NCAA Basketball: 5 under-the-radar freshmen to watch in 2018-19

PG Brandon Williams, Arizona Wildcats

For a short time after the report came out about Arizona head coach Sean Miller allegedly paying to play for the Wildcats, every member of the school’s once-stellar recruiting class (including Williams) decommitted from the school. And, with zero returning starters, that was a real problem. However, Williams re-committed to the school in May and should give the Wildcats both a quality starting point guard and someone they can plan their future around.

"“He’s the one that everybody likes to talk about,” head coach Sean Miller said about Williams via the team’s official website. “We know Brandon better than everybody that we’ve recruited because we recruited him the longest. I feel great that he came back our way. He’s a fantastic kid, plays for great high school coach, great high school program — Crespi in L.A. — that has produced a lot of terrific players. Brandon wasn’t on the circuit before his senior year of high school and if he was, he’d be a McDonald’s All-American. I don’t think there are six guards in his class who were better than him. He’s today’s version of a guard, in that he can both score and distribute. He’s a great athlete — 6-foot-2, very explosive. And we’re thrilled to have him back. A winner as well. He’s won at every level.”"

Miller has tried to patch a lot of Arizona’s holes with grad transfers that will contribute right away, yet the play of Arizona’s three four-star freshmen will dictate this team’s ceiling – specifically that of Williams. Assuming he wins the starting point guard job, which he is favored to do, Williams will give the Wildcats a much-needed scoring punch from someone who will have the ball in his hands all the time.

Miller will have no choice but to give Williams the keys to the team. He’ll be the pacesetter.