Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei class of 2022 wide receiver CJ Williams announced his final five schools list on Wednesday.
Making the cut for the elite talent is Alabama, Notre Dame, Stanford, Texas and USC. He took visits to all of the schools except for Alabama in June.
For the Fighting Irish, an argument can certainly be made that Williams is the most important target left on the 2022 board regardless of position. Rivals ranks Williams as the No. 3 wide receiver and No. 29 overall player in America, and he has earned 50 scholarship offers during his recruiting process. Notre Dame needs to stockpile talented receivers, and Williams offers the upside, versatility and reliability that has the Irish staff so excited.
There are currently two Rivals FutureCast picks for Williams and both are for him to land at Notre Dame.
Williams originally planned to see Notre Dame back in April 2020, but the pandemic and the NCAA’s dead period because of it wiped out his spring travel plans. So, after being recruited by the Irish for about a year and a half, Williams was finally able to make his first trip to campus and meet the coaches during the weekend of June 25 for his official visit.
“Overall, it was really, really good,” Williams told BlueandGold.com. “I enjoyed it. I had a good time and got to see what Notre Dame represents and who they are as people. And that was the goal of my official visits. I could do research on any school based on statistics and academic information, but I wanted to get a feel of who the kids are in the locker room that I’ll be with and what the coaching staff’s vision for me is.”
Announcing a top-five list is likely the last major announcement from Williams before making a commitment.
“I’m looking to commit in August, and if I can get it done before the start of my season, that’d be perfect,” he said. “It’s the ideal situation, but if not, I’ll hold off until during the season or maybe the All-American Bowl could be a cool one to do too. In my personal preference, I’d like to do it in August as long as my family is fine with that.”
MaxPreps listed Williams on its 2021 California All-State second-team offense and 2019 Sophomore All-American second-team offense.
During a five-game spring junior season in 2021, Williams caught 16 passes for 239 yards and five touchdowns. Two of those scores came in in Mater Dei’s 34-17 triumph against archrival St. John Bosco.
Through 22 games over three seasons, Williams has caught 73 passes for 997 yards and nine touchdowns.
Williams is committed to playing in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio in January 2022.
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