STANFORD, Calif. – Adding to Stanford's highly-regarded recruiting class, small forward Ziaire Williams has signed a national letter of intent to join the men's basketball program. Williams is the top rated prospect to choose Stanford since the recruiting databases at 24/7, Rivals and ESPN began, and is the first consensus five star addition since Brook and Robin Lopez in 2006.
Williams is the top small forward prospect in the class of 2020, and is a consensus top-five recruit nationally. He chose the Cardinal over USC, Arizona, North Carolina and UCLA, and is the fourth incoming player rated as a four or five star recruit. Stanford's recruiting class moved to No. 13 overall, per 24/7 Sports, and the No. 1 class in the Pac-12 conference.
"Ziaire has all of the tools to make an instant impact at Stanford and beyond. He has excellent size, length, and athleticism," said Jerod Haase, the Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men's Basketball. "He has the unique ability to score on all three levels, and his versatility as a defender is elite."
He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in 2020, and was the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year this season after posting 15 points, eight rebounds and nearly four assists per night this season for Sierra Canyon High School. He had previously averaged nearly 22 points and seven rebounds per game on the Nike EYBL circuit with the Oakland Soldiers, and was a 2019 USA Today All-California second team honoree.
"The cool part about this is Zy fits into our culture perfectly," continued Haase. "His character, intelligence, and enthusiasm for the direction of this program is exactly what we look for in the recruiting process. I was really excited about the future of the program before Ziaire signed, and he is another piece to the puzzle for us. We are motivated to get to work."
Succeeding abroad, Williams helped the United States to the gold medal at the FIBA U-19 World Cup in Greece last summer. The 6-8 forward appeared in all seven games, shooting 54 percent from the field. He was also selected to participate in the Nike Hoop Summit.
Williams joins Noah Taitz, Max Murrell and Brandon Angel in the incoming class. Taitz, a guard from Las Vegas, is an ESPN top-100 recruit, while Murrell and Angel are four star forwards, according to 24/7, from Omaha and San Diego.
Stanford finished 20-12 overall this season, and remained solidly in contention for an NCAA Tournament berth throughout a season shortened by the COVID-19 global pandemic.