Vanderbilt bolstered the offensive line on Wednesday by landing the commitment of Deerfield (Mass.) Academy product CJ Williams.
The 6-foot-8, 330-pound took an official visit to Vanderbilt the weekend of June 9th and chose the Commodores over the likes of Boston College, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Kentucky, and others.
Williams also took an official visit with Boston College, however, his time on West End was the tone-setter for today's commitment.
""I loved it," Williams told VandySports.com after his visit. "It has a cool aura about it with campus being in the middle of Nashville. Additionally, the coach and player commitment to excellence and making the program the best in the nation is unprecedented. Everyone has bought in from Coach Lea all the way to the equipment managers."
Throughout his recruiting process, Williams connected the most with Vanderbilt offensive line coach AJ Blazek.
"Most of my interactions were with Coach Blazek, who's the man," Williams noted. "He has a vision for his O-line room and what he wants it to be. He also has a great connection with all of his guys. Whenever he calls on them for something, multiple of them respond, which tells me that his guys have a lot of respect for him."
With Williams' skillset, Vanderbilt sees a raw, athletic big man.
"When it comes to my film, they say I'm a very raw prospect. I'm a big athlete who's really athletic and can move very well."
Williams stood out at the New England Show Days camp back in May, where Rivals.com national analyst Adam Friedman had this to say about the newly-committed Commodore.
"Massive offensive lineman CJ Williams should expect an uptick in his recruitment after what he showed during his workout. He is very flexible for a player that stands tall at 6-foot-8, 320-pounds. He’s surprisingly agile too, something that could be attributed to his background as a dancer."
With Williams now in the fold, Vanderbilt has 13 total commitments in the 2024 class and he becomes the third offensive line pledge, joining Harrison Moore and Joshua Raymond.
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