7/27/2023 basketball Edit

Rutgers Basketball lands Iowa State transfer guard Jeremiah Williams

Richie O'Leary • TheKnightReport

Publisher

Rutgers Basketball added another offseason transfer as former Temple and Iowa State guard Jeremiah Williams made the decision to commit to the Scarlet Knights following a visit to campus.

The 6-foot-4, 177-pound guard is a Chicago, Illinois native that played for Simeon High School before enrolling at Temple as a member of the 2020 recruiting class.

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During his two seasons with the Owls, Williams averaged 9.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 42.4% from the field and then decided to enter the transfer portal prior to the 2022-23 season where he would end up committing to Iowa State.

Now that's where things got a little complicated for Williams as he ended up missing this lone season with the Cyclones as he tore his achilles in practice back in October 2022. After that lone season, Williams decided to re-enter the portal again this offseason and pretty quickly committed to Illinois on June 1st, only to decommit a few weeks later on June 23rd and that's when Rutgers got involved.

Once the Scarlet Knights got involved, it seemed as though they had the best shot at him despite other programs such as Gonzaga, San Jose State and a few others making a push as well.

Williams will have to apply for a waiver in order to be eligible for this season since it is his second time transferring, but combine that with his achilles rehab and it might be in his best interest to sit out this season altogether as he has two years of eligibility remaining.

WHAT IS RUTGERS GETTING IN WILLIAMS?

He plays a simple game, doesn't do anything too crazy as he's a solid guard prospect that can dish the rock pretty nicely, although he does turn it over a bit averaging a 2.02 assist to turnover ratio. He can also get you a few buckets per game as well, averaging just under 10 points per game in his first two seasons (9.4ppg). However the best aspect of his game might be his defense as he's known as a great on-ball defender and that's what intrigues the coaching staff the most because if he can get back to full health and the staff can teach him a few more defensive tricks then he could become a next level defender as so many have in the past under this coaching staff.