What swayed 2024 recruit T.J. Williams to stay home and commit to Wichita State basketball

As his high school classmates tried to figure out what to eat for lunch, T.J. Williams typed up a social media post to pick out his college basketball destination.

At the start of his lunch period at Heights on Wednesday, the 6-foot-4 guard who is considered a top-175 prospect in the class of 2024 announced he plans to play college basketball just 10 minutes away inside Koch Arena for Wichita State.

On a phone call 30 minutes after his announcement, Williams said he hadn’t stopped smiling as notifications and congratulations flooded his cell phone.

“It’s been crazy,” Williams said. “I posted at the start of lunch, so I could have some time to respond. But I’m about to go back to class now.”

Convincing Williams to stay in Wichita when he was being recruited by power-conference programs like Iowa and Missouri represents arguably the biggest recruiting win to date for first-year WSU head coach Paul Mills.

Williams is slated to join a list of hometown players to play for the Shockers in the past decade, which includes Evan Wessel (2011-16), Conner Frankamp (2015-18), Samajae Haynes-Jones (2017-19), Grant Sherfield (2019-20) and current player Xavier Bell.

A verbal commitment is non-binding, as Williams can make it official with Wichita State by signing his his letter of intent on Nov. 8, two days after the Shockers’ season-opener against Lipscomb.

“It’s home. Honestly, that was a key factor in my decision,” Williams said. “Not that it was all about location, but it’s hard to beat somewhere that’s a few minutes away from you and has everything you need to get done what I want to get done in my life.”

Williams has been a high-priority target for the Shockers for years, dating back to Isaac Brown’s regime. Once Mills took over in March, he did the same and assistant coach T.J. Cleveland built a relationship with Williams over the summer.

When Williams took his official visit to WSU three weeks ago, he was impressed by Mills and was sold. He was scheduled to take an official visit to Iowa later this month and to Indiana State on Oct. 5, but didn’t feel the need to look around.

“I like that coach Mills is very open and he will tell you everything straight up,” Williams said. “He doesn’t really sugarcoat things like a lot of these other coaches do. He just tells you what is going to happen and how it’s going to happen.”

At Oral Roberts, Mills’ system flourished when he had multiple ball-handlers on the floor who doubled as strong defenders on the other end. It’s not hard to imagine why he envisions Williams as a perfect fit in what he is trying to build in Wichita.

Williams averaged 16.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks last season at Heights, while leading the Falcons to their second straight appearance in the Class 6A state championship game and becoming the only junior in Kansas to earn Top-5 honors in the state. He is the top-rated prospect in Kansas entering his senior season.

“T.J. is so meaningful to our program because he is able to contribute in all facets of the game,” Heights coach Joe Auer said. “We ask him to do a lot for us. He’s our point guard; he gets every important rebound we need; he guards the other team’s best player. He’s just very physically gifted and then you combine that with the care he has for his teammates.

“He never has a bad day at practice. He’s the most positive player I’ve ever coached and that’s saying a lot. His positive influence on others on a daily basis is second to none in my career and it’s really important to him to lead by example. We call him the pied piper in our gym.”

Another attribute Mills loved about Williams, according to Auer, was his championship pedigree.

Williams has helped lead the Falcons to a 60-13 record during his three years in high school, including the 6A title in 2022. Throw in an undefeated spell in middle school and Williams has done a whole lot of winning in Wichita.

“I’m not really familiar with losing,” Williams said. “I hope to keep that up at WSU. Hopefully make it back to the NCAA Tournament.”

At Heights, Auer is known for teaching players the importance of defense and discipline, key ingredients in establishing one of the top programs in the state.

Wessel, a former Heights product, made a career out of those two things. Auer thinks those qualities can take players a long way at the next level.

“T.J. knows what winning the last game of the season feels like and the WSU coaches love that about him,” Auer said. “He’s played in the last two state championship games. Those are rare experiences when you get a local kid with that kind of experience. I couldn’t be more thrilled for T.J. and his family to earn this opportunity to play for the Shockers and for coach Mills.”

Growing up so close to WSU’s campus, Williams has been a regular inside Koch Arena over the years.

He’s watched Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker and Cleanthony Early overpower opponents to earn a No. 1 ranking in the country. He’s seen future NBA players come through the program, like Landry Shamet and Craig Porter Jr.

Now he will have the opportunity to wear a Wichita State uniform and play inside the Roundhouse.

“I know that first game is going to be so crazy,” Williams said. “I can’t wait to put on for the home team. I know that first game that place is going to be rocking and I can’t wait.”