Not even a month after he announced his commitment to the Florida Gators, four-star athlete Joel Williams has now backed off his pledge.
Williams, a four-star athlete who plays for Madison Prep Academy in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, took to Twitter on Monday night to announce that he’s decommitting from the Gators. Williams committed to Florida on May 19th, just a couple days after he took an unofficial visit to Gainesville. Now, just over three weeks later, Williams’ recruitment is wide open again, saying he “just needs more time” to make sure he’s making the right decision.
Respect my decision… pic.twitter.com/o835Cpd0LR
— Joel Williams? (@sayyjoee) June 11, 2019
According to the 247Sports Composite ratings, Williams is the No. 306 overall prospect, No. 17 athlete, and No. 12 player in the state of Louisiana. He holds offers from some of the top teams in college football, including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, Auburn, Florida State, Oregon, Texas A&M, Texas, and others.
Williams paid Tennessee a visit back on April 24th, just a month and a half after he visited the Vols in early March. Since committing to Florida, Williams has attended a camp at Alabama and picked up an offer from the Tide while there. He also visited Auburn last week.
On film, Williams’ versatility stands out. His big frame separates him from many other players both on offense and defense, and he uses his size and speed to dominate. Williams has very good instincts on defense and plays physically there. He won’t let receivers push him around, and he contests passes with ease. On offense and special teams, he uses his good vision and athleticism to create big plays.
Williams does it all for Madison Prep, but he’s being recruited more as a defensive back rather than receiver by most schools.
With his recruitment now completely wide open once again, expect to see Williams take a lot of visits. Tennessee has already received a couple visits from him, so there’s a chance UT will see Williams on campus again in the near future.
Our Take:
With Williams decommitting from Florida a week after getting an offer from Alabama, it’s hard not to assume that the Tide have the momentum with him right now. But Williams has the same feel as a Justin Rogers or Rakim Jarrett in this cycle, meaning that his recruitment won’t be over until he signs. That’s true for all recruits, but it’s different for those types of players. Even if Williams commits to Alabama, the likelihood of it sticking seems fairly low here in June.
It could be better for teams to get Williams’ commitment closer to November or December rather than now. There will be plenty of twists and turns in his recruitment.
