Class of 2024's Williams recaps recent trips, Virginia offer
Like many other prospects in the 2024 class, Sidwell Friends standout Caleb Williams has been busy this summer. Thus far, he’s visited Virginia twice with an offer from the Wahoos coming after the second trip to Charlottesville.
And walking away with that offer from Tony Bennett, Jason Williford, and the Cavaliers was a big deal for the rising junior.
“During the second visit we got there right before their practice started, which was one of the primary goals of this visit, to watch them practice,” Williams told CavsCorner. “I really wanted to see how they ran things up there and I wanted to see the different action that they run for the players. It was a great practice and good visit overall.”
Though UVa is known for being very selective in the recruiting process, Williams was one of several 2024s to pick up an offer from this summer. It’s something he said really means a lot and especially because of how early it happened.
“It means a lot to have an offer from Virginia,” Williams said. “To be able to have an offer from a prestigious program like Virginia, especially so early on really means a lot. You don’t know a lot of people that get an offer from Virginia right after their sophomore year of high school so it definitely feels good. I have been talking to Coach Williford for a good amount of the summer but to finally get that offer feels good that they believe in me.”
Williams was part of the 16-and-under Team Takeover team that won the Nike EYBL Championship, which the UVa staff was following closely.
“We met in all of the coaches’ offices,” Williams recalled. “We talked about a lot of different things that included the Peach Jam Championship and how well we played at the end of July. After all of that the offer was extended to me, I was able to watch practice and we grabbed some food after.”
Sidwell Friends High School, coached by Eric Singletary, is known by some as the “Virginia Of The DMV” because of the defense they play with and Williams is really starting to see the similarities.
“The attention to detail really stands out,” he said. “Obviously they put a lot of focus into their defense so seeing that first hand was really good. I am also used to playing a high level defense with my high school team, Sidwell Friends and my AAU team, Team Takeover. There are a lot of similarities to the way UVa practices their defense and the way I practice with my current teams.”
If Williams were to choose Virginia, he thinks that he would be a versatile option that Bennett could use.
“They said they would really like to have the ability to put me at different positions,” he said, “but also being able to shoot the ball well. I could possibly be a bigger guard or wing for them and with that I could defend multiple positions which would obviously be very important for them.”
Williford has long been UVa’s main recruiter in the DMV, so he is the one talking to Williams the most.
“Coach Williford just loves how hard I play and thinks I would be a great fit at UVa,” he said. “I have known him for a long time so I feel like the stuff he tells me, I can trust it a little more since I have known him for so long. He always tells me how much it would mean to him for me to play at UVa.”
