How Much Did Zion Williamson Grow His Senior Year of High School
SEC
10 things to know about Next Big Thing: Zion Williamson
Chris Wright | 4 years ago
Zion Williamson is the No. 3-ranked basketball player in the country.
His name, game and legend have grown far beyond his small hometown of Spartanburg, S.C.
Tonight, Williamson will announce where he plans to play college basketball for the 2018-19 season. Kentucky and South Carolina are among his six finalists.
Here are 10 things to know the YouTube sensation many compare to the next LeBron:
1. Just like Mike, he grew — a lot — in high school. Michael Jordan famously was cut as a 5-11 sophomore, forced to play JV for Laney High School. Jordan grew to 6-6 by the time he left Laney for UNC, but his guard skills never left him. Williamson wasn't quite that small, but he was about 5-8 as an 8th-grader and a slender 6-3 point guard as a freshman. He's 6-7 now (nobody can agree on his weight, though The State just reported it's 275), but he grew up as a point guard. Those skills explain why he looks so smooth and comfortable handling the ball on all of those breakaways.
2. His parents were college athletes, too. His dad, Lateef Williamson, earned a scholarship to play football at N.C. State but transferred and played at Livingstone College. It was there he met Sharonda Sampson, who ran track at Livingston. Mom also coached Zion until he got to high school.
3. He's Next. There's only one LeBron, and the comparisons are unfair and unrealistic, but Williamson has been targeted as a future NBA star. The celebrities have known his name for years.
https://twitter.com/MaxPreps/status/821173015534661632
4. He does windmill dunks. During games. Remember Jadeveon Clowney's high school highlights video? In terms of man-vs.-child, Williamson is very much the basketball equivalent. He's a YouTube star like Eddy Pineiro.
BEAST ALERT SLATT Full Video Up Zion Williamson is JUST Getting Started! The Best Dunks from Last Season https://t.co/3zdBseZcZD pic.twitter.com/f9Ut12W8qC
— RecruitVidzApp (@recruitvidzapp) November 14, 2017
5. Wofford was the first school to offer him a scholarship. Wofford, a small college in Spartanburg, offered him a scholarship after his freshman season at Spartanburg Day.
6. Six schools are on his final list. They are, in alphabetical order: Clemson, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. Williamson hasn't publicly put them in any kind of order. The 247Sports.com Crystal Ball heavily favors nearby Clemson at 78 percent. UNC, Kentucky, South Carolina and Kansas each got 4 percent.
7. Clemson has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2011. The Tigers lost their opening-round game that year, too. But that might not matter. Ben Simmons chose LSU in 2015-16 and didn't make the NCAA Tournament. Michael Porter, the No. 2 player last year, picked Missouri, which hasn't made the tourney since 2013 and hasn't reached the second round since 2010.
If the predictors are right and he chooses Clemson, maybe Dabo Swinney can get him on the football field. It's not difficult to envision him as an red-zone receiver or edge rusher.
8. Wherever he goes, he isn't expected to be there long. Since he emerged three years ago, he's been viewed as a one-and-done college star, already projected as a top-5 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
9. He beats up on big boys, too. Spartanburg Day is a 2A program, and Williamson has led the Griffins to two consecutive independent school state championships. (They'll go for a third this spring.) But he's been a monster on the AAU circuit as well, winning MVPs and dunk contests against the best players in the nation. He won a noted, televised dual with LaMelo Ball last summer to capture an Adidas tournament in Las Vegas. NBA players showed up.
10. He chose to announce Jan. 20 because it's his mom's birthday. Happy birthday.
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An award-winning editor with previous stints at the Miami Herald, The Indianapolis Star and News & Observer, Executive Editor Chris Wright oversees editorial operations for Saturday Down South. Follow him on Twitter @CWrightSDS.
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How Much Did Zion Williamson Grow His Senior Year of High School
Source: https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/10-things-know-next-big-thing-zion-williamson/
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