Elite 2022 WR C.J. Williams Holds Michigan High On His List

Michigan made a strong impression with C.J. Williams early on, and the Wolverines continue to have the four-star's attention.

CJ Williams / submitted

Checking in as one of the very best wide receivers in the 2022 class, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei prospect C.J. Williams had to keep charging his phone through the day on Tuesday as the contact period opened up. In fact, the UCLA Bruins offered Williams on Sept. 1, and that was a monumental occasion for the in-state prospect.

Another memorable scholarship offer for Williams came from Michigan quite some time ago. The Wolverines were offer No. 1 for the four-star receiver, and U-M helped inspire a special feeling that he will not soon forget.

“I have heard from Coach Gattis a couple times, and we've had some great conversations,” Williams told Wolverine Digest. “They were my first offer, so I hold them very high on my list. They did a great job of recruiting me prior to September 1st. It was no coincidence that I would hear from them pretty early after the deadline.”

Michigan was not the only powerhouse program to reach out to Williams once the contact period opened up, though. Currently, Williams has 44 offers, so he's in high demand and schools are letting him know that.

“The first team that I heard from on September 1 was Ohio State,” Williams said. “They always make it a big thing to recruit me really hard, and they do a great job. Coach Hartline is a great wide receiver coach. He did an excellent job of reaching out to both me and my parents once that deadline hit. Washington did a very good job of recruiting me. UCLA just offered me, so they were up there pretty fast. Alabama hit my parents and I up very quickly, so a bunch of great schools that made it a priority to recruit me.”

With so many options at his disposal, Williams feels grateful to have the opportunities that he does. Rather than letting that get to his head, Williams is meticulously evaluating each program to figure out where the best fit for him would be at the next level.

“My parents hold academics very high,” Williams said. “I want to study business when I get to college, and they have a very great business school. I see that Coach Gattis is the wide receiver coach and also the offensive coordinator. You don't really find that anywhere else in the country other than Nebraska and a couple other schools. That's a very neat thing to have. You have different seasons in terms of the weather and just getting comfortable.

“My thing is one day, you're going to have to leave sunny California,” Williams said. “If you're lucky enough to stay in California, you're lucky enough, but one day you might have to leave sunny California and get used to something else, so Michigan is a great place to go and experience something else.”

Throughout his conversations with U-M, Williams has heard a lot about how Michigan would utilize his diverse skill set at the next level. As a physically gifted prospect at 6-2 and 193 pounds, and he racked up over 50 receptions, 725 receiving yards and six touchdowns last fall. That production has caught Gattis' attention, so he's filled the blue chip 2022 recruit in on how his role would look like at Michigan.

“Like a lot of other schools, they'd like to see me move around at the next level,” Williams said. “They don't want to stick me on just one side of the field or just on the outside or the inside. They want to use me as a guy who knows all the positions. I feel like that's an important thing that is really emphasized with the coaching staff is knowing every single position to the best of my ability.”

Over the offseason, Williams has worked tirelessly on his route running because he feels that achieving separation is the key to success for a receiver. Williams is teammates with Michigan commit Cristian Dixon, so they two have been in the lab over the summer months to help perfect their craft. Though his junior year has been delayed until the spring of 2021, Williams is eager to show off the product of his hard work.

Do you think Michigan can kick off their wide receiver haul in 2022 with C.J. Williams? How should the Wolverines choose to pitch the four-star prospect who has offers from all across the country? Let us know!