Sleeper Commits To Syracuse

The Syracuse Orangemen have received an oral commitment from one of the top sleepers in the northeast.

"Lee told Syracuse that he wants to go there," said Webster, N.Y. head coach Tony Bianchi of defensive end Lee Williams. "The process just started for him, but he felt comfortable with the Syracuse coaches and they recruited him hard."

Williams, a 6-foot-2, 235-pounder, chose the Orangemen over interest from Boston College, Pitt, Penn State and others.

"There were quite a few big programs that came through this spring," he said. "Syracuse was the first to offer and they figured why take a kid from Florida or elsewhere when they had what they wanted right here."

Williams is just getting started in football.

"He's so young, he just turned 16," said Bianchi. "He has great speed but he's still learning the game and is a bit raw. He put himself on the map last season when he ran down Damien Rhodes on an outside sweep against Fayetteville-Manlius. He runs a 4.6 in the 40 right now and I think he can become a 4.5 kid while getting to around 260 pounds. He's a great athlete."

Williams helped his team to their second state title in the last three years and continues a good tradition of Webster players at Syracuse. The most recent Webster grad to play at Syracuse was offensive lineman Kyle Adams.

"Syracuse has done a lot for our program and we're always happy to send players there if it's the right fit," Bianchi said. "In this case, Lee really liked the coaches and the program and didn't want to wait any longer."