'Give him the ball and let him play': UA commit Brandon Williams healthy and thriving

If his doctor had his way, Brandon Williams’ All-American level senior season at Encino, California’s Crespi High School never would have begun.

In a sense, that might have been good for the Arizona Wildcats, too.

The UA commit is still technically free to join another college because he signed only non-binding scholarship papers last November. Sitting out would have kept Williams both off the radar from rival recruiters and better rested for his freshman season in 2018-19.

Williams had suffered from an unusual congenital bone issue near his knee, which took him off the court in July 2016 and after it initially failed to respond to treatment, required surgery in January 2017.

And, after all that, Williams had a college and pro career to protect. So why bother with high school?

“The doctor was like, ‘Why should I let him play?’” said Williams’ father, Chris Wright.

Williams and his dad made their case anyway, and won.

He started playing last fall with a restriction on his minutes, sometimes only 10 or 12, but quickly began cramming unrestricted production into them.

Before long, Wright said, Williams was scoring about 24 points a game while averaging just 19 minutes. He was cleared for full playing time after Christmas and now averages 24.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists, leading Crespi into California’s prestigious “Open Division” tournament this weekend.

Crespi started with a 63-53 loss at Mater Dei on Friday, but Williams still led his team with 15 points. He is expected to keep doing so the rest of Open Division play and into the state playoffs.

Williams wouldn’t expect himself to do anything else. While he declined comment to the Star until his season is over, his father and Crespi coach Russell White described a fiercely determined player who couldn’t wait to get on the floor after a year on the sidelines.

“We always felt that he should be fine, but we didn’t expect him to come out of the gate at a high level,” Wright said. “Even with his minutes restriction, it was like ‘Damn.’ We weren’t expecting that. But I always knew he was different, with his drive and motivation.”

Part of the surprise, White said, was that it was never known for sure what kind of player Williams would be as the featured piece at Crespi. As a sophomore in 2015-16, he was a secondary option on a team loaded with upperclass talent that included now-suspended USC guard De’Anthony Melton. And as a junior last season, he didn’t play at all.

What’s more, Williams played on a Cal Supreme club with fellow UA commit Shareef O’Neal and someone named Deandre Ayton, so he wasn’t exactly the only option there, either.

“I think being the go-to guy was and is still new for him and that’s what he was trying to improve in his game, being the best guy on the floor, being the leader,” White said. “But as far as his basketball skills, his quickness and strength, he’s been phenomenal. He’s averaging 29 points and 10 free throws in league (play). He’s just incredibly difficult to guard one-on-one.”

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Williams is also the point guard at Crespi. White said he’ll adapt to whatever is needed, playing more of a pure point guard role earlier in his high school career and with Cal Supreme.

That’s the kind of role he might slip back into at Arizona, but for this season, Williams is counted on to do it all.

“If he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, we’re probably not winning,” White says, chuckling. “He’s a scoring point guard. When he’s as talented as he is at this level, I try not to overthink it. It’s just, ‘Give him the ball and let him play.’

“Sometimes he tries to do too much, but that’s normal for players who have that ability. I think when he gets better players around him (he’ll score less). He’s not going to average 30 at U of A. But he scores so much for us because he’s the best at it and no one can stop him.”

That was no more clear than on the night of Jan. 24, when Williams scored 52 points to lead Crespi to an 89-82 overtime win over Alemany. According to the Los Angeles Times, Williams hit a bucket in the final seconds of regulation to tie the game at 75, then scored 12 of Crespi’s 14 points in overtime for the win.

By that point, it had long become obvious that the year off didn’t tarnish Williams’ game.

It accelerated it.

“I think he’s better than he was before,” White said. “The year off really motivated him, made him hungry, but also I think he’s probably as healthy as he’s been for a long, long time. He continued to lift weights during his time off, and with the rest and rehab, I think he’s quicker.”

Possibly because he didn’t play on the high-level recruiting circuits last summer, Williams didn’t make the cut for the McDonald’s All-American Game last month.

Nonetheless, college coaches are aware he’s playing like one.

Every now and then, Chris Wright will hear from one of them, just wondering, in case Williams changes his mind.

“That stuff has always been going on,” Wright said. “He’s a high-level recruit, and they understand the situation UA is in. They have to call and say, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ It’s a business. They can’t stand pat, but we’re not taking the calls seriously.”

White says Williams has been a “U of A guy since the first day I met him,” even wearing a Wildcats’ warmup before his senior night game.

“If he doesn’t go to UA, it’s not because he doesn’t want to,” White said. “It’s because something changed. That’s where he wants to go, and where he’s always wanted to go.”