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Zion Williamson will make his college announcement on January 20th, but his decision may already be made.
That would explain why one school continues to get all of the buzz with the elite forward. At one time, it was Kentucky getting that buzz, but in recent months, Clemson has been the school getting it.
In a 247 Sports recruiting roundtable, Evan Daniels, Brian Snow, Jerry Meyer and Josh Gershon all think Clemson is the likely destination for Williamson. Meyer, Daniels and Gershon have since changed their Crystal Ball picks to Clemson.
Adding to that KSR’s Matt Jones, who has long thought Kentucky was the pick, is now going with Clemson.
After talking to folks in Lexington today, I get the sense “Zion to Clemson” buzz is real. The Jan 20 decision date has led to pessimism. 2 weeks a long time but Clemson is now (for the first time) my pick
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) January 4, 2018
That’s also the case with Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader:
I was told this week he was moving toward being all-in with a Clemson decision and was almost ready to make that public. And now he has set a date. So, unless something changed in a big way, it looks pretty good for the Tigers.
— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) January 4, 2018
It’s one thing for national media to say a school like Clemson is getting all the buzz, but seeing Kentucky media saying the same shows just how good of a spot Clemson is in.
All told, Kentucky is still in great shape for next season. Assuming Kevin Knox and Hamidou Diallo leave for the NBA Draft, Kentucky still has the potential to have a special team that ‘might’ look like this:
G: Quade Green, Immanuel Quickley
G: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyler Herro, Jemarl Baker
F: Keldon Johnson, Wenyen Gabriel
F: PJ Washington, Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Nick Richards, Sacha Killeya-Jones, Tai Wynyard
Then you’ve got the potential to add someone like Moses Brown (or even James Wiseman) to the mix, making for as deep of a 13-man roster as you can ask for.
That’s also likely a big reason why Williamson has been trending away from Kentucky for some time now. He sees that Kentucky is going to be stacked next season, making it harder for him to be the alpha dog, something he’s all but assured of being at Clemson.
Still, if Williamson ultimately picks Clemson, it will be a big sting for Kentucky.