forward Brandon Gardner, a four-star like Williams, and were hoping to bring in both of them next year. Instead, the 6-foot-9, multi-talented Williams picked the far more established program that reached the Final Four just two years ago.
For weeks, Williams was considered an UCLA lean, following his official visit out west. The Bruins’ coaching staff impressed him with a detailed outline for his development, from how he would fit into coach Mick Cronin’s system to immediate playing time to a specific nutrition plan, sources said. Williams and his family believed picking UCLA would set him up better for a professional career and those close to him were pushing for him to see the world outside of Queens.
“He likes the plan they had for him,” a source close to Williams said. “They said he has a good chance right away, he could be one of the four guards they’ll be using.”
Prior to the UCLA visit, Williams was viewed as a likely St. John’s commit. His high school is closely aligned with St. John’s and the Johnnies had made him a clear priority for much of the spring and summer. Williams was drawn to the family atmosphere Anderson has created and developed strong relationships with different members of the staff. He told The Post in July that by staying home he would have a “different type of love.” His grandmother, Dawn Grubbs, said he would have had up to 50 family members and friends at home games.
It was a strange recruitment. Williams, still only 16 years old, was at times overwhelmed by the process. He announced a final two of St. John’s and UCLA in mid-August, in part to slow the onslaught of phone calls and outside parties pushing schools he wasn’t interested in.
St. John’s also lost out on one of their top guard targets last week, when four-star prospect Elijah Gertrude committed to Virginia. Another four-star guard, Carl Cherenfant from Florida, will take an official visit to Queens starting Thursday. He is one of the coaching staff’s focuses now, along with three-star Newark, N.J. wing Aaron Clark, who recently took an unofficial visit.
St. John’s recruiting had been on the upswing of late. This year’s current freshmen class included top-100 guard AJ Storr and Gardner is the highest-rated recruit of the Anderson era. Anderson was also able to pick up two of the top-rated transfers this offseason in guard Andre Curbelo (Illinois) and Jones. But the idea of a really strong recruiting class took a major hit with Williams’ commitment to UCLA.
