April 13, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State basketball coach Steve Fisher announced the signing of Richie Williams of Steele Canyon High of Spring Valley, Calif., to a National Letter of Intent on the first day of the late signing period on Wednesday.
Williams, a 5-9, 150-pound guard, averaged 20.8 points, 5.6 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 steals as a senior for a Steele Canyon team that finished 30-2, claimed the San Diego CIF Division II section championship and posted a victory over USA Today's top-ranked team, St. Anthony High (Jersey City, N.J.). He was one of 10 players named to the CalHiSports.com all-state first team elite, which includes all California prep players in all classes. He is a two-time member of the all-CIF Division II team and was named to The San Diego Union-Tribune's all-county first team this season after earning second-team honors in 2003-04.
"We are tremendously excited to have San Diego native Richie Williams join us at San Diego State," head coach Steve Fisher said. "He brings exceptional speed and quickness to our team. Richie is a tremendous competitor and a proven winner. He is a good student who will represent himself, the community and the University the right way."
Williams was a three-year starter for Steele Canyon and guided the Cougars to consecutive section titles and a berth in the regional semifinal this past season. In 2004-05, he led the team in points, assists and steals on a prep squad that was ranked as high as 21st nationally by USA Today. This past season he connected on 41 percent of his three-point attempts and 73.3 percent from the free throw line. In December, he was named most valuable player of the Torrey Pines tournament, which featured the nation's number top-ranked prep team and several players ranked among the top 100 nationally.
Williams is the sixth player added for the 2005-06 season by head coach Steve Fisher. He joins November signees Brett Hoerner (6-11, 200-pound forward from Fullerton High in Fullerton, Calif.), Kyle Spain (6-6, 205-pound forward from Newark Memorial High in Newark, Calif.), Kashif Watson (6-3, 180-pound guard from Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas), Jabbar Young (6-11, 285-pound center from San Bernardino College). In January, the Aztecs added Florida transfer Mohamed Abukar (6-10, 210-pound forward from Rancho Bernardo High in San Diego). Abukar, who is currently attending classes at San Diego State, will be classified as a junior athletically next season and will be eligible to play in games beginning in mid-December.
With the addition of Williams and including Abukar, Hoop Scoop has labeled the SDSU recruiting class as the 19th best nationally.
"We have quality, which is very exciting, and quantity with this recruiting class," Fisher said. "We are excited about the additions to our program and they will, without question, be able to hit the ground running and help our program compete with any in the conference and the country."t