By Kyle Valentine
@kylevalentine90
At 6-foot-11, Phoenix St. Mary’s Cameron Williams is a force. The five-star power forward has himself ranked second in the ESPN top 100 recruits for the class of 2026.
At the 2026 Panini Hoophall Classic, Williams faced off against another ESPN top 100 recruit for the class of 2026, Jordan Smith who is ranked third, just one spot below Williams. Smith has led his team, Paul VI High School (Va.), to a 16-2 record this season coming into Monday’s game, earning them the No. 1 nationally ranked spot according to MaxPreps, with Phoenix St. Mary’s sitting at 13-4 on the season with a ranking nationally of 76.
The game ended up going Paul VI’s way, 75-69, but the battle of the two blue-chip prospects was a thriller. Williams used his tall stature and physicality to impress fans and put on a show. His playstyle is considered versatile and modern, and many sports analysts naturally compare Williams to Kevin Durant, another 6’11” wing who also played in the Hoophall Classic back in 2006. Phoenix St. Mary’s head coach Damin Lopez saw that potential immediately and knew what kind of player he had on his hands.
“He’s got a lot of depth in his game, Lopez said. “I really felt like this kid could have a chance to play professionally.”
However, in order to keep the reputation of a modern day Kevin Durant, Williams needs to keep the elite competition on repeat.
When not in season for high school, Williams finds himself playing AAU for the Adidas-sponsored Compton Magic, which is a prominent youth basketball organization based in Compton, Calif. that faces off against elite national competition on the Adidas 3SSB Gauntlet circuit. This is perfect for Williams as the team uses the MLB Youth Academy facilities for events when the team is not traveling.
“Going to all the camps, playing in tournaments against high-level guys, it helps a lot when you go back to this level (high school), ” Williams said. “It makes things a lot easier at this level.”
Williams learned the importance of being a vocal teammate on the court through experience. He has become an unselfish player, while also serving as a great teammate and doing anything and everything to win. This has led to an Arizona 4A state championship just in the prior season with a stellar game having 30 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in the victory. With the state championship under his belt, Williams is looking to do whatever it takes to win back-to-back championships this upcoming postseason.
“We all have to get on the same page,” Williams said. “Obviously we have to make plays, and play for each other and it’s going to be hard.”
As a junior, in his championship winning season, William averaged 18.0 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists while making 51% of his shots, earning him an offer from Duke University later that year.
“They’re big on development for me,” Williams said. “They obviously want me to get stronger and I just felt there was something different about Duke.”
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was in attendance for the game. Watching his future player on a big stage like Hoophall is an opportunity Williams enjoys.
“Honestly, this has probably the best trip we’ve gone on so far,” Williams said. “The way they have everything organized, all the activities like going to the Hall of Fame and the history of basketball was really cool.”
Williams’ playing career is just tipping off, but there is a lot of buzz being generated around Williams and the Phoenix St. Mary’s team. This season isn’t over and the target for Phoenix St. Mary’s is on their back.
“The target is usually on our backs,” Lopez said. “We’ve developed a good following in Arizona so this event was great for us because now we get to compete with the target on their back.”
Photo by Kyle Valentine/The Student