Simeon Wolverines Small Forward D.J. Williams, not to be confused with Chicago Bears Linebacker D.J. Williams, currently on IR, committed to the Illini this morning.
D.J. Williams the basketball player is the earliest commit in Simeon history; the first to give a verbal before his senior season. Illinois basketball coach John Groce is all about energy. He commonly references some new agey book called “The Energy Bus” and talks about avoiding “energy vampires” when speaking in press conferences. Groce certainly has energy going for him.
He has tremendous energy in recruiting; and a lot of energy with recruiting Simeon.
John Groce has now received three top-50 commitments (Leron Black, Quentin Snider) in about two months and is in final four (some say two) for a top-5 prospect in Cliff Alexander. D.J. Williams is the first 2015 commit for Illini. Groce currently two spots left in that class. More importantly,
Groce has re-opened the Illini pipeline with Simeon. Bruce Weber failed when it came to recruiting the Chicago Public League, and Simeon in particular. Illinois has snagged Kendrick Nunn and Jaylon Tate and now D.J. Williams, all from Simeon. Given the Wolverines four straight state titles, the Wolverines are an excellent school to have a close relationship with. It’s just a bummer that they couldn’t land Jabari Parker.
D.J. Williams joins the tradition of Simeon to Illinois, including Illini all-time leading scorer, Deon Thomas. Obviously, Nunn, Tate, Nick Anderson, Ervin Small, Bryant Notree and Calvin Brock.
D.J. Williams turned down Florida and DePaul. He’s ranked in the top 50 by most recruiting services, and #29 overall by ESPNU
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Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the world; with regular weekly segments on NBC and Fox Sports Radio. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and RSS