Mikey Williams was detained in San Diego on Thursday on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Williams is an elite and well-liked basketball prospect who will attend Memphis next season.
Lt. Gavin Lanning of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department stated that Williams, ranked 34th on ESPN’s list of the top 100 recruits for the class of 2023, paid a $50,000 bond and was released at 12:14 a.m. on Friday. Thursday is scheduled to be his first court appearance.
Williams is charged with multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon, according to police documents, but according to Lanning, he will likely only face one allegation. Williams is accused of violating California Penal Code Chapter 9, Section 245(a)(2), which applies to “any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a firearm.” The utmost sentence for this offence is four years in prison.
Memphis stated in a statement that it was “aware of the situation and gathering additional information.”
Monday evening, according to the incident report released on Friday, there was an argument at a residence and multiple individuals were asked to leave.
According to the incident report from the sheriff’s department, “five people got into a car, and as they drove away, shots were fired.” The vehicle was struck, but no one was injured.
Williams was detained after the execution of a search warrant. There were multiple minors in the car. According to the sheriff’s office, it will not release Williams’ booking photo because, by policy, such images are only released “when there is an immediate threat to public safety.”
Williams has been a well-known name in the grassroots basketball community since early in his high school career, when his highlight videos became a YouTube phenomenon. Prior to transferring to Lake Norman Christian (North Carolina), he was designated the 2019-20 MaxPreps national freshman basketball player of the year.
At the time of his commitment to Memphis, he had nearly 4 million Instagram followers and more than 2 million TikTok followers. Williams reached a multiyear endorsement agreement with Puma in October 2021, making him the first American high school basketball player to sign a sneaker contract with a global footwear company.
Williams, a 6-foot-2 guard, was a highly coveted prospect in Penny Hardaway’s subsequent recruiting class. Williams ultimately chose to play for the Tigers even though he had considered attending a historically Black institution a few years prior. In November, he inked a letter of intent with Hardaway’s programme.
The apprehension of Williams is the latest in a string of gun-related incidents that have rocked college basketball this year. New Mexico State cancelled its season and fired head coach Greg Heiar in February after one of its athletes was involved in a self-defense shooting. According to police and school investigations, multiple NMSU athletes and coaches were involved in the aftermath of that incident.
Brandon Miller, a former Alabama star and projected top-five decision in this summer’s NBA draught, was accused by police in February of transporting the weapon used in the murder of Jamea Jonae Harris, which resulted in murder charges against former Alabama player Darius Miles and another man.
