CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – Anyone wondering how Ziaire Williams would “adjust” to competition on the Nike/EYBL circuit got a resounding answer Friday night during opening action for the 2019 season.
And that would be a pronounced “Quite well, thank you very much!”
Actually, after his 25-point and 11-rebound effort in the Oakland Soldiers’ 83-78 win over All-Ohio Red, a better question might be “How are EYBL opponents going to find a way to slow down Ziaire Williams?”
The 6-foot-8 junior from Notre Dame High in Southern California’s San Fernando community of Sherman Oaks was a standout for the BTI (Basketball Training Institute) “independent” (non-athletic apparel-sponsored) program for three sets of springs and summers.
After crushing it for BTI last spring in tournaments in Southern California and Indianapolis, Williams earned Pangos All-American and NBPA Top 100 camp invitations and – after slow starts in which he seemed to be playing a tad cautiously – played pretty well against a lot of the better players from the national classes of 2019 and ’20.
Fast forward to the 2018-19 Notre Dame season and a flock of impressive efforts in November’s Pac Shores/Ryse Williams Tournament and December’s Classic at Damien, brought a lot more regional and national attention Williams’ way – including that of the heads of a multitude of programs on both the EYBL, adidas and Under Armour circuits.
The Soldiers’ obviously turned in the best sales job and, with Williams teaming with another newcomer to the Oakland roster – Jalen Green, a three-year standout at Fresno San Joaquin Memorial and bound for Prolific Prep in Napa for the 2019-20 season – the Soldiers will be closely watched as grassroots program for the next few months.
Other Friday night highlights – with 100s of college coaches looking on the opening of the only “evaluation period” for NCAA staffs this spring – from the spiffy, 12-court Lakepoint Sporting Community’s Champions center:
*Another elite prospect from Southern California’s Class of 2020, Josh Christopher of Lakewood Mayfair, scored 20 points with eight assists while Julian Strawther (from Liberty in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson), who committed to Gonzaga last week, had a game-high 26 points as Vegas Elite trampled the New Jersey Playaz, 130-72;
*Six-eleven sophomore Frank Kepnang (he’s from New York but attends Westtown School just outside of Philadelphia) tapped in a shot at the buzzer to give the PSA Cardinals a 70-68 win against another New York-based program, the New York Rens;
*Some of the best Texas-based members of the Class of 2020 were on the floor at the same time as the Texas Titans knocked off Drive Nation, 89-79.
Six-seven Cade Cunningham (who’s from Arlington but plays for Montverde Academy in Florida) showed why he is one of the best “big guards” in the national class with 24 points and 11 rebounds for the winners while 6-9 Greg Brown III (Vandegrift High in Austin) showed why he’s been a consensus Top 10 prospect in the class for a couple of years, now, adding 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Titans.
Six-four point guard R.J. Hampton (Little Elm) struggled with his shot and turnovers in the first for Drive Nation before finishing with 27 points (including 11 of 17 free throws) and seven rebounds.
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