Memphis’ Mikey Williams still away from Tigers as practices start following April arrest
Mikey Williams, a four-star recruit, had a massive social media following and a huge Puma NIL deal out of high school
Memphis guard Mikey Williams is still away from the program following his arrest earlier this year and missed the team’s first official practices earlier this week, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
Williams was arrested in April after an alleged shooting at his San Diego home. The freshman has enrolled in online classes at Memphis, but the school said he does not have access to the team’s facilities or activities, which will remain the case “until his pending legal process is complete.”
Williams missed the team’s first practices of the season this week and did not travel with the Tigers to the Dominican Republic earlier this summer.
Williams, who grew a massive social media following and signed a multimillion-dollar shoe deal with Puma in high school, was arrested in April after an incident at his San Diego-area home. Police said Williams fired a gun at a car full of people as they were leaving the home on March 27. The car was hit, officials said, but nobody inside the vehicle was hurt.
Williams was arrested and charged with five counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle. He has since pleaded not guilty and is due in court Oct. 10 for a preliminary hearing, which has been postponed multiple times.
Williams was a four-star Rivals.com recruit out of high school. He drew interest from Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Tennessee and San Diego State, and he visited Kansas before committing to play for Penny Hardaway and Memphis.
Memphis went 26-9 last season, Hardaway’s fifth with the program, and made the NCAA tournament, though the Tigers were knocked out in the first round. They will officially open the season Nov. 6 against Jackson State.
