FORT MYERS — This is the reason fourth-year Florida Gulf Coast University coach Joe Dooley generally holds an ace in his recruiting pocket.
CJ Williamson, a 6-foot-6 do-almost-everything 200-pounder who was released on Thursday after his freshman Texas Tech season, has narrowed his wish list down to two: FGCU and Virginia Tech.
He quickly ruled out Ole Miss and UNC Wilmington.
Williamson got to FGCU late Sunday night and will spend today and a lot of Tuesday around Alico Arena.
School starts Wednesday, so it’s assumed that Williamson will or won’t be an Eagle by that morning. He has not yet visited
Virginia Tech. The Hokies begin classes a week from today.
As mostly a point guard, Williamson helped lead Orlando-Evans to the Class 7A final as a sophomore and the Class 8A final as a junior. FloridaHoops.com named him a 4-star recruit — ESPN and Rivals had him as a 3-star — and 247Sports.com called him a top-200 national player. Hoop Scoop named him Florida’s 15th-best recruit.
Williamson — who can play the point, off-guard and small forward (even the power in a pinch) — played in 21 games last season, averaging 1.7 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 6.6 minutes as Texas Tech went 19-13 and lost its first round NCAA game against Butler.
Williamson chose Texas Tech — and coach Tubby Smith — after visits to Clemson and Missouri.
FGCU is in this position on purpose. Under Dooley, especially, the Eagles have been here before. Had Williamson gotten
his transfer from Texas Tech well before Thursday, FGCU — which recruited him lightly out of high school — probably
would not have had a chance.
But by now, most every program is out of scholarships.
Dooley got former Miami-South center Antravious Simmons at the semester break of 2014 right after he decided to transfer from VCU. He averaged 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds as a sophomore last season.
The Eagles got junior Brandon Goodwin — your likely main starter at the point this upcoming season — from Central Florida about this time last year because Jonathan Milligan (now at Pitt) did not qualify. So the Eagles had the leftover scholarship to toss out to Goodwin.
FGCU has plenty of connections to Williamson.
FGCU All-Atlantic Sun senior forward Marc-Eddy Norelia was a senior at Orlando-Olympia while Williamson was a freshman under then-coach Mark Griseck. They remain tight.
FGCU sophomore point guard Zach Johnson of Miami-Norland and junior guard Christian Terrell of Jacksonville-Providence, both starters last season, played against Williamson in high school.
The Eagles will graduate just two seniors after this season — Norelia and most-time starting center Demetris Morant — and they already have Michigan transfer Ricky Doyle (a 6-10 junior center from Michigan) waiting in the wings for next season.
An ACC program, Virginia Tech went 20-15, including 10-8 in conference play, last season under second-year coach Buzz
Williams.
FGCU was 21-14 last season and won the ASUN tournament. The Eagles then beat Fairleigh Dickinson in a First-Four, Play-in record 31 points before falling to eventual national runnerup North Carolina by 16 points after trailing by just one at the half in Raleigh in an NCAA first-rounder.
We really like the Eagles’ chances here.
Stay turned.
Dana Caldwell is the Daily News beat writer for Florida Gulf Coast University athletics and can be followed on Twitter at @NDN_DCaldwell