The Recruiting Guy

Defensive lineman giving Hogs consideration

Michael Williams

Highly recruited defensive lineman Michael Williams, a Stanford commitment, said during an interview in May that there was a 50-50 chance he would visit Arkansas.

The odds of that happening look much better now after the standout from Fort Worth All Saints Episcopal said recently that he plans to take an official visit to Fayetteville.

Williams, 6-2 1/2, 300 pounds, 4.95 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is rated a four-star prospect by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network. Arkansas' lead recruiter for Williams is running backs coach Jemal Singleton.

"I haven't talked to him about a date, but I'm looking towards coming to the Auburn game," Williams said.

Williams said he likes smash-mouth football and views Arkansas as one of the more physical programs in the nation.

"I like schools that are physical," he said. "Like, Stanford is a physical school. Texas, they want to be physical, and Arkansas, I know they want to be physical.

"I feel like that fits me as a D-lineman and then I just like the way they play, the way they coach."

Williams, who reports having more than 40 scholarship offers from schools that include Arkansas, Stanford, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State and Oklahoma. He also has plans to take official visits to Stanford, Texas and Ohio State.

"The fifth is up in the air if I take it or not," Williams said.

He said Singleton doesn't waste time telling him what he wants during conversations.

"It's all about getting me down there to see Arkansas," Williams said.

Lemming sees Williams as being a major problem for college offenses.

"When you're talking about a run-stuffing defensive tackle, one of the first names that comes up is Michael Williams," Lemming said. "He is a wide-bodied, one-gap penetrator who shows good quickness, excellent use of hands and his motor is always running. Decent in pursuit, but he can stuff the middle like nobody's business."

Williams recorded 64 tackles, 8 tackles for losses, 1 sack and recovered 3 fumbles, including 1 for a touchdown. He has a 3.6 grade-point average and said he is leaning toward majoring in business.

Feeling at home will be a factor in where Williams ends up going to college. Williams is close to his mother, Tanisha Robertson, and he admits he has thought about the approximately 1,600 miles that would separate the two if he ends up at Stanford.

"I got to feel at home, because I know Stanford is a long way away no matter how I try to make it feel closer," Williams said.

He said his mother is young at heart.

"She tries to act like she's my age," he said. "She tries to do everything I do. All the social media I'm on, she's on. But she lets me make my own decisions. She tries to guide me instead of directing. She wants me to make decisions on my own."

HOOPS RATINGS

ESPN released its updated list of the Top 100 basketball prospects this week, and Bentonville guard Malik Monk remained the No. 5 overall recruit in the nation and the No. 1 shooting guard.

Monk, 6-4, 190 pounds, had a strong spring and summer with the Arkansas Wings and appears to have made a case to better his ranking. He is expected to announce the top schools he is considering in the near future.

A couple other prospects who have Arkansas among their leaders also made the list.

Point guard Jaylen Fisher, 6-2, 185, of Arlington (Tenn.) Bolton came as the No. 34 overall prospect and the No. 7 point guard in the nation, while power forward Tyler Cook, 6-9, 240, of St. Louis Chaminade College Prep is rated the No. 14 power forward and No. 53 overall prospect in the nation.

E-mail Richard Davenport at

rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 08/28/2015