Colorado landed its second commit of the 2023 cycle on Wednesday, when four-star forward Cody Williams announced his intention to sign with the Buffaloes. Below, Rivals Rob Cassidy explores what CU is getting in the 6-foot-8 forward and examines what it means for the Buffaloes in the long term.
WHAT COLORADO IS GETTING
Williams’s trajectory should be encouraging to Colorado fans, as the Arizona native seems to get stronger and more skilled with each passing month. Sure, he’ll need to add more muscle down the road, but his performance playing for Vegas Elite in the EYBL was enough to earn him a massive rankings bump and a surge of summer offers. Williams is all of 6-foot-8 and spent the summer showing he can score in multiple ways, be it in the post, in transition or via open look from beyond the arc. Last year at this time, he was known as a one-dimensional scorer that did most of his damage at the rack, but he’s clearly worked to become a more reliable outside shooter. Williams is not a dead-eye sniper by any means, but significant progress on that front has been made. His length obviously lends itself to defensive versatility even if he’ll need to add more muscle to realize his potential on that front. A bet in Williams is a bet on his massive upside, which is obvious to anyone that has watched him. He could be in line for yet another bump in ranking when rankings refresh next month.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE BUFFALOES
Head coach Tad Boyle deserves plenty of credit for holding off schools like Arizona State in addition to Santa Clara, where Williams’ older brother became a star. Williams is Colorado’s second commit of the 2023 cycle and pairs with 6-foot-4 guard Courtney Anderson Jr., on the Buffs’ commitment list. Colorado’s class doesn’t lack length or scoring ability. That much is clear, even if it projects to be a smaller class from a numbers standpoint. William’s represents the highest-ranked recruit the Buffaloes have signed since Rivals started ranking players in 2002.
IN HIS WORDS
“[Tad Boyle] believed in me and thought I could make a huge impact in the program right from the get-go. So that's obviously something that catches my eye. If I'm not talking to the head coach or they don't see me playing as a freshman then there's no point." – Williams to CUSportsReport earlier this month
"It was nice. My brother's from there, he was born in Denver, like 45 minutes from Boulder. It was a nice visit just like with the rest of the schools, I had the time of my life and it was fun. So it was a good visit," – Williams to CUSportsReport earlier this month
