[GoRU]

Rivals (free)

7/1

Recruiting sites rank the 5-foot-7, 202-pound Williams as one of the top 10 players in Virginia for the class of 2009. Nationally, Rivals.com lists Williams as the No. 120 player overall for 2009, the No. 1 best inside runner and the No. 12 overall running back.

College interest, meanwhile, continues to come in. Williams holds 14 scholarship offers from Alabama, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Boston College, Rutgers, West Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Illinois, Pittsburgh, Marshall, Liberty and James Madison.

Williams has kept a level head about all the attention he's received as he tries and figures out what school offers him the best opportunity to play as soon as possible, as well as what they offer academically.

But it's been an interesting ride so far.

The Ricky Williams' angle was repeated to Williams by Dave Wannstedt, the University of Pittsburgh head coach who also coached Ricky Williams in Miami.

There was also the day when Williams decided to check his MySpace page after a long hiatus and discovered that University of South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier had left a message on Williams' site, asking if Williams had any interest in the Gamecocks. If he did, Spurrier left a phone number for Williams to call him, which Williams followed up on.

Keith King, Williams' head coach at Woodbridge, has counseled his young star to look at a number of factors in determining a school.

"It needs to fit his needs," King said. "He doesn't need to get caught up in the prestige."

King has emphasized to Williams that he get to know not just the recruiter, but the school's running backs coach as well.

In some cases, Williams' main recruiter has been both like in the case of Virginia's Anthony Poindexter or West Virginia's Chris Beatty.

"This is someone you are going to be around for four years," King said.

Williams is not leaning toward one school yet over another.

Virginia was the first school to offer Williams back in the winter, while Maryland is the school Williams has visited the most (seven times).

Williams plans to take unofficial visits to West Virginia this weekend and Boston College and Alabama next month. The Alabama visit is scheduled for the weekend of July 20th. The Crimson Tide will be hosting a camp that weekend, but Williams said he is only going to see the school and will not participate in the camp.

King would like to see Williams make a decision before the season starts to avoid any distractions and Williams agrees with that. But if it takes longer than that, Williams is prepared to hold off.