PHILADELPHIA — As the best player coming into the Elevate Hoops Summer Icebreaker, Malik Williams drew a bit of a crowd in his first game here Wednesday evening.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino, Purdue coach Matt Painter, N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried, Indiana assistant Chuck Martin and Iowa assistant Kirk Speraw were among those on hand to watch the 7-foot, 215-pound Williams play for Legit Basketball in a close loss.
“[I notice them] a little bit, I try not to worry about them too much,” Williams, a Class of 2017 center out of Fort Wayne (IN) R Nelson Snider, told SNY.tv.
Asked which schools were currently working the hardest, Williams listed Louisville, Purdue, Indiana, Iowa and Xavier among the top.
He broke down several of them:
Purdue: “Purdue’s just been there for a long time. It’s a nice campus and a nice program. The coaching staff is cool.”
Indiana: “Been there a long time. Nice school, nice campus. Coach [Tom] Crean is a great coach.”
Louisville: “Same thing. It’s a great campus and they’re consistent with their recruiting process. [They say] they would work around my versatility and not just stick me in the post.”
Iowa: “Iowa is a nice program. They’ve been very consistent and up front about everything and they have a nice campus.”
Xavier: “Xavier has a nice campus and a nice coaching staff who has a good hold on a nice basketball program.”
N.C. State: “I don’t much but they offered me.”
Williams visited Michigan State last week and Louisville within the last month.
As for Michigan State, “It’s a nice campus. I’ve been down there a couple times now, so I’m just getting a feel for it. They’re re-doing the whole campus so it’s gonna be nice.”
He said Georgetown, Cincinnati, Xavier and Iowa are also in the mix.
Williams, who needs to continue to gain strength and become more assertive in the paint, plans to cut his list later this summer.
“I’m not sure, but I’m looking at August,” he said. “Probably to about five.”
As for when a decision might come, it’s “whenever I find the right fit.”
