Tag: C.J. Williams

USC’s player problem is bigger than just the transfer portal

When players transfer out of USC, it stings, but if the player never really plays well for USC, that’s not a portal problem. Other factors are at work.

Two years after his departure from USC football, C.J. Williams went back to the transfer portal once again. A four-star wide receiver in the class of 2022, Williams was one of Lincoln Riley’s first big recruiting wins upon his arrival in Los Angeles. After a freshman season in which he caught just four passes for 34 yards, however, Williams elected to enter the transfer portal.

Williams landed at Wisconsin, where he spent the past two seasons. In two years with the Badgers, he caught 31 passes for 396 yards and two touchdowns. With his team’s season now over, Williams recently announced that he will be entering the transfer portal for a second time.

This past September, Williams returned to the Coliseum with Wisconsin. He caught one pass for 15 yards against the Trojans in a 38-21 loss. Now, Williams is back in the transfer portal once again. With one year of eligibility remaining, he will look to find a landing spot that will allow him to finally showcase why he was such a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school three years ago.

The story of C.J. Williams brings up the important point that while a lot of highly-rated football players have transferred out of USC, what’s arguably worse is that most of those players never really played like elite players when the Trojans and Lincoln Riley had them.

Either these players aren’t being evaluated well when USC considers which players to add, or the players aren’t being coached well enough once they get into the program. In Williams’ case, his lack of production at Wisconsin suggests this was more of an evaluation problem than a development problem, but either way, USC can’t be making deficient decisions which lead to washouts.

USC will face former Trojan C.J. Williams when Men of Troy play Wisconsin

CJ Williams has not been playing his best football since transferring from USC to Wisconsin. The Trojans hope that doesn’t change on Saturday.

Locked On Badgers podcast host Ryan Harings joined us on Trojan Conquest Live at The Voice of College Football. Trojans Wire asked him about the impact of wide receiver C.J. Williams, a former USC Trojan who transferred to Wisconsin in January of last year. Williams is one of the many familiar faces involved in this Saturday’s USC-Wisconsin game. He is one of several figures with connections to both schools.

Williams was the No. 62 player in the nation and the No. 7 wide receiver according the 247Sports ranking when he came out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA.

“He was an incredibly hyped get for Wisconsin,” Harings told us on our USC-Wisconsin preview show. “That first year portal guy for Luke Fickell.  He’s had troubles catching the ball, unfortunately.  He’s already had a drop this year, that’s kind of kept him off the field.  He’s behind Bryson Green in that boundary spot.  He’s a guy that Wisconsin had high hopes for.  It’s just physically, he’s had trouble separating.  I think the physicality in the Big Ten is a little different. Year 1 was a bit of an adjustment for him, and Year 2, he’s had a bit of trouble catching the ball unfortunately.”

USC’s looks to continue where it left off after a dominant second half in which the Trojans’ defense held the Michigan Wolverines to zero first downs until their last drive of the game. A strong effort from the USC defense would spoil Williams’ homecoming on Saturday.

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It’s a small world when USC faces Wisconsin

Alex Grinch isn’t the only person with connections to both teams in this Wisconsin versus USC game.

When the USC Trojans take on the Wisconsin Badgers this weekend, it will be a matchup of two teams with a number of connections.

USC has one player from the state of Wisconsin on its roster, defensive tackle Gavin Meyer. Wisconsin, meanwhile, has two players from the state of California: wide receiver C.J. Williams and kicker Gianni Smith.

The two teams also have several coaching connections. Wisconsin co-defensive coordinator / safeties coach Alex Grinch spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as USC’s defensive coordinator. Grinch and USC head football coach Lincoln Riley also coached together at Oklahoma from 2019-21. Grinch and USC offensive coordinator / offensive line coach Josh Henson coached together at Missouri from 2012-14.

In addition, Wisconsin’s senior advisor to head coach Luke Fickell is Jack Del Rio, who was a consensus All-America linebacker at USC in 1984. Del Rio played in the 1982 Fiesta Bowl and 1985 Rose Bowl and was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.

Wisconsin linebacker Tackett Curtis played at USC in 2023, making eight starts and recording 40 tackles. Wisconsin wide receiver CJ Williams also played at USC in 2022, catching four passes for 34 yards.

These connections add an extra layer of intrigue to this weekend’s matchup. With so many familiar faces on both sides, it’s sure to be an intense and competitive game.

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Wisconsin WR C.J. Williams impresses with highlight catch at 2024 training camp

Wisconsin WR C.J. Williams impresses with highlight catch at 2024 training camp

Wide receiver C.J. Williams logged one of the first highlight plays of Wisconsin’s 2024 fall training camp on Tuesday.

It came from the first day of the Badgers’ practice at UW-Platteville. Williams was matched up against Toledo transfer cornerback R.J. Delancy in a red zone 1v1 drill. Despite the lobbed pass being a few yards short, Williams adjusted to make a Randy Moss-esque catch.

Related: Position battles to follow as Wisconsin Badgers begin 2024 fall training camp

Williams is one of the most interesting players on the Badgers offense entering the 2024 season.

He was a former top-100 recruit coming out of high school in 2022, though he played sparingly as a freshman at USC before transferring to Wisconsin ahead of the 2023 season.

The former four-star recruit is technically Wisconsin’s highest-rated high school wide receiver recruit in its history — though the program landed him as a transfer, not as the No. 62-ranked overall player in the class of 2022.

That recruiting billing will need to blossom in 2024 with Williams in line for a larger workload after the offseason departures of Chimere Dike and Skyler Bell. The former USC Trojan caught just 15 passes for 148 yards during his debut season with the Badgers. That makes 2024 a make-or-break season in what will be a crowded Wisconsin wide receiver room.

The good news is that he appears to be off to a strong start to camp, evidenced by the play mentioned above:

Here’s another angle:

 

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Preseason Previews

Big Ten Team Previews: Indiana Hoosiers — Purdue Boilermakers — Illinois Fighting Illini — Northwestern Wildcats — Minnesota Golden Gophers — Nebraska Cornhuskers — Iowa Hawkeyes — Rutgers Scarlet Knights — Maryland Terrapins — Michigan State Spartans — USC Trojans — UCLA Bruins — Washington Huskies — Michigan Wolverines — Penn State Nittany Lions — Ohio State Buckeyes — Oregon Ducks — Wisconsin Badgers

Big Ten Position Previews: Quarterbacks — Running Backs — Wide Receivers — Offensive Lines — Tight Ends — Defensive Line — Linebackers — Cornerbacks — Safeties

Wisconsin Position Previews: Quarterback — Running Back — Wide Receiver

Watch: New Badger QB hits familiar wide receiver for touchdown

The Badgers had their first outdoor football practice of the season Saturday, with many of the new faces making plays on the field.

The Badgers had their first outdoor football practice of the season Saturday, with many of the new faces, including quarterback Tanner Mordecai, making plays on the field.

The SMU transfer signal-caller was able to hit wide receiver Chimere Dike in stride for a touchdown at practice, which could be the first of many for that pair in 2023.

With offensive coordinator Phil Longo joining Luke Fickell in Madison this year, his air raid offense is expected to help Wisconsin make a substantial leap through the air.

Along with Mordecai, the Badgers brought in wide receivers C.J. Williams (USC), Will Pauling (Cincinnati) and Bryson Green (Oklahoma State) among others this offseason.

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WATCH: Wisconsin football releases hype tape after first day of spring practice

Watch Wisconsin football’s hype tape from their first spring practice:

The Wisconsin Badgers started their spring practices this past weekend and released a short hype video on Twitter on Saturday night to give fans a first look at this year’s team.

The video highlights several drills throughout the practice and features several transfer players including quarterback Tanner Mordecai, receiver C.J. Williams, and outside linebacker Jeff Pietrowski. Cinncinatti transfer receiver Will Pauling also made the hype tape with a fantastic diving catch on a deep ball.

Wisconsin’s returning players were also featured, as running back Braelon Allen made a great juke, and tight end Jack Eschenbach had a nice grab across the middle from a Mordecai pass.

It is exciting to see this team finally taking the field, especially with ‘The Launch’ event on Apr. 22 just around the corner.

Transfer Portal: Notre Dame misses on C.J. Williams a second time

He’s headed to the Midwest this time but again not to Notre Dame.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

For the second time in as many years, Notre Dame lost out on the talents of wide receiver C.J. Williams. The former four-star wide receiver from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, announced his transfer decision on Thursday.

The USC receiver recorded four receptions for 34 yards in his debut college season.

The former Notre Dame commitment who shunned the Irish for USC last winter was scheduled to visit South Bend this weekend. That visit was cancelled and Williams announced his commitment to Wisconsin.

https://twitter.com/cjwilliams_03/status/1613645175812919297?s=46&t=HzJQp0sEQilQO2pGfTbcfQ

As Notre Dame tries to rebuild the wide receiver position in short order, Williams committing to Wisconsin does no favors for the Irish’s depth. There is no guarantee he would have secured a starting role at Notre Dame, but he instantly becomes Wisconsin’s best receiver.

That said, Notre Dame remains unproven at wide receiver. There is some nice talent Chansi Stuckey has helped steer to Notre Dame, but if you think potentially adding a wide receiver who was viewed as a top-100 prospect in last year’s recruiting class wouldn’t have been a boost then I can’t help you.

That said, it’s not exactly the end of the world, either.

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Related: Notre Dame Transfer Portal Tracker 2022-23

BREAKING: Wisconsin lands four-star USC transfer WR C.J. Williams

Wisconsin lands their highest-rated wide receiver in the modern recruiting era

It just keeps rolling for Luke Fickell, Phil Longo, and Wisconsin’s new staff. The latest big splash? The Badgers have officially landed four-star USC transfer C.J. Williams in the transfer portal.

Williams was a top-100 recruit in the class of 2022, and had offers from the likes of Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, and Michigan coming out of high school.

He was the No. 6 wide receiver in the state of California coming out of high school according to 247Sports.

He played in ten games last season, and caught four passes for 34 yards. Georgia, Notre Dame, West Virginia, and Texas A&M were all heavily in on the California native during his transfer portal recruitment.

Here is a look at some of the reaction from Wisconsin fans and college football media:

Notre Dame to host former commit, USC WR

This would go a long way in getting the wide receivers room up to snuff.

When [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] was first named Notre Dame head coach in December of 2021, he mentioned a couple of times that he didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.  That was in reference to him choosing Ohio State over Notre Dame as a recruit.  Now a former Notre Dame target and commitment has a chance to “not make the same mistake twice” too.

Wide receiver [autotag]C.J. Williams[/autotag] was a Notre Dame commitment in the 2022 recruiting cycle for months.  After [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] left for LSU, Williams ultimately flipped to USC very late in the process.  Williams entered the transfer portal last week and according to the great Tom Loy of 247Sports, is supposed to visit Notre Dame this weekend (subscription required).

Williams snagged four receptions for 34 yards in his debut season for the Trojans.  He was rated as a four-star prospect out of Mater Dei High School a year ago and was supposed to be part of Notre Dame’s three-wide receiver class that ultimately consisted of just Tobias Merriweather.

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Williams choosing Notre Dame this time around would go a long way in catching the wide receiver room up to speed on where it needs to be.  It wouldn’t be considered elite by any means with his addition but it’d be another solid addition to a room that is starting to compile young talent.

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Former Notre Dame commitment transferring from USC

What would have happened had Notre Dame been able to keep his commitment?

At one time before the early signing period in December 2021, it appeared Notre Dame was going to land a good amount of wide receiver talent from the West Coast. [autotag]Tobias Merriweather[/autotag] wound up at Notre Dame, but former Fighting Irish commitment [autotag]C.J. Williams[/autotag] of Santa Ana, California, flipped his commitment to USC.

After one season at Southern Cal, Williams appears to have had enough. On Tuesday he entered the transfer portal. Williams hauled in four receptions for 34 yards this fall for USC.

Notre Dame held his commitment for some time before Williams ultimately chose USC over the Irish and UCLA. With it being incredibly difficult to enter Notre Dame as an undergraduate transfer, one would assume they’re out in terms of possible new landing spots for Williams. UCLA would certainly make plenty of sense.

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