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Zion Williamson is preparing to announce where he will be playing college basketball next season.
Williamson, a consensus top three recruit in the 2018 class, is making his decision live on ESPN2 tonight at 8:15, the same time scheduled for tip-off of the Kentucky vs Florida game.
If you want to watch the announcement, you can either tune into ESPN2 at that time, or you can use WatchESPN by going to this link. You can also stream it on your phone using the WatchESPN App.
The State is now streaming the event:
Watch Zion Williamson announce his college choice at 8 pm:
Posted by The State Newspaper on Saturday, January 20, 2018
We’ll post a replay of the announcement in here once it’s up.
Williamson is likely deciding between five schools, including Kentucky, Clemson, South Carolina, Duke, and North Carolina.
Most people think Williamson will ultimately choose Clemson, which is just about an hour from his hometown of Spartanburg. Being close to home has reportedly been a major priority for Williamson and his family.
However, the NBA is one of the ultimate goals for Williamson, and Kentucky is the premier spot for preparing for the NBA.
Most believe Duke, UNC, and South Carolina are on the outside looking in, but Williamson hasn’t ruled them out, so nobody should be too surprised if he chooses one of the outsider schools.
Recruiting guru Evan Daniels says as much, though it’s a group of Carolina schools who he’s hearing the most buzz about in this recruitment:
I’ve been asked more about Zion Williamson’s decision more than any recruit in recent memory.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) January 20, 2018
I Crystal Ball’d Clemson two weeks ago. I am admittedly not confident. Clemson, North Carolina & South Carolina have all the buzz down the stretch.
There’s also this from KSR’s Matt Jones:
Talked to 4 different national recruiting folks today on Zion...one said Clemson, one said UNC, one said UK and one said “Clemson, UNC or South Carolina”....I honestly think no one knows for sure...which is rare
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) January 20, 2018
If Williamson were to land at UK, it would be a major victory for Calipari and the Wildcats after losing out on several top recruits lately. Williamson would give the Wildcats some much-needed starpower at the top of the 2018 class. Kentucky already has some very-talented backcourt players but Williamson could slide right in with his good friend Immanuel Quickley, Keldon Johnson, and Tyler Herro next year. ‘
Most of the momentum, however, is trending toward Clemson with 88 percent of the Crystal Ball picks favoring the Tigers.
Maybe Zion shocks everyone and picks Kentucky, but things keep sounding like it will be Clemson.