6-8 2020 swingman Ziaire Williams (Sierra Canyon/Chatsworth CA) has picked Stanford in a Easter Day decision over his other finalists Arizona, USC, UCLA and North Carolina. Williams is huge pick up for Stanford and a tremendous shot in the arm for Cardinal coach Jerod Haase as he attempts to get over the hump and into the top tier of the Pac-12. Stanford associate head coach Adam Cohen quickly identified Ziaire as a Stanford priority recruit since his HS freshman year and his intense recruiting efforts have paid off.
Long and fluid athlete with excellent scoring skills has come a long way since he was a budding 6-3 freshman guard at Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks CA) where he spent his first three years of high school before electing to spend his senior season at SoCal powerhouse Sierra Canyon.
Started and ended his AAU career with Robert Icart’s BTI program although he participated in the 2019 Nike EYBL with the Oakland Soldiers. Williams last AAU tourney was with BTI at last August’s Earl Watson Fantastic 40 in Las Vegas where his terrific play resulted in him being selected to the all-tourney team. “The life after basketball piece at Stanford provides an unique opportunity for players like Ziaire that have both elite athletic and academic backgrounds. That was very important for him and his family” says Icart.
Williams game winning shot at the buzzer in Sierra Canyon’s come from behind CIF-State Regional Final 63-61 win over Etiwanda (CA) on March 10th was not only his last career HS bucket but also the last FG made by a CIF-Southern Section player in 2020 as the CIF State office cancelled the CIF State Finals in Sacramento a day later.
Ziaire was named 2020 Los Angeles Times Player of the Year (despite only becoming athletically eligible on December 30, 2019 – the last day of the Classic at Damien when Sierra Canyon faced Rancho Christian/Temecula CA in the tourney title game.
Williams is currently ranked #5 in Van Coleman’s Nothing But Net Magazine national 2020 rankings and was a member of USA Basketball’s U19 World Cup Gold Medal squad last summer in Crete, Greece.
He was also a Pangos All-American Camp participant in 2018 (invited again in 2019 but did not play due to injury) and an all-tourney pick at the 2018 Terrific 24 in Indianapolis IN.
