Shortstop
Nolan "Nonie" Williams, the No. 4 ranked player in the
Perfect Game 2017 rankings, has decided to re-classify into the 2016
class. His addition means that the 2016 high school class, which is
already looking to be extremely strong in pitching, just added
another very athletic middle-of-the-field position prospect.
Williams
is currently home-schooled but plays on the Turner High School
baseball team on the near southwest side of Kansas City. Kansas
participation rules allow a home-schooled student to take one class
per year at a chosen in-district high school to be eligible to play
interscholastic sports. Williams will also be 18 years old prior to
the 2016 draft, meaning the 2016 class is his natural age peer group.
Williams'
father, Marty, said that the family has been in contact with the
Major League Baseball office about the re-classification and
anticipate no problems in moving forward.
With picture-perfect swing mechanics Nolan Williams has five-tool upside and first round potential for the 2016 MLB Draft.
"What
I really wanted was to challenge myself against a higher level of
competition sooner,” Nolan Williams told PG in a recent phone
interview. “I think I can compete at that next level, whether it be
in college or in professional baseball and want that to get going
sooner. I'm 50/50 right now on college versus pro ball; it's really
whatever works out best over the next year."
Williams
added that, consistent with the increasingly early recruiting cycles
in college baseball, that he's pretty much narrowed down his college
choices to two or three schools and would be making that decision at
the end of the summer.
Part
of the Williams family's rationale for making the re-classification
now was to enable scouts to get a full year's cycle to fully evaluate
him. Three prominent players who have re-classified the past three
years – Oklahoma's Drew Ward (2013), Virginia's Jacob Bukauskas
(2014) and Texas' Garrett Wolforth (2015) – each waited until after
the summer to announce their intentions, costing themselves valuable
opportunities with the national scouting community.
Williams
already has a full summer schedule set up, with the Perfect Game
National and the Tournament of Stars leading things off in June,
followed by a July playing for the Marucci Elite at numerous WWBA and
PG Super 25 tournaments.
A
dynamic athlete, which prompted PG President Jerry Ford to comment "he could
be a Justin Upton type of athlete" after watching him at the
2014 Midwest Top Prospect Showcase, Williams is a solidly built
6-foot-1, 190-pound righthanded hitter with the strength and bat
speed to drive the ball. He ran a 6.5 60-yard dash at that showcase
last year and says he's been working with a track coach on a weekly
basis to improve his overall speed and make it a truly elite level
tool. Williams also has a plus arm and threw 90 mph across the
infield at the same event.
"I
think I'm an aggressive player, I like to battle at the plate and
play hard defensively and run the bases hard,” Williams said when
asked what his strengths were. “And my speed certainly helps a
whole lot both on offense and defense."
Williams
is currently hitting .500-2-17 in 16 games this spring, with seven
walks and only three strike outs. He has also stolen nine bases.
An
interesting scenario for scouts next spring will be that Turner High
School and St. Thomas Aquinas High School, where top overall 2016
prospect, righthander Riley Pint, goes to school, are less than a
dozen miles apart, although the two schools don't play each other in
2015. Williams says that he and Pint have played on the same teams
before and are friends who talk a couple of times a week. That will
make a great double-up opportunity when cross-checkers are in town
next spring.