Martin, USC make pitch to Zion Williamson. The pitch continues Saturday in Columbia

Clemson had its shot with basketball phenom Zion Williamson of Spartanburg Day last weekend for the Auburn football game. On Saturday, South Carolina will get its chance to entertain Williamson and his parents as the Gamecocks host Kentucky at Williams-Brice Stadium.

USC basketball coach Frank Martin and his three assistant coaches spent two hours with Williamson at his home Thursday night and nailed down the visit.

Williamson (6-6) had planned from the start not to take official visits to Clemson and USC, so these one-day trips serve as the Tigers’ and Gamecocks’ last chance to impress him as he heads down the stretch of his recruiting saga.

“The visit went great, just like all the visits with the coaches so far,” said Williamson’s stepfather, Lee Anderson. “His message was about the fact they reached the Final Four last season and come help them get to that next level.”

Head coaches from Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA also have been in this week. Two Duke assistants met with Williamson at his school earlier Thursday. Anderson is expecting head coach Mike Krzyzewski to visit at some point, and North Carolina coach Roy Williams is expected in on Sunday.

Williamson reportedly has official visits set with Kentucky Sept. 22, Kansas Sept. 29, Duke Oct. 22 and UCLA Oct. 27, though Anderson said to his knowledge nothing is absolute with those visits and dates, and there could be changes.

As for Saturday’s visit, Anderson said the plan is to meet with some of the academic people at USC as well as the support group around the basketball program. It’s possible Williamson will meet the university president as well, as he did last week at Clemson.

Anderson said the visit at Clemson went very well and they got the chance to further explore the academic opportunities as well as learn more about the basketball program. Anderson said he’s not aware of an in-home visit planned with Clemson coach Brad Brownell at this point.

As for the idea of Williamson skipping college all together and playing professionally somewhere next year before entering the NBA Draft, Anderson admitted the subject had been broached but doesn’t have a lot of legs. Williamson’s mother is a teacher and Anderson is a former college basketball player, so they appreciate what the college experience, if even he’s a one-and-done player, would mean for their son.

Anderson said no timetable has been set for Williamson to make his decision. At this point he’s not certain Williamson will sign in November.

This story was originally published September 15, 2017 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Martin, USC make pitch to Zion Williamson. The pitch continues Saturday in Columbia."