Caleb Williams discusses new offers/recruitment and Peach Jam
Team Takeover 16U was one of the many DMV AAU teams who recently celebrated a championship. Participating on the EYBL Circuit, Team Takeover was crowned champions of Peach Jam, which is viewed as the most highly-regarded grassroots event to many scouts and college coaches. Helping lead that effort was 6-foot-7 lefty guard Caleb Williams Caleb Williams 6'7" | SF Sidwell Friends | 2024 State #93 Nation MD .
“It was my first Peach Jam since last year I got hurt right before it,” Williams told Prep Hoops. “It was great to finally experience the moment. Definitely a great environment packed with coaches and fans. I feel like I performed well. I did whatever I had to in order to contribute to our team’s success.
Williams has what everyone looks for in off-ball guards/wings. He has good size at 6-foot-7, length, fluidity, and versatility both as a scorer and defender.
“I had more of a scoring role for my team this spring and summer, but there were games throughout Peach Jam where my shot wasn’t falling like usual so I had to find other ways to be effective. Rebounding more, playing defense and just being more of a leader. Helping the guys fight through adversity when it hit us.”
“I really worked on my body just getting quicker, faster and stronger,” Williams said as he reflected on his improvements since the spring. “It’s still something that I’m continuing to build on. Also just focusing on becoming more of a confident guard with the ball in my hands. I feel like I’ve always had a decent IQ, but just tightening my handle. I usually can see over the defense, which helps me make plays for others, but I want to have a tighter handle for when we need that extra ball-handler on the floor.”
As a result of his play, Williams’ recruitment is picking up significantly with his most recent offers coming from Villanova and Indiana. Other programs such as Georgia Tech (Williams will visit unofficially at the end of August), Maryland, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgetown and Ole Miss all remain in consistent contact with Williams. He spoke to Prep Hoops on his relationship with a few schools included on this list.
Villanova:
“It was a few days after Peach Jam when assistant coach Dwayne Anderson reached out. I had already met him when me and some other teammates went up to the Hoops Mania event that they had before the season. The next day is when the head coach Kyle Neptune had called me and we just talked. It was actually really good because we talked a lot about stuff outside of basketball. We talked basketball too, but it was just good to see a hopeful relationship starting to build because we were able to connect on so many things off the court.”
Indiana:
“Assistant coach Kenya Hunter, I had met him at Peach Jam orginially. He called the day I had got the offer from head coach Mike Woodson. That’s also another relationship that I’m looking forward to building.”
Georgia Tech:
“I’ve talked a good amount with assistant coach Brian Eskildsen and head coach Pastner. They’ve reached out to be for a while, so I know that they’re interested and I love the relationship that I have with them. We’ve had our relationship for a longer time than some of the other programs I’m talking to. They reached out after the DC Live period and we’ve been working on building a relationship ever since.”
Penn State:
“I actually just talked with Coach Farrelly the other day. I talk with the head coach, Coach Shrews, and Coach Collins. I have a long relationship with them and that means a lot.”
Maryland:
“I got off the phone with Coach Cox the other day. Coach Willard reached out to me before the championship game at Peach Jam just wishing me good luck. We’ve built a good relationship there as well.”
Virginia Tech:
“I go back with associate head coach Mike Jones since I was very young. That’s something we always touch base on and something that kind of differentiates them from some of the other schools.”
Williams check in at No. 3 in our 2024 Prep Hoops MD/DC player rankings.