After UVa associate head coach Jason Williford watched 2024 forward Caleb Williams this past weekend at DC Live, the 6-foot-7 prospect from Sidwell Friends took an unofficial visit to Virginia.
And he came away raving about his time with Tony Bennett and Co. seeing the program up close.
“The visit was great,” Williams told CavsCorner. “It is a really beautiful campus and I had a really long and productive meeting with Coach Bennett, Coach Williford, and my family. It was great to see what the campus is like. It was really cool that a place like that got to be my second unofficial visit. I really got to see what the experience would be like if I went to school there and I am blessed for that.”
Williams and his family were able to get some valuable face time with Bennett and Williford as a lot of different things about the Virginia program were discussed with the rising junior.
“We had a long discussion about my game,” Williams recalled. “Coach Williford has been at a lot of my games so he had a little more to say about my game. They talked about how I could help their program and what their program has in store in the coming years. They are a big culture school so I got to learn more about their culture and I was able to really learn what they do on an everyday basis to have a great program.”
With this being the first time Bennett and Williams have been able to talk, Williams said he thinks this is the beginning of a good relationship between the two.
“I think the first initial meeting with Coach Bennett was more to establish a relationship because it was the first time we have spoken directly to each other,” he explained. “As I said, we got to talk a lot about the program so it was very good and we will continue to strengthen our relationship.”
Bennett is a coach that does not throw a lot of offers out and typically likes to do all he can to see a kid in person before any offers are dished out. Bennett has not seen Williams in person yet but told the Washington, D.C. standout about some aspects to his game he would like to see Williams improve on before an offer would come.
“Coach Bennett and Coach Williford want me to keep adding on to my game, they talked about that a lot,” Williams said. “Coach Bennett is big on seeing players in person and he has only watched film on me, he has not seen me in person. Right now he really likes the completeness of my game.
“I have talked to my parents and coaches about getting my body more college ready and that is something Coach Bennett would like to see me improve on,” he added. “He wants me to get stronger, faster, quicker and he really wants me to become more of a vocal leader because he said that is something college coaches really like to see from kids.”
With Williams not being too far away from Charlottesville, he has watched the Wahoos before and he thinks he would fit in the Virginia system very well.
“When I watch UVa, it is the kind of basketball I am used to,” he said. “They have great coaching and the most important thing to them is the way they defend and it is like that when I play with Sidwell and Team Takeover. Defense is something that Sidwell and Team Takeover prides themselves on. They have had guys in their program that are always recognized on a national level about their defense and that is really impressive. I feel like they might be a little underrated offensively too, I really like the sets they run and I think overall the style they play fits my style and I am comfortable in that type of style.”
A lot of people in the area have compared Sidwell Friends to UVa and call Sidwell “The UVa of The DMV.” Count Williams among those who totally agree with those sentiments.
“I have definitely heard the comparison,” he said. “Sidwell is very similar to UVa. Along with the defense, I think the offense is very similar like I was saying. UVa tries to get the right people that can read and react to defenses well and Sidwell is like that too. They are both excellent academic schools as well and that is very important to me.”
