NEW YORK — Michael Williams, a 6-foot-2 junior shooting guard at Bishop Loughlin High School, recently received his first high-major offer from Rutgers coach Mike Rice.
“He offered me right on the spot and it felt great,” Williams said after pouring in a game-high 26 points to help Loughlin rout Archbishop Molloy, 85-49, Wednesday in the Brooklyn-Queens ‘AA’ Diocesan semifinals at Christ the King.
Loughlin, which beat Molloy for the first time in three meetings this season, will face Christ the King in Friday’s Brooklyn-Queens championship game at Christ the King at 7 p.m.
At this point, Williams only holds offers from Rutgers and Quinnipiac but if he keeps playing like he did in this game, more high-major offers should follow.
“Of course,” he said when asked if he hoped that was the case, “that would be awesome.”
Said Loughlin coach Ed Gonzalez: “I don’t know what these guys [Division 1 coaches] are waiting for.”
Boston College coach Steve Donahue, Rutgers assistant Van Macon, West Virginia assistant Larry Harrison and Manhattan assistant Rasheen Davis were among those at the games watching Williams, his teammate Khadeen Carrington (24 points) and Christ the King senior guard Jon Severe. (For more on Severe, click here.)
Williams drained numerous 3-pointers, including one from behind NBA range.
“He can shoot,” one college coach said of Williams. “If he plays well in the summer, his recruiting could blow up.”
Gonzalez added: “[The coaches] are calling me now slowly, the Big East schools and all that stuff. They see what he’s worth, what he brings to the table.
“Rutgers offered him. St. John’s likes him. Quinnipiac offered him. Dayton, of course. A few others, I can’t remember right now. They coming right now. This guy’s probably one of the hardest-working players in the league.”
The 6-3 Carrington, meantime, said he’s focusing on St. John’s, UConn, Cincinnati and Florida State, although he holds offers from many other schools.
“I went to a couple games,” the junior said, referring to a visit to UConn. “I’m going to start taking visits after the season.”
Asked where he’d like to visit, Carrington said, “Florida State, I’m going to visit Cincinnati and I’m going to take a visit to St. John’s, too.
“I have a great relationship with a lot of those coaches.”
Carrington says he can play both guard positions and Gonzalez, a former point guard, is working with him on his ball-handling skills.
“I’m working on him with that skillset,” the coach said. “He’s continually working on his shot which has gotten tremendous as you see. He’s got a great mid-range game. We are working on his point skills.”
For now, Carrington and Williams are happy to get a third shot at Christ the King, which owns two one-point victories over them this season.
A victory Friday would also offer redemption for Loughlin’s three-point loss last year in the Brooklyn-Queens championship to Holy Cross.
“That was the goal all year, try to come back to the borough championship, try to win it this year so we get a good seed in the city playoffs,” Carrington said.
“We coming to win on Friday.”
Photo: Basketballrivals.com
