Mike Bibby and Shaquille O’Neal made quite the splash with the addition of Mikey Williams. The former five-star recruit will play college basketball at Sacramento State next season.
He is one of the most talented players in the country who never quite panned out. Legal issues and injuries have not allowed him to reach his full potential.
Williams, a combo guard, was at one point ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the college basketball recruiting Class of 2023 and projected as a top-five recruit. NBA stars like LeBron James took notice of his talent. More than three million people follow him on Instagram. He is a massive star.
The San Diego area-native had more than 25 offers from some of the most historic blue blood programs, like Kansas, but he was also (if not primarily) considering a number of different HBCUs like Howard, Jackson State, Tennessee State and Alabama State. It was a whirlwind.
Amid all of the uncertainty, Williams started to fall in the rankings and dropped to a four-star rating. Nobody knew where he was going to go. Memphis ultimately received his commitment.
However, Mikey Williams did not play for the Tigers.
The 19-year-old was arrested prior to his freshman season in connection to a non-injury shooting. He allegedly opened fire on a car outside of his home and faced decades in prison if convicted of nine felony charges. A plea deal ultimately allowed him to get off easy with just one year of probation. His felony criminal threats conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor.
Mikey Williams was cleared to play college basketball.
Williams later transferred to UCF for the 2024-25 season. Head coach Johnny Dawkins was thrilled with his performance during practice. The Knights were going to run their offense through their new five-star guard. And then he got injured.
Not only did Williams miss the first two months of the year, his minutes were extremely limited upon return. He only played more than 20 minutes for the first time in mid-February. He averaged only 5.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 14 minutes over an 18-game stretch.
Mikey Williams decided to re-enter the transfer portal at the end of March. The “controversial” rising redshirt sophomore committed to Sacramento State over Long Island on Tuesday night.
This is the second commitment of the Mike Bibby and Shaquille O’Neal era at Sacramento State. Bibby is the head coach. O’Neal is the (volunteer) general manager. His son, Shaqir O’Neal, was the first commitment of the new regime. Mikey Williams is the latest!