NCAA Basketball: 7 pivotal recruiting battles remaining in the 2020 class

Ziaire Williams

SF | 6-foot-7 | 175 lbs | No. 5 overall

Perhaps the five-star uncommitted prospect with the murkiest recruitment to follow is Ziaire Williams. A 6-foot-7 wing out of Sierra Canyon, Williams boasts a versatile game that has college coaches, as well as NBA scouts, salivating over his potential. He is very athletic with the ability to play multiple positions and can already contribute in a wide variety of ways.

Williams can be a dynamic three-level scorer that can create for himself while also being able to defend 2-through-4 on the floor. He boasts a very high two-way ceiling.

His shooting stroke is quite smooth and he is unafraid of pulling up off the dribble from beyond the arc. This causes defenses to always be wary of his ability to rise up from three and he is then able to utilize his quick burst to get to the rim and finish. He is at his best when working around the perimeter and could be a primary scoring option at a high-major right away next season before taking his talents to the NBA.

From a recruitment standpoint, Williams is a top priority for a trio of Pac-12 programs. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering he is expected to remain on the west coast for what could be only one collegiate season. Arizona and USC have seemingly emerged as the favorites of this group but Stanford has long been rumored to be a potential destination as well.

He would be an immediately impactful player at all three locations. For Arizona, he would fill a primary scoring role alongside grad transfer Terrell Brown after the departures of Mannion, Green, and Nnaji. USC would look to pair him with Evan Mobley for a dynamite frontcourt duo. Stanford could be a really fun fit as well as Williams could push them to a preseason ranking if the rest of their core (Terry, Da Silva, Jones) returns.

There are other programs also targeting Williams but those three seem to be the frontrunners.