Prospect Spotlight: AJ Williams (2021)
The Varina Blue Devils play for the Class 5 State Championship tonight, and it’s been one of their youngest players who has taken the reigns as one of the leaders this season. Despite being just a freshman, combo guard AJ Williams has become one of the best scorers in Richmond.
While he hit the ground running, he has continued to learn and get better as the season has gone on.
“It’s been a journey, we’ve fought through adversity early in the season, but we’re just making it through by practicing hard, working hard, watching a lot of film and staying in the gym and staying prepared,” he said.
As the Blue Devils have improved, so has Williams, and while his ability to shoot the basketball and score in transition has been what has stood out, it’s not all that he’s focused on. The team has continued to preach effort and defense throughout the year, and with the state championship within reach it’s one of the things Williams is focusing on most.
“We all need to play a lot of defense, me included, I need to make plays and come up with some steals for my team,” he said.
As for moving forward, he knows that he has to get better with the ball in his hands. He’s a lights out shooter already, but he’s looking to become more of a point guard that can create off the bounce.
“I need to work on getting in the paint more, dribble pull-ups and just attacking the paint off the bounce.”
Despite just being a freshman, his reputation is already getting out there. Williams has real interest from high and midmajor schools such as Oklahoma State, UVA, VCU and ODU, which are just some of the colleges that have already reached out to him.
With his maturity on and off the court, and the fact that he’s only going to get better moving forward, expect for Williams to be one of the most coveted players in the state over the next few years.