Zion Williamson’s message to South Carolina, Clemson after opting to leave state

Zion Williamson shocked the college basketball world Saturday night by choosing Duke over a host of other finalists, including favorite Clemson, in-state South Carolina and other bluebloods like UNC, Kentucky and Kansas.

After the No. 2 recruit in the country made his announcement live on ESPN, he told reporters that he had arrived at a final decision that morning after hearing pitches from all his finalists over the past week.

According to Williamson’s stepfather, Lee Anderson, Zion might have understated how close the race was.

“As a matter of fact, Zion told me last night that he was going to flip a coin,” Anderson said after the decision ceremony. “He was going to flip a coin and go through four schools, I think, flip a coin, flip a coin. That’s what he said he was going to do. And that’s how close it was. So nobody did a bad job, everybody did a good job. And I applaud all of them.”

Anderson also said USC made a late charge in the process, buoyed by a stellar final pitch from coach Frank Martin.

“Frank Martin at South Carolina did a heck of a job. When he left the other day, Zion said something to me, ‘He had a good presentation,’ ” Anderson said.

Zion’s mother, Sharonda Sampson, echoed that sentiment, complimenting both Clemson and South Carolina.

“They were very compelling, to stay in state, to possibly be a local hero in the state, was very compelling,” Sampson said of both school’s pitches. “And all that was taken into consideration, what you could do at that school, what you could be the first to do at that school. But as I told our children, you have to be happy in this life. You only get one and you only get to go down this journey one time, so you have to be happy. And I don’t want you doing anything for me, I don’t want you doing anything for the fans, I want you to do it for Zion.”

However, Anderson said neither Clemson nor South Carolina nor any other school was the the second-place finisher in the process, proclaiming a four-way tie. And that’s not because he was afraid of hurting anyone’s feelings.

“The relationship was really close with all of (the coaches), but along the way, one thing I told Zion and I told my wife, ‘Let me tell y’all something. I don’t develop friendships. I don’t make relationships, because relationships you get close, and you get emotional, and then it causes problems when you try to make a decision. So I just keep it on a business level,’ ” Anderson said.

As part of that business decision, Anderson said, the family will go through the courtesy of calling each coach now, though the hoopla surrounding the announcement makes it all but impossible they don’t already know.

“We will definitely call them, though I’m sure they’ve heard. But we’ll notify all of them and let them know,” Anderson said.

Still, for both Sampson and Williamson, there was no denying the personal feelings connected to their home state, and they both stressed that his decision to move a little north was just that: only business, and not a reflection of their feelings for South Carolina as a whole.

“I’d like to thank South Carolina and Clemson for even taking the time to recruit me. ... I still have a lot of love for my state. I don’t want to let my state down. I love my state to death. I’m always going to represent,” Zion said.

Sampson said she plans to move to Durham while her son attends college, but had the same message.

“South Carolina’s home. So no matter where he goes in this world and what he does, South Carolina’s home, and just because he chose to go out of state is not saying we’re going to turn our back. This is our home, we love them and we hope they love us back,” she said.

This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 9:53 PM with the headline "Zion Williamson’s message to South Carolina, Clemson after opting to leave state."