Zion Williamson has not yet completed an official game in college, yet the 18-year-old already dominates the social media with spectacular dunks. Can the Duke Blue Devils teen stand out in college as he did in high school?
Anyone who has been on social media in the past few days will hardly have got around Zion Williamson. Every morning there were new clips in which the teenager stuffed brutely, sometimes over opponents, sometimes just like that from the free-throw line. Memories of Michael Jordan came to mind, even if this comparison is of course completely absurd.
Nevertheless, the youngster, who just turned 18 last month, is known by almost every basketball fan in the USA – without having played a single game in college. Williamson already has 1.7 million followers on Instagram.
The social media star is simply not the ordinary teenager. Instead, he already has an imposing stature: at a height of 2.01 metres, Williamson weighs an incredible 130 kilos. To put that in perspective: Officially, there is one player in the NBA who weighs more than Williamson – Boban Marjanovic.
But these 130 kilos are by no means the result of baby fat, they are almost exclusively muscles. “Despite his weight he is faster and jumps higher than almost everyone else,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was also impressed. “We’re not talking about a high body fat percentage, but about a boy with a man’s body and strength. I’m not worried about his weight.” Wizard star John Wall had a similar story to tell. “He’s one of the most athletic players I’ve ever seen.”
The Duke Jersey has been overridden by Williamson for the first time in the past few days at several exhibition games in Canada and fired up the hype surrounding him all the more. In the three games against Canadian Universities, the forward played a smooth 29.7 points and 11.3 rebounds on average. Williamson showed that he can be more than just a dunker.
Before his first gigs some questions arose about the potential top pick in the upcoming draft. Does he have a jumpshot? Isn’t 130 kilos a bit much after all and can he darken as spectacularly at college level as he did in high school?
The first impressions were consistently positive and the breathtaking play of the forward even eclipsed the equally strong performances of the Canadian local hero R.J. Barrett, although he scored even more. Barrett, who will also play for Duke, is considered a favourite on the No.1 pick and is probably the greatest talent the Canadians have ever produced.
But the man of the hour was Williamson, who showed from minute one that he could produce not only virals but also highlights in the game. Such a raw and fantastic athlete, who combines strength and speed, does not exist like sand at the sea.
It is even rarer when such a freak is blessed with excellent instincts, as Williamson might suggest. Especially the chemistry with Barrett seems to be right, envy for the success of the other is not to be expected. “I didn’t come to Duke to take 30 litters a game,” Williamson assured. “He who is hot will have litters. “Sometimes it’ll be R.J., other times it’ll be me.”
Zion is not only defined by athletics, instead he seems to have a good sense for the game. He has an above-average courtvision and is able to use the other players for his drives. The surprisingly good ball handling helps, so no one should be surprised if Williamson will also do a little playmaking for the Blue Devils.
This should be especially helpful in Fastbreak, where he will be unstoppable with his power and speed at college level. As a comparison, Charles Barkley, who also in his early years as a steamroller with ball handling after a trapped rebound, could often go Coast to Coast.
But the decisive question will be how constantly Williamson can hit his jump throws. This is still the area of greatest concern, but in Canada the over-athlete showed that his litter needs at least a little respect. He could sink a few open threesomes, the shape of the throw looks quite okay. Even if it’s far from Klay Thompson’s.
The fact that Williamson sunk three of his first four triples in the Duke jersey also impressed his legendary coach: “He is unique. He’s obviously incredibly good on the ball. He worked a lot on his threesome and today he was just a special basketball player.”
Fans of Duke will enjoy several potential NBA stars anyway. Along with Barrett and Williamson, Coach K grabbed Cam Reddish to recruit the three high school players with the highest rankings in the country, a real coup.
They all have one thing in common, they are listed as forwards. It will be correspondingly exciting to see how Coach K will bring all these talents under one roof. At Williamson in particular, the question arises of what is actually his best position – also with regard to the NBA.
Maybe this doesn’t matter at all if it turns out that Williamson’s physique should be in a class of its own at the very highest level. Now it is up to the scouts to evaluate exactly to what extent the forward can also exist in the NBA. Since there has never been a player with these tools, this should be a difficult task.
But there are still nine months to go before the draft. During this time, fans will certainly continue to see virals on the assembly line. The NCAA should be happy to see that after all the scandals surrounding college basketball, an electrifying player like Zion Williamson is just in time.
The potential to become the most spectacular college player of this millennium is there. Now Williamson has to show this to be more than a YouTube sensation – like many before him.