It's not often that you see a native son of Richmond growing up rooting for VCU having an opportunity to play for the Rams, but that is exactly what happened in the case of Jonathan Williams. Williams is a jet-quick 6'0, 172-pound point guard who grew up here and moved to New Jersey to play high school basketball <a href="http://www.masslive.com/hoophallclassic/index.ssf/2013/01/jonathan_williams_finding_new.html">at St. Patrick's until it closed and then at St. Benedict's</a>.  He was in attendance for the Butler game and Shaka Smart and VCU accepted his commitment shortly afterwards.
<a href="http://www.vcuramnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/8403876110_a2d49394ea_z.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10507" alt="8403876110_a2d49394ea_z" src="http://www.vcuramnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/8403876110_a2d49394ea_z-300x252.jpg" width="300" height="252" /></a>
Growing up, Williams was guided by one of the greatest players in VCU history in Pastor Calvin Duncan, whose jersey is proudly displayed in the rafters at the Siegel Center. Jonathan's love for Richmond and VCU is very strong, opting to play for the local Team Loaded AAU program instead of AAU programs in the Northeast. He picked up his first offer from Big 10 school Wisconsin as a sophomore as he was recruited heavily by Badger assistant Lamont Paris, who coached for a year with Shaka Smart at Akron under Coach Keith Dambrot.
VCU was always his favorite school throughout the recruiting process which he has been very vocal about. He's actually come out and said he's committed to VCU in the past on a number of occasions. That discouraged many suitors much like the recruitment of 2012 top 100 prospect Jordan Burgess. That said he had an offers in hand from Wisconsin, Fordham, UCF, FAU, Wagner, and heavy interest from most of the Atlantic 10 as well as Hofstra, UVA, and Big East schools Rutgers and Seton Hall.
Williams is a flat-out WINNER both on and off the court. He has the intangibles you look for in a point guard in Shaka Smart's system and is a relentless presser. Despite being a shorter guard he can finish above the rim and has great court vision. His weakness is primarily his perimeter shooting, which has been a point of emphasis for him in his junior year. He's playing on a stacked 28-1 St. Benedict's squad under Coach Mark Taylor that is ranked 9th in the country backing up 2013 Syracuse-bound PG Tyler Ennis. VCU is building a little bit of a St. Benedict's pipeline with 2012 top 100 recruit Melvin Johson and now Jonathan Williams committing to the Rams in the last couple of years.
Here are some video clips of VCU's newest addition, he wears #12 for St. Benedict's:
http://youtu.be/g-fQS77fAqc
http://youtu.be/gaEjhf3WFes
<a href="http://www.vcuramnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/8403876110_a2d49394ea_z.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10507" alt="8403876110_a2d49394ea_z" src="http://www.vcuramnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/8403876110_a2d49394ea_z-300x252.jpg" width="300" height="252" /></a>
Growing up, Williams was guided by one of the greatest players in VCU history in Pastor Calvin Duncan, whose jersey is proudly displayed in the rafters at the Siegel Center. Jonathan's love for Richmond and VCU is very strong, opting to play for the local Team Loaded AAU program instead of AAU programs in the Northeast. He picked up his first offer from Big 10 school Wisconsin as a sophomore as he was recruited heavily by Badger assistant Lamont Paris, who coached for a year with Shaka Smart at Akron under Coach Keith Dambrot.
VCU was always his favorite school throughout the recruiting process which he has been very vocal about. He's actually come out and said he's committed to VCU in the past on a number of occasions. That discouraged many suitors much like the recruitment of 2012 top 100 prospect Jordan Burgess. That said he had an offers in hand from Wisconsin, Fordham, UCF, FAU, Wagner, and heavy interest from most of the Atlantic 10 as well as Hofstra, UVA, and Big East schools Rutgers and Seton Hall.
Williams is a flat-out WINNER both on and off the court. He has the intangibles you look for in a point guard in Shaka Smart's system and is a relentless presser. Despite being a shorter guard he can finish above the rim and has great court vision. His weakness is primarily his perimeter shooting, which has been a point of emphasis for him in his junior year. He's playing on a stacked 28-1 St. Benedict's squad under Coach Mark Taylor that is ranked 9th in the country backing up 2013 Syracuse-bound PG Tyler Ennis. VCU is building a little bit of a St. Benedict's pipeline with 2012 top 100 recruit Melvin Johson and now Jonathan Williams committing to the Rams in the last couple of years.
Here are some video clips of VCU's newest addition, he wears #12 for St. Benedict's:
http://youtu.be/g-fQS77fAqc
http://youtu.be/gaEjhf3WFes
