KU still has plenty of options after four-star forward Samuell Williamson picks Louisville

By Matt Tait     Sep 18, 2018

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

A few hours after [new Kansas basketball commitment Christian Braun made his pledge official,][1] a former KU target ranked in No. 34 overall in the class of 2019 ended his recruitment elsewhere.

Small forward Samuell Williamson, a 6-foot-7, four-star prospect from Rockwall, Texas, orally committed to Louisville on Monday evening via Twitter.

Williamson, who had KU in his list of finalists and had taken an official visit to KU’s campus a few weeks ago, picked the Cardinals over KU, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

Williamson’s commitment came as little surprise around the recruiting world and might have been a byproduct of Braun committing to Kansas.

“It’s not a surprise,” KUsports.com recruiting insider Matt Scott said on Monday night. “It’s not like Kansas didn’t like him. They did, or they wouldn’t have recruited him. It’s that sometimes you go with who you think might be a better fit, and that might be the case here. Or it might have been that Samuell liked Louisville, which I know he did — Louisville and Oklahoma.”

Monday’s action means KU moves forward with one commitment in its back pocket and a number of top-tier targets still available. Some Kansas fans appear to have taken the Williamson news a little hard given the fact that the 4-star forward with the killer mid-range game [recently called KU his “dream school.”][2] But Scott said Williamson’s decision to go elsewhere is not an indication of a failure by the Kansas coaching staff.

“There’s other guys out there that they’re interested in,” Scott said of KU’s recruiting status. “Let’s say Christian and Samuell both picked Kansas, well that might eliminate them (KU) from some guys that maybe they think are better fits with Christian and who they think will be back next year.”

KU remains in hot pursuit of five-star talents Matt Hurt and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl — both Top 10 forwards according to Rivals.com — and also is still the hunt for four-star shooting guard Cassius Stanley, who is ranked No. 31 on the Rivals 150 and has plans to visit KU for Late Night on Sept. 28.

[Stanley recently welcomed KU coach Bill Self and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend to North Hollywood, Calif., for an in-home visit][3] and is down to a final eight of KU, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Maryland, Texas, UCLA and USC.

Robinson-Earl also will visit for Late Night, along with the following prospects: Braun (unofficially); James Wiseman (5-star center from Memhpis, ranked No. 2 in 2019 class); R.J. Hampton (5-star point guard ranked No. 5 in 2020 class); Chandler Lawson (No. 87 in 2019 class) and Jonathan Lawson (youngest of the Lawson brothers); Isaac McBride (4-star point guard ranked No. 109 in 2019 class); Anthony Walker (4-star power forward ranked No. 76 in 2019 class); Ty Berry (3-star point guard ranked No. 121 in 2020 class); and Bryce Thompson (4-star shooting guard ranked No. 66 in 2020 class).

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2018/sep/17/christian-braun-commitment/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2018/aug/30/class-of-2019-sf-samuell-williamson-read/
[3]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/ku-recruiting-scoop/2018/sep/13/another-2019-star-to-visit-for-late-nigh/

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.