Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

unlv basketball:

Former UNLV commit Nigel Williams-Goss makes commitment to Washington

2012 Findlay Prep vs. Bishop Gorman

Sam Morris

Findlay Prep forward Matt Willms reacts after Nigel Williams-Goss got a basket and was fouled by Bishop Gorman during their game Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 at Cox Pavilion. Findlay won the game 73-61.

The second time around, Nigel Williams-Goss found a better fit than UNLV.

Williams-Goss, a 6-foot-4 senior-to-be guard at Findlay Prep, on Wednesday morning made his second college announcement: He’s going to Washington.

Williams-Goss announced his decision on Twitter and explained it further in a blog for the National Recruiting Spotlight.

“At the end of the day, I had to follow my heart, and it was the University of Washington that I felt most comfortable with,” Williams-Goss wrote.

Williams-Goss and his family moved to Las Vegas from Portland, Ore., before his freshman year at Findlay Prep. This year, he will become the first four-year player in the history of Findlay, which will begin its seventh season this fall.

As a sophomore, Williams-Goss originally made a commitment to UNLV after getting to know then-coach Lon Kruger. When Kruger left for Oklahoma, Williams-Goss opened things back up.

“I just decided to re-open my recruitment and just take everything in and look forward to developing a new relationship with coach (Dave) Rice and everybody over there at UNLV,” Williams-Goss told the Sun in April 2011.

He was true to his word, giving Rice and the Rebels a chance to prove that Las Vegas was still the right place for him. In the end, he just found what he felt was a better situation, choosing Washington over the Rebels, Oklahoma, Harvard and UCLA.

Williams-Goss is the No. 39-ranked player in the class of 2013, according to Rivals.com. He’s the first commitment in coach Lorenzo Romar’s 2013 recruiting class and will have the opportunity to start at point guard as soon as he steps on campus.

As it stands, the Rebels’ 2013 incoming class includes Findlay Prep senior-to-be forward Christian Wood (No. 55) and Dantley Walker, a Lincoln County guard who committed to the Rebels in the class of 2011 before going on a two-year Mormon mission. Both Walker and Rice have said they will honor the commitment.

The number of scholarships Rice will have to work with is fluid at this point because he still has one remaining in the class of 2012 and it’s not yet known exactly how many players he’ll lose next year. Rice has three seniors, plus two underclassmen — Mike Moser and Anthony Bennett — who will likely look seriously at the NBA draft.

What he does know is that he’ll need a guard, and with Williams-Goss out of the picture, Rice will have to look outside of Las Vegas for an answer. Funny thing is, Rice may now have to recruit against Williams-Goss, who wrote that he’s going to try to bring with him several talented players, including UNLV target Isaac Hamilton.

In recruiting, as soon as you're not with somebody, you're against them.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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