Why is Avantae Williams visiting UM this weekend? It’s all about loyalty for elite safety
With less than a month until Avantae Williams has to make his final decision, the Florida Gators are the assumed destination for the four-star safety by prognosticators. Florida holds 80 percent of the predictions in the 247Sports.com Crystal Ball and a trip to Gainesville is on the horizon.
Williams’ recruitment has had plenty of twists before, though. The four-star safety originally orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes before his sophomore year in 2017, then backed off the pledge in 2018. He then committed to the Oregon Ducks, only to decommit last month just a few weeks before the early signing period. Miami will get a final shot to get him back in the fold this weekend.
Williams has three weekends left to take official visits before he signs his national letter of intent next month and the Hurricanes are hosting one of the final ones — he even scrapped a trip out to Hawaii for the Polynesian Bowl to make room for it. Those relationships Williams has had with Miami’s coaching staff since he was an underclassman at DeLand are the reason.
“They’ve been with him from the start, and we talk a lot about loyalty and as he’s trying to pare down these visits, it kind of came down to this one or that one, this one or that one,” Bulldogs coach Steve Allen said Thursday. “I just pointed out to him that those guys have been with him the whole time, and if it comes down to them and someone who hasn’t been, I think the right thing to do — and the prudent thing to do — is to go with the people who have shown love the whole time and so that’s a part of that. I talked to him today and he’s excited about coming.”
Williams will spend the next three days in Coral Gables for one of his final three official visits before he signs his national letter of intent on National Signing Day in February. He’ll then follow up his visit by heading to North Central Florida next Friday for an official visit with the Gators. While he hasn’t locked in an official visit for the final weekend before Signing Day, the Georgia Bulldogs are the other team in serious contention for the elite defensive back.
Defensive backs are a priority for the Hurricanes before National Signing Day — four-star cornerback Isaiah Dunson from Tucker in Georgia is the Hurricanes’ other official visitor this weekend — and Williams is the top remaining unsigned defensive back in the 247Sports.com composite rankings. Williams, who measured in at 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds at The Opening Orlando regional last year, has the potential to wind up at either safety spot, and Allen thinks he could get as big as 6-1 and 205 pounds, which could even make him a fit at striker.
“He’s got potential to be that back safety. He’s got potential to be the overhang kind of guy, whether that’s a safety or Will linebacker. He can do any of it,” said Allen, who added Williams last weighed in at 182 pounds. “When he starts to get three squares a day and get trained up all the time, God knows what he’s going to look like.”
At the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 2, Williams said Miami was likely to get one of his final official visits because of his relationship with the coaching staff. The senior initially committed to the Hurricanes when Manny Diaz was still the defensive coordinator, so he has always been drawn to the coach’s attitude.
Williams already knows the coaches well, though. This weekend will be as much about spending time with some potential teammates. At Paradise Camp last year, Williams said he feels “at home” at Miami because he thinks his personality jells with the South Florida vibe.
“Everybody thinks I’m from here,” Williams said.
Allen agrees.
“I spent seven years at Deerfield Beach High School. Kids that I’ve coached up this way, not all of those kids would’ve fit in well. No matter how good a player they might have been here, they wouldn’t have all fit in,” he said. “Avantae would’ve played for me anywhere I’ve ever been.”
