Recruiting Rewind: Trill Williams

Syracuse beat regional recruiting rivals to land one of the best in New York in the 2018 cycle.

The 2018 recruiting cycle was a good one for Syracuse. One of its top signees was Trill Williams. Williams was one of the best players in New York in that cycle and one of the better defensive backs in the nation. He had a productive and impactful career at Syracuse and is now set to be selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. Here is a look back at his recruitment. 

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TORN ACL

Trill Williams tore his ACL during his junior season. That kept him out of the end of that year and likely scared off some suitors. The injury did not, however, scare off programs such as Boston College, Rutgers and Syracuse. 

TRILL COMMITS TO RUTGERS

At the end of November, Trill Williams committed to Rutgers citing his strong relationship with the coaching staff. The commitment seemed out of the blue to many, but with the torn ACL and uncertainty about other programs' interest as a result, the move made sense for Trill at the time. Still, that did not keep other schools from pursuing. Syracuse, Boston College and others stayed in contact. 

DECOMMITTING

Less than two months after giving Rutgers a verbal pledge, Williams elected to reopen his recruitment. Syracuse was one of the schools who continued to recruit Trill extremely hard, and the decommitment came just two days after he attended the Orange's junior day. Programs such as Michigan, Penn State, Boston College and others stopped by his school after he decommitted. 

At the end of January and into February, Williams attended junior days at Penn State, Rutgers, UMass, UConn and Temple. 

TRILL COMMITS TO SYRACUSE

Syracuse continued to recruit Trill hard and made him a big priority. Landing one of New York State's best would be a huge accomplishment for the Dino Babers' staff. In March, those efforts paid off as Williams verbally committed to the Orange. 

Williams attended Syracuse's camp over the summer and even participated despite only being approximately eight months removed from the ACL injury. Williams was a standout at the camp and just looked like a different level athlete than the rest of the participants. 

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PENN STATE FLIRTS

In the months leading up to National Signing Day, despite being committed to Syracuse, other schools continued to reach out. Penn State was one of the schools who reached out the most. The Nittany Lions flirted a bit with offering and attempting a late flip. It would not have mattered if they did, however, as Williams was all in on Syracuse. 

Williams signed with the Orange during the early December signing period.

RATING

247Sports Composite: 4-star, #20 ATH, #3 New York

Rivals: 3-star, #35 ATH, #6 New York

ESPN: 3-star, #70 ATH, #10 New York

247Sports: 4-star, #7 ATH, #3 New York