Compared to other New York City football coaches, Shawn O’Connor knows plenty about high-level recruiting. In a decade at Lincoln, he has coached three prominent prospects – Nyan Boateng (California by way of Florida), Lansford Watson (Maryland) and Khalif Staten (Iowa). Boateng and Watson were All-Americans.
But O’Connor admits those three are nothing compared to the latest talent, junior Ishaq Williams.
“It’s crazy,” he joked. “I’ve got five or six coaches coming through every day. I got to slow this down.”
It may be out of his control.
The soft-spoken Williams, Lincoln’s dynamic defensive end/tight end, has become one of the more sought-after talents in the country and the seventh-ranked defensive end in the nation by Scout.com. He has received invites to both All-American games, run by Under Armour and the U.S. Army. He has 25 BCS-level scholarship offers from just about every power conference, prominent schools such as Alabama, Florida, Miami, Penn State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Notre Dame, USC, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Pittsburgh coming hard after him.
“It’s a great honor,” he said, a phrase Williams often repeated, referring to the interest, and the All-American invites. “But it doesn’t move me. I keep a level head and keep working harder."
The 17-year-old from Clinton Hill speaks to several assistant coaches per day. Thursday afternoon, he had a Skype video conference with Alabama coach Nick Saban. He has taken unofficial visits with his father, Shaun, to Syracuse, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Miami and Maryland, meeting each school’s head coach.
Shaun said when his son first started playing football, at the age of 7, he was faster than all the other kids. He started working at the sport then and hasn’t stopped.
"It really is a blessing," his father said. "I don't want to make it sound like we're cocky or we have a sense of entitlement, but at a certain point when you put in as much work as he's putting it in, and as much work as our family has put in, you expect it."
Williams, an All-City first team selection by The Post who had 43 tackles, 11 sacks, and three forced fumbles, has grown used to the attention he at once avoided.
“It’s fun actually and it’s necessary,” he said. “I don’t like attention in general, but I do like this attention. It’s a very important part of my life and I have to make a decision.”
He plans to take several unofficial visits over the summer, to see all 25 of the schools that have offered. Williams would like to cut the list down to five by the start of the season and have a decision by the turn of the new year. He has received advice from the former Lincoln stars, especially Boateng, who suggested picking the school that wants him the most.
“I’m going to visit most of them, evaluate them all, and pick which one best suits me,” he said. “I’m looking for a good environment, a good coach, place I feel comfortable with good academics, and where I have a chance to go to the next level.”
With an 82 average, Williams isn’t only on pace to qualify, but graduate early from Lincoln this January. He would like to be able to begin taking classes at the school of his choosing by then.
An assistant coach involved in Williams’ recruitment expects him to have close to 50 offers by the middle of summer. The coach called it the “Dominique Easley factor,” referring to the Curtis defensive tackle now at Florida. Plenty of coaches made the trek to New York City to see Easley and they want a crack at the latest standout. The coach made sure to say he doesn’t believe Williams is on Easley’s level yet, but that coaches like his possible upside as an edge pass rusher.
“He’s so quick and explosive,” the coach said. “He has a great first step.”
I'd say DE at the next level.
