This will be the most sparse recruiting profile that I think I've ever done, but I've pieced together as much information that I can in the hopes that you can at least get an idea as to who Jamal Williams is. First, I have not seen any confirmation that Williams has actually signed his letter of intent, which means that Texas Tech has not obligated itself to Williams as a scholarship player next year. Once the LOI is signed, then I think that is at least one year that a team has committed itself. As I've been reminding you in these basketball profiles, there are only two scholarships available, Robert Lewandowski is graduating and SF Cameron Forte has left the program. There are four players that have committed and the table is after the jump. This means that two players on this team will not have their scholarship renewed if Robinson and Williams end up signing letters of intent.
The Measurables:
JAMAL WILLIAMS
Position: PG
DTN Profile
Video: N/A
Rivals N/R
Scout N/A
ESPN N/A
24/7 Sports N/A
Ht: 6'3" | Wt: 185 lbs
JUCO: Lake Land College (Matton, IL)
The Player Speaks: When Williams committed, way back in November, there was little fanfare and few stories. I don't know why, but National Signing Day is usually a pretty big deal, but I'm thinking that the scholarship issue, i.e. more commits than spots available, folks are being quiet. As you can see above, the only profile is from Rivals.
Offers and Rankings: Since there is only one profile, I can only go to Rivals to tell you that Williams didn't have any other offers, but was being looked at by Creighton and Wis. Milwaukee. Apparently, it is a big deal to be on Mullen's JUCO Top 100 (PDF) and Williams, along with Daylen Robinson, were on that list.
The Video: Nada.
Scouting Report: I found this article from last year, about 10 games into the season, where a local paper interviewed Williams. Williams is originally from Brooklyn, NY and maybe one of the reasons why he wasn't highly recruited or landed in a JUCO is that he had a late growth-spurt:
DAWSON: You were a point guard in high school?
WILLIAMS: I was always a point guard, wherever I played. I always had an advantage because of my height. So I'd be guarded by a two-guard, a three-guard.
DAWSON: Was there a growth spurt for you at some stage or did you start out as a big point guard?
WILLIAMS: I was short. Both my parents are short so I don't know where the height comes from. I was blessed to have this height. I hit 6-3 about, I would say, 2008 to 2009 somewhere. I was about 5-11.
DAWSON: So you grew about four inches in one year?
WILLIAMS: Yeah, big growth spurt and my parents couldn't figure out what it is. My mother and my father, they're both the same height, about 5-9.
There's some interesting stuff there as Williams also talks about his memories with 9/11 as he lived in the city at the time and some sort of bus crash where everyone was okay.
You should also check out his profile with Lake Land College, where his hobbies are magic (awesome!), loves Law & Order SVU, looks up to his elders in his family and he's also a father.
For the year, Williams is averaging 9.1 PPG while shooting 32%, so he's having a rough year from the field. He's also averaging 4.6 APG and 3.3 RPG
Jamal, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!
The 2012 Class: Keep in mind that Kravic is included in the 2012 class, but he's actually on the team and has a scholarship as he was a transfer and not a JUCO player, so he doesn't count against the thought that there are still four scholarship for just two spots. .
| Position | Commitment | Ht/Wt | High School/State | Rivals  |
Scout |
ESPN |
ESPN Grade | 24/7 |
24/7 Grade |
| PG | Daylen Robinson | 6-0/178 | Moberly Area C.C. (Kansas City, MO) | 3 | N/A | - | 40 | N/A | N/A |
| PG | Jamal Williams | 6-3/185 | Lake Land College (Matton, IL) | N/R | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| SG | Dusty Hannahs | 6-3/200 | Pulaski Academy (Little Rock, AR) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 85 | N/A | N/A |
| SF | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| PF | Rodrigo Silva | 6-10/225 | Laramie County C.C. (Cheyenne, WY) | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| C | Dejan Kravic | 6-11/230 | York University (London, Ontario, Canada) | - | - | - | - | - | - |