Transferring tailback Ty’Son Williams reaches out to Gamecocks

Former Crestwood High running back Ty’Son Williams is leaving North Carolina after one season, one of his former coaches confirmed Thursday, and South Carolina is among the schools he’s contacted to see if there’s any interest.

Coach Brian Jackson, now the head coach at Lakewood but a former Crestwood assistant when Williams played there, said Thursday that Williams met with him to discuss his future.

“He just said he and UNC wasn’t a good fit,” Jackson said. “He’s looking to go somewhere on the D1 level and has his papers. Full release with some stipulations. He cannot transfer to another ACC school or any school who will play North Carolina in the next four years. That makes it a little bit harder to keep him in the Southeast. He said he would like to stay in the Southeast if at all possible.”

USC, however, might not be an option, as the Gamecocks are set to play the Tar Heels in 2019.

Jackson recalls that Penn State was always a favorite of Williams’ in high school and his father lives in Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions did show interest, but Williams narrowed his decision to North Carolina, USC and Georgia before committing on July 29, 2014. Current USC redshirt freshman Mon Denson committed to the Gamecocks earlier that day on July 29 and joined A.J. Turner as the two tailbacks in the class.

Jackson said he’s been in touch with coaches at USC and Coastal Carolina on Williams’ behalf.

“They have his information and we’ll wait and see what happens,” he said. “I talked to (USC assistant) Coach Peterson and he passed it on to Robbie Liles. They all know who he is. When Ty’Son was in high school, the Gamecocks were real high on his list. That summer before he was a senior, everybody that Carolina offered kind started to say yes and Ty’Son kind of got of got left to hang out to dry. He said he was real close to going to Wisconsin but the coach who was doing his recruiting left and went to Oregon State and he wasn’t going to go that far. He’d like to have a decision before August.”

Williams’ mother is in the military and now lives in Macon, Ga., and is going to Kansas for a year. Jackson said he’d like to stay near his mom or dad.

Williams played as a freshman last season, carrying the ball 19 times for 57 yards. He has a redshirt year available, which he will use as a transfer, leaving him three years of eligibility. Jackson said Williams checked in at 6-1, 212 pounds at the school Thursday.

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Transferring tailback Ty’Son Williams reaches out to Gamecocks."