Jordan Williams Reviews Maryland Visit

After sealing the deal with one impact frontcourt recruit – Brooklyn center James Padgett -- Friday, the Maryland men’s basketball staff was hoping to wrap up another over the weekend. TurtleSportsReport.com’s Jeff Ermann caught up with Connecticut power forward Jordan Williams shortly after his official visit ended, and here’s the latest …

Williams thoroughly enjoyed his visit, which as usual consisted of spending time with the player and coaches, touring the campus and reviewing the academic and athletic facilities. Head coach Gary Williams arrived Saturday from a coaching clinic and joined Jordan Williams, his family and other members of the coaching staff for dinner at Ruth Chris steakhouse. This morning they convened again for breakfast before he left town and headed back to his home in Torrington, CT.

“It was a really good visit,” said Williams, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound senior who the staff has made a top priority in 2009. Williams “told me about how they just got a commitment from James Padgett and how the two of us would really compliment each other, and how he wanted to have the two of us together all along.”

In such a scenario, Williams would play the power forward spot while Padgett would man the middle. Though it may come to fruition, Williams isn’t in the fold yet; he didn’t verbally commit while in town. He said even if he’d wanted to commit, he wouldn’t have because he’d already scheduled a visit next weekend at St. John’s, where head coach Norm Roberts has been recruiting him for a good while.

“I gave Norm Roberts my word that I would visit and give St. John’s a chance,” said Williams, who also has offers from Villanova, Georgetown, Connecticut, Xavier and Notre Dame and Providence, along with several others. He’s rated by Scout.com as the No. 16 center and No. 99 player overall nationally.

While in town, Williams was approached by several people who either knew who he was, or who had deduced he was a basketball recruit. They told him, of course, that he should commit to Maryland. That sentiment was echoed by the two players he spent most of his weekend with – Landon Milbourne and Sean Mosley.

“They’re good guys, I like them a lot. They’re cool, they just told me to take my time, that it’s a big decision. But they also told me about it’s a great spot and how they’d like me to be on their team,” he said.

“The campus was really nice. It seemed huge at first and kind of overwhelming but by the end of the weekend I was used to it. They also had some students riding around on scooters, and I thought that was cool.”

Williams said it’s likely he’ll make a decision not to long after his visit to St. John’s last weekend, which would seem to play in Maryland’s favor. Nothing is done yet, but the Terps appear to be in a very good position with Williams.