Duncanville's Shawn Williams pledges to play basketball for Longhorns
Shawn Williams, an adept shooter from Duncanville High School, is the first player in the class of 2009 who has pledged to join basketball coach Rick Barnes at Texas for the following season.
The 6-foot-7-inch, 215-pound Williams will become the third forward from Duncanville to play for Barnes, following ex-Horns Chris Owens and Brian Boddicker.
Williams is ranked 48th nationally in the senior class by Scout.com. He is No. 77, according to Rivals.com, after averaging 17 points and 9.5 rebounds last season. He can make his commitment official when the NCAA national signing period begins on Nov. 12.
"Shawn Williams is a noted sharpshooter with size,"
said Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Scout.com. "However, what I really liked is in the past year he's made a concerted effort to be a better rebounder and use his size inside to take advantage of matchups."
Mike Kunstadt of TexasHoops.com said Williams has re-shaped his game on offense.
"He was always a shooter, but he's made an effort to drive to the basket, to attack the rim,"
Kunstadt said. "I think that was a good move on his part."
Williams also looked at Arkansas, Baylor and UCLA. At Texas, he might step into a role on the perimeter similar to the one senior A.J. Abrams has played at Texas the past two seasons, tirelessly using screens to get open for shots.
"Coach Barnes said he needed a bigger version of A.J.,"
Williams said.
Barnes is still working on the mega-score in the class of 2009 that he and his staff hoped to make on the coattails of Kevin Durant, national player of the year in 2006-07.
Texas is reportedly well positioned with Jordan Hamilton, a 6-7 forward from Los Angeles, and Avery Bradley, a 6-2 guard from Tacoma. Hamilton is ranked 12th in the senior class by Rivals and 14th by Scout. Bradley is rated 16th by Rivals and 21st by Scout.
Texas has a commitment from Tristan Thompson, a 6-9 forward at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J., who some recruiting analysts consider the top junior in the country.
