Christian Williams signs with Iowa

IOWA CITY - Christian Williams signed a letter of intent this morning to play basketball at Iowa this fall.

Williams, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound combo guard, becomes the fifth player in the 2015 class to sign with the Hawkeyes. At Decatur (Ill.) St. Teresa High School, Williams became the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,587 points. Twice he was named all-state and three times he was a first-team all-league selection.

'We are thrilled that Christian is part of our Hawkeye family,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said in a statement. 'Christian is an incredibly versatile player who can play three positions. He's a terrific athlete with great length. He's a phenomenal passer and a proven winner. Christian fits very well with our style.”

Williams has played both point guard and shooting guard for his high school squad and AAU team, the Peoria Irish. He'll likely compete at both positions at Iowa.

This season, Williams led St. Teresa (27-5) to the Class 2A state title game. led averaged 18.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.3 steals, and three assists. He was named first-team all-state by the Associated Press and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.

As a junior, Williams averaged 18.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.8 steals. He scored 15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.5 blocks as a sophomore and 9.1 points and 5.5 rebounds his freshman season on a 20-9 squad.

Williams is one of three guards in Iowa's incoming class and is one of three players from Illinois. Williams joins Chicago Simeon combo guard Isaiah Moss (6-5, 175), Chicago De La Salle wing Brandon Hutton (6-6, 210) as well as shooting guard Andrew Flemming (6-5, 205), who played at Oak Hill Academy (Va.) this year. Iowa's other signee is forward Ahmad Wagner (6-7, 215) from Wayne (Ohio) High School.

The Hawkeyes have one available scholarship for the fall. That was opened up when backup point guard Trey Dickerson left the squad late in the season. Dickerson, a current sophomore, announced Monday he will transfer to South Dakota. Dickerson played in 15 games and averaged 2.7 points.

BASKETBALL CAMP

Former Iowa basketball players Adam Haluska, Josh Oglesby, Kyle Denning and Gabe Olaseni will hold a skills development camp for two different age groups on April 25-26 at Solon High School.

The first camp is held for players in third-through-fifth grades from noon to 3 p.m. The second group for players in sixth-through-12th grades from 3 to 6 p.m. Cost is $75 and is limited to 50 athletes in each group.

For more information contact Jason Pershing at jpershing31@gmail.com or Josh Oglesby at josh-oglesby@uiowa.edu.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com