By Alec Nederveld
Darien Williams is a 2025 three-star WR at Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) in Syracuse, NY who was kind enough to interview with me and Mike Farrell Sports. Williams is coming off a 14-0 Junior season capped off by a State Championship in New York’s highest level of football, AA. He led his school with 44 receptions, 863 yards, and 11 touchdowns.
Williams currently holds offers from Boston College, Buffalo, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Temple, UConn, and UMass. The pass catcher is ranked 458th nationally, 68th among receivers, and the second-best player in New York, per the 247 Sports Composite.
Within the past week, Williams has received two of those offers with in-state schools Buffalo and Syracuse announcing the good news. He also visited both schools, attending the Bulls’ Junior Day on Saturday, March 9, and Syracuse on Wednesday, March 6.
Speaking on the Orange, Williams has attended visits under both Dino Babers and new coach Fran Brown. Brown was named 247 Sports Recruiter of the Year for the 2024 class, and success on the trail has continued with Syracuse. The WR noticed the increased energy from the coaching staff, saying, “I can just tell like their energy was a lot higher, and I think it’s definitely already improved a lot.”
Williams speaks highly of Penn State as well. He’s already visited Happy Valley three times and will be back for his fourth on March 16th. The 106,572-seat Beaver Stadium and its atmosphere were impressive, stating: “Just walking around their field and just seeing everything was shocking because I never had got that experience”. Williams also called HC James Franklin and the Penn State program “really good.”
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Williams started playing Football in Fifth grade as a Quarterback and transitioned to wideout for his Freshman season. One year of WR at JV was all it took to receive his first offer from Colorado on May 26th, 2022, but he has not been in contact with the program following the hiring of Deion Sanders.
The quick rise from passer to catcher was aided by two men who walked a similar path before him. Syair Torrence, also from CBA, is a 2024 WR, one of two committed to Boston College. The two had trained together since Williams was in Sixth grade with Bruce Williams (no relation). Currently the school’s OC/WR/DB coach, Williams also won CBA a state championship in his Junior year in 2004 before committing to Syracuse. There, he began his career as a wideout before transitioning to DB, being named a team captain as a senior.
The talent and influence of Williams, combined with hard work, have been crucial to his personal and led to team success. He comments how all this “couldn’t have come up without him, Bruce, and all the other receivers.”
On the field, Williams thinks his biggest strength is speed. It’s arguably the one thing that can’t be coached and separates him from other receivers. His bests are 10.8 in the 100M and 21.98 in the 200M, which led to seventh and fifth-place finishes in the 2023 NYS Division 2 Track finals. Williams’ Junior track season has just begun, and he looks to improve his times even more. Behind that, catching is the top strength.
Both of these showed up on film, alongside great YAC ability. I think Williams is best as a deep threat with elite ball-tracking skills, but is still great on screens, slants, and other short to medium passes where he can get the ball in space. He is a weapon that lined up across the offense, primarily in the slot but also on an island as the only receiver on the backside to frontside trips. Williams shines here, dominating against one-on-one coverage. He is a little undersized, featuring solid height at 6’0″, but should add more pounds at only 160. In addition, the level of competition is admittedly bad and doesn’t illustrate everything he can do.
For what it’s worth, Williams was best against the toughest competition in the playoffs. He exploded in the State Championship, finishing with seven receptions for 236 yards and three touchdowns and earning MVP honors for the game. In the State Quarterfinals, Williams made the most of his three catches, one of which plucked from the air with one hand, for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
In addition to Penn State on 3/16, Williams has a UConn visit scheduled on 3/23. He hopes to get back to Boston College, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse as well, although no dates are set.
It’s a blessing for Williams to receive all of these offers, “knowing a school will trust you to play for them,” and I think more will come his way. His recruitment continues to gain steam, with three offers since February and plenty of visits in the future. Alongside a talented core of Seniors, Williams and CBA will certainly be in contention for a second state championship in a row. I am excited to see what’s next, and this is a guy to keep your eye on in the future.
