Memphis basketball commit and five-star prospect Mikey Williams was arrested on Thursday afternoon and booked on five charges of assault with a deadly weapon, according to Malik Earnest of CBS 8 San Diego.
Fans of basketball know the name Williams, and he is the most important player in Penny Hardaway’s No.1 signing class for 2023.
Someone who looked like Williams was 18 years old and was found in Jamul, a place near San Diego. He bought a big house there. TMZ Sports told us this news.
Around 3:30 pm, he was brought to the San Diego Central Jail and charged with something. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department told CBS that it was really Williams.
The arrest happened after a report about a fight at a home on Monday night was made public on Friday.
Multiple people were asked to leave the house, and as five people got into a car and drove away, shots were fired. The car got hit, but luckily, nobody got hurt.
Williams was arrested after a search warrant was carried out. Several children were in the car.
The sheriff’s office has said that it won’t share Williams’ booking photo because, by policy, it only does so when there is an immediate threat to public safety.
Troy P. Owens, a criminal defense attorney in San Diego, has been retained by Williams.
In a statement released Friday night, Owens revealed that the alleged shooting occurred at Williams’ home following an “altercation” initiated by several uninvited individuals.
The attorney’s statement urged the public to consider that Williams is an 18-year-old high school student and to avoid harassment, threats, or other unwarranted behavior.
As a well-known figure in the grassroots basketball world, Williams rose to fame early in high school when his YouTube highlight videos became popular.
In 2019-20, he was named the MaxPreps national freshman basketball player of the year at San Ysidro (California) before transferring to Lake Norman Christian (North Carolina).
The No. 26 overall player in the class of 2023, per 247Sports, Williams became the first American high school basketball player to sign a deal with a major shoe company when he inked a contract with Puma in 2021.
According to On3, a website that tracks student-athletes name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, Williams is worth an estimated $3.3 million, ranking him fourth among student-athletes.
Williams recently concluded his senior year, averaging nearly 24 points and nine assists per game. His hometown team, San Ysidro, fell in the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division playoffs semifinals.
The sports department at Memphis released a message after the arrest. They said, “We are aware of the situation and are gathering more information.”
For each charge, Williams faced a minimum sentence of six months, but he was let go on $50,000 bail just after midnight on Friday. His Instagram page, which had nearly 4 million fans, was shut down soon after.
Williams will go to court for the first time on April 20. There, he will have to deal with the law and the possible serious effects of his actions.
The public and the basketball community will closely watch how the situation plays out to see how it affects the young athlete’s future, both on and off the court.
