BYU Basketball Projected to Land 2027 Five-Star Wing AJ Williams

The BYU Cougars basketball program has been courting blue-chip AJ Williams for months. As a five-star wing who would be a tremendous fit in Kevin Young's NBA-ready system next year, the No. 5 player in the 2027 class would be great to have in Provo.

Williams has been receiving massive amounts of recruiting attention from Young and his staff, along with all the major programs. There's no doubt why he's on everyone's radar.

On Tuesday, On3's Joe Tipton gave a new set of predictions for five-star talents in college basketball for next year. He predicted that five-star point guard Beckham Black, the brother of Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black, would commit to Arkansas.

Given the work John Calipari has put in, this isn't a shocker. Black was also on BYU's radar early, but has cooled off on coming to Provo. Tipton also believes five-star shooting guard Adan Diggs would commit to Big 12 rival Arizona. The final one was Williams to BYU, which has been the rumor for a few months now.

If the Cougars can secure the commitment of Williams, he'll likely be one of the next NBA lottery picks to come through the program. This puts him on the same level as Egor Demin (No. 8 by the Nets in 2025), AJ Dybantsa (No. 1 by the Wizards in 2026) and Bruce Branch III (projected top-five pick in 2027).

Williams was on campus for the BYU-Nebraska exhibition game and was able to take part in the ESPN College Gameday festivities on Saturday before BYU football's upset of then-No. 2 Notre Dame.

As I detailed a few months back, Williams has been BYU’s top target in the 2027 class. Young has made it clear that he will target a 5-Star combo guard in each class and the tape is proof his system will work as a step towards the NBA.

The Georgia native has already taken official visits to Auburn, Mississippi State, and Georgia. However, BYU is considered the front-runner at the moment and closer to sealing the deal. The opportunity to play in Young’s system and be featured in BYU’s offense is intriguing to Williams. He was the top recruit in the 2028 class until he reclassified to 2027, where 247 Sports rates him at No. 5.

At 6-foot-7, Williams is a dynamic scorer and shot creator who can fit into the mold of what BYU did with Dybantsa. While he isn’t the prospect Dybantsa was in terms of being a pro from day one, he is a scorer who BYU would build around. He was part of Chris Paul’s AAU team, who had a very close relationship with Young from his days with the Phoenix Suns.

Dybantsa and Rob Wright attended one of Williams’ AAU events in the spring and saw him play and spoke to him then. No timetable has been set for an official announcement.