There have almost certainly been better high school basketball prospects than Zion Williamson. The 6’7 forward from South Carolina is the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2018 on 247Sports Composite rating, meaning that he isn’t even the best recruit in his own class.
But my goodness, Williamson is definitely one of the most fun prospects we’ve ever seen. If you wanted to make the argument that he’s the most fun high school basketball player ever, we’d listen (it’s probably LeBron James, but we’d still listen to the argument for Williamson). He is an extremely talented and athletic basketball player who regularly goes up against opponents who don’t look like they’re on his level, meaning that the highlights he produces are routinely hilarious.
The latest Williamson highlight tape is this wonderful video. It is seven minutes and 37 seconds of hilarity. I implore you to clear your schedule and watch the entire thing, count how many times you laugh.
It’s completely insane. Williamson is able to consistently jump high enough so his eyes are at the rim. While his thunderous dunks are the things that have brought him so much attention, the best part of this tape is easily the number of ruthless blocks. High school basketball is largely played below the rim, whereas Williamson plays almost exclusively above the rim, so this makes for a hilarious dynamic.
Also: he hits some threes. Imagine what Williamson will be in college if he’s still able to highlight his athleticism but he’s also able to hit shots from the perimeter. That would be horrifying.
Currently, Williamson’s 247Sports Crystal Ball has 10 predictions. Eight of them have him going to Duke, one for North Carolina, and one for Clemson.
(Via SLAM)
