KJ Williams to Syracuse

Submitted by Jehu the Damaja on

Per Scout, Twitter, etc.. 

Not a big surprise at all, but I thought I would pass ithe news along to anyone still thinking he might come here, which probably wasn't alot. 

JimBobTressel

July 7th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^

Hoke must a great chess player, because that guy can see about 2-3 steps into the future. Smart of him to take Canteen

gwkrlghl

July 7th, 2013 at 6:07 PM ^

I had thought the coaches told Williams to wait and see what was going to happen with Scott because they felt good about their chances with Scott a few weeks ago. Not sure if we lost Williams because of that or if the coaches just thought Canteen was better

MGoStrength

July 7th, 2013 at 9:21 PM ^

It's hard to say which move caused which action.  One thing I am curious about is what is the board's general consensus on Canteen vs Williams.  I know that Canteen didn't play a ton of games and that Williams is ranked higher.  But, beyond that how do we compare the two?

West Texas Blue

July 7th, 2013 at 6:06 PM ^

This class needed 2 outside WRs and a slot; Drake locked down first outside spot and then Ways beat Williams to the punch for other outside spot. Slot was always between Canteen and Scott. '14 WR recruiting officially done now; time to ramp up heat on George Campbell.

True Blue Grit

July 7th, 2013 at 7:18 PM ^

and say you're a "glass half-empty" sort of person.  Unless you have some sort of inside information, it's certainly WAY too early to gets some sort of "feeling" like that.  Let's see  what Campbell says and does going forward.   Class of 2015 - we're in the optimism phase right now until things trend otherwise.

MichiganMan14

July 7th, 2013 at 8:04 PM ^

I coach high school football at Riverview High and we play East Lake. Many of my kids know George and seem to think he will end up at Michigan. Obviously with kids we take this with a grain of salt but George has HIGH legitimate interest in the University of Michigan. We have a GREAT shot at him. He also just ran a 4.3 something last week and smoked a bunch of speedy dbs at last weeks recruiting roundups. I have a back thats a 2015 kid named Karon Higdon who also has UofM interest so Michigan is making noise in the Sunshine State! Go blue!

Magnus

July 7th, 2013 at 9:18 PM ^

I think both outside guys we got (Drake Harris, Maurice Ways) are better than Williams. And while I think Scott is better than Canteen, Williams didn't really fit the mold of a slot receiver.

My player comparison for Williams was LaTerryal Savoy when I wrote up my scouting report, and Savoy was nothing special at Michigan (17 catches, 212 yards, 1 touchdown).

MichiganMan14

July 7th, 2013 at 9:21 PM ^

Im assisting Karon in his recruitment and have FSU looking at him...he has a tennessee offer. Im in the process of reaching out to Singletary...whats your assessment of his sophomore film? He touched the ball 5 times in our Spring Game and scored 3 tds a couple of months ago. I tell him about Michigan without being to dramatic but I havent gotten him exposed to UofM yet. What are your thoughts?

Magnus

July 7th, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^

He looks to me like the type of back Michigan would be interested in. He's a bit of a bowling ball type, in the mold of Kevin Grady or Thomas Rawls. The person I thought of most when watching him was Frank Gore. He doesn't really have that extra gear to pull away from people, but he has really good vision and can bust some tackles. FWIW, I actually thought his highlights were more impressive as the video went on. His cuts weren't as quick or decisive in the first few plays, and it took him a while to get his momentum going forward. If I were cutting the video, I would probably reverse the order of some of those clips.

As for Michigan's role in his recruitment, I know some people are pretty confident in Mikey Weber and Damien Harris. Those two guys have been mentioned as reasons why Michigan might not take a running back in the 2014 class. It might be a stretch to take 3 running backs in 2015, but Weber and Harris aren't done deals yet, either. I certainly think it's worth a shot to get his name out there to Michigan and other high FBS schools.

By the way, good luck! It would be awesome to send a kid to Michigan, Tennessee, FSU, or any of those schools.

MichiganMan14

July 7th, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^

We have really worked on his speed and his breakaway has vastly improved. Ive got him camping at my alma mater (fsu) on the 18th so hopefully he'll turn some more heads. His junior film will look a lot different from his sophomore film. He is also a 4.0 IB student.

Don

July 7th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ^

How does a michiganman end up at Florida State?

I just watched Karon's highlights... I know it's a highlight reel and all, but the kid seems to relish contact. He just buries a would-be tackler at the one minute mark, and he also shows nice ability to make quick decisive cuts in traffic while still running north/south.

MichiganMan14

July 8th, 2013 at 3:51 AM ^

Your entire family is from Detroit/Ann Arbor and your raised maize and blue. You apend half your childhood in florida and grow fond of Bobby move back to Canton until your Junior year in High School..graduate from high school in florida and go on to play for Bowden at FSU all while maintaining your roots. Then family becomes employed by UofM and you spend all your money flying up to the Big House when not in Doak lol. Its like dual citizenship!

Nolongerusingaccount

July 7th, 2013 at 9:31 PM ^

I usually give the benefit of the doubt to the coaches.  They were able to assess Canteen up close and personal, and I am not arrogant enough to think that I know better than the coaches.  From the timeline of events, I do believe that the coaches likely knew what direction the Artavis Scott recruitment was going and decided to move on Canteen as a result.  It is anyone's guess as to whether the coaches preferred Canteen or Williams, however.