Visit to Kansas a memorable experience for Samuell Williamson
When Samuell Williamson, the 6-foot-6, 170-pound small forward from Rockwall (TX) High School arrived for his unofficial visit to Kansas this weekend, the No. 48 ranked player in the 2019 class wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
While Williamson didn’t know it at the time, he simply couldn’t have picked a better game to attend. Sitting behind KU’s bench, Williamson watched in amazement as Kansas, despite trailing West Virginia by eight points with less than four minutes remaining in the game, stunned the Mountaineers with a rally in the closing minutes.
Kansas, as the final buzzer sounded, escaped the jaws of defeat, 77-69. KU’s thrilling comeback against West Virginia capped of what turned out to be an unforgettable visit for Williamson.
“When we first got there for the visit, Coach (Jerrance) Howard showed us around a little bit and then we watched the shootaround,” said Williamson. “I went to the locker room before the shootaround and then after the game.”
Currently, Williamson has received scholarship offers from Abilene Christian, Baylor, Illinois, Incarnate Word, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Marquette, Oklahoma, Rutgers, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas-San Antonio, Tulane, Tulsa and UNLV.
While he’s made it perfectly clear that, at least at this stage of his recruitment, no leaders have emerged, it would appear that one school in particular might have a leg up on the competition.
“I met all of the players before the game, and me being a Kansas fan my whole life, it was cool meeting Devonte’ (Graham) and Svi (Mykhailiuk). I’ve been watching those guys for four years, so it was cool getting to meet them. I also talked with KU legend Sherron Collins for a minute, which was cool hearing from him.
“During my visit, Coach Howard just expressed to me that I’m one of their priorities,” he added. “It was great catching up with Coach Self and the rest of the coaching staff.”
Williamson couldn’t have scripted a better ending to his unofficial visit to Kansas on Saturday night. With ESPN College Gameday on hand, 16,300 fans jampacked inside Allen Fieldhouse and the best atmosphere in college basketball, KU, down by 12 points with 10 minutes left in the game and eight points with less than four minutes left on the clock, mounted a furious comeback in the closing minutes and stunned the Mountaineers, 77-69.
“The most impressive thing about the visit, besides the double-digit comeback, was the fan support and the noise in the arena,” said Williamson. “I’ve been to quite a few games this year and the atmosphere last night was head and shoulders above every other game I’ve been to.”