Prospect Spotlight: Mark Williams (2020)
Some schools are known for producing top basketball talent year in and year out, and while Norfolk Academy is a very prestigious academic school, it isn’t known for producing high level division one basketball players.
However, times have changed, and Norfolk Academy has their second impressive freshman big man in the past two seasons. After 6’10” Dave McCormack turned heads at NA before heading to Oak Hill Academy for his junior season, he passed the torch off to Mark Williams, who is on pace to be another big time recruit from the small private school.
The 6’9” Williams came on strong during the second half of the season for Norfolk Academy, who finished much higher in the TCIS after being picked dead last in the preseason polls after the departure of McCormack. While they both are big and come from Norfolk Academy, they aren’t the same players on the court.
“It was pretty good,” Williams said about the season. “We started pretty slow, but we hit our stride after our tournament in North Carolina.”
McCormack is intimidating as a powerful big man that’s surprisingly quick and athletic. Williams isn’t as physically big or powerful, but he’s more skilled and perimeter oriented. He has length and runs the floor well allowing him to hit the glass and protect the rim, but he can also shoot it from deep, and that in itself should fit in perfectly in the AAU scene.
“I just want to show my ability to stretch the floor at my size and get my name out there,” Williams said about this summer with Team Loaded. “I know I need to improve defensively, staying down and sliding my feet, contesting every shot without fouling.”
A good student in the classroom too, Williams is just now getting on the radar of college coaches, and they should be very intrigued with what they see. His mix of physical tools, skill set for his age and upside as he continues to grow means that he should only get better with time.
But for all I’m saying about him, there’s no one better to explain his game than Mark himself.
“I can spread the floor, I have the ability to shoot it from deep but also bang inside. I think I use my length pretty well defensively, and I just need to find ways to impact the game.”
Once he gets more game experience, especially playing on the Adidas Gauntlet this summer, he’s bound to take off on recruiting boards every where.