5-star safety Jonah Williams names top 7 schools
Galveston (Texas) Ball five-star safety Jonah Williams is down to seven schools in his recruitment, he announced on Friday with On3’s Hayes Fawcett.
The programs he’ll consider going forward include Oklahoma, LSU, Texas A&M, Texas, Oregon, USC and Ohio State.
The Sooners are currently the favorite in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), but Williams has official visits scheduled to LSU, Oregon, Ohio State and USC this summer as well.
Williams is coming off visits to two of his finalists — Texas A&M and Ohio State — and had high praise for both. The in-state Aggies have made him a top priority since new head coach Mike Elko took over in December, and they’re very much in the mix right now.
“Coach Elko is a safeties coach so you know the development there is gonna be great,” Williams told On3’s Steve Wiltfong. “And Coach Ishmael is a great overall coach that creates real relationships with recruits.”
Williams said a lot of the same after his visit a few weeks ago.
“Just the coaching staff excites me on a different level,” he stated. “The player development these coaches have going seems to turn A&M into the right direction.”
Buckeyes also impressing Williams
Ohio State’s revamped staff in the defensive secondary has also made a strong connection with Williams, who will officially visit Columbus the weekend of June 14.
“The spring game experience was great,” Williams told Lettermen Row. “The atmosphere of 80,000 people at a spring game is crazy!”
Spending time with the coaching staff was a highlight of his latest visit to Ohio State, though.
“I spent time with Coach Day, Coach G (Matt Guerrieri), and Coach (Michael) Hunter,” Williams shared. “Their message to me was that I am going to be an impact player in the 2025 class if I were to commit and that they see me as a safety in the recruiting process.”
The On3 Industry Ranking tabs Williams as the nation’s No. 10 prospect and No. 1 safety.
As a junior, Williams turned 20 receptions into 474 yards and eight touchdowns with two more rushing scores. On defense he had 58 tackles, four interceptions (three pick sixes), two fumble recoveries (one returned for a score), eight passes defended and a forced fumble. On special teams he returned two kicks for six and two punts for touchdowns.