There had been much discussion in recent weeks about whether Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei class of 2022 wide receiver CJ Williams would flip from Notre Dame to USC or not, even before Lincoln Riley was named the Trojans’ head coach.
On Monday, Williams announced on Twitter that he would be decommitting from Notre Dame, and USC looks to be the heavy favorite to land his services.
“I would also like to thank The University of Notre Dame for treating me as family,” Williams wrote as part of his announcement. “Ever since I committed on August 8th, I have felt nothing but love from the coaching staff, current & former players, and the awesome fan base. Specifically, I would like to thank Coach Kelly, Coach Alexander, and Coach Rees for treating me like their own.
“With all this being said, due to recent events, my family and I have made the choice that I will be decommitting and opening my recruitment back up. With God’s guidance, I am excited to see where the next stage of my life takes me!”
In the two weekends leading up to National Signing Day, Williams took visits to USC.
To our knowledge, Williams visited USC four times while committed to the Fighting Irish — twice for games in the fall and the past two Sundays. He had only visited Notre Dame once — for his official visit in June.
Even though Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and receivers coach Del Alexander had a productive home visit with Williams Dec. 7, not being able to get him back on campus hurt their chances to keep him in the class.
Notre Dame is now down to two receiver commitments in the 2022 class. Vancouver (Wash.) Union’s Tobias Merriweather was just on Notre Dame’s campus over the weekend and is solid in his pledge. Ponchatoula (La.) High’s Amorion Walker remains committed on paper, but he has been rumored to be a potential flip going back to the summer. There is plenty of optimism that the Irish will be able to hold on to Walker, though.
It’s technically possible that Notre Dame could still land Williams on National Signing Day, but that seems highly unlikely following his decommitment.
Simply put, this is bad news for Notre Dame. Williams had the potential to play right away for the Fighting Irish, and they already had a fairly depleted receiver room.
Williams is committed to playing in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio in January 2022.
He was also named a captain on the 2021 Mater Dei football team.
“CJ is a fierce competitor,” Mater Dei head coach Bruce Rollinson said. “He’s a strong, physical receiver who is blessed with outstanding speed and is even more impressive in yards after the catch.”
Williams held 50 scholarship offers, including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford and Texas.
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @MikeTSinger, @PatrickEngel_, @tbhorka, @GregLadky, and @ToddBurlage.
• Like us on Facebook.
