(Update: 9:01p ESPNNewYork.com is reporting Ishaq’s high school coach at Lincoln¬†says he will¬†delay his decision. Ishaq’s coach says¬†he will¬†not be¬†reopening the process and Williams is still choosing among Syracuse, Penn State and Notre Dame.¬†The coach¬†did not mention Miami.)
(Update: 7:41p The New York Post is reporting that Ishaq has postponed his announcement and will not make the decision tomorrow. “Lincoln All-American Ishaq Williams will not commit tomorrow, The Post has learned, at the US Army game. He will still pick among Penn State, Syracuse and Notre Dame sometime next week. He will NOT be taking a visit to Miami.”)
(Update: 7:20p¬† The Fizz has learned we may no longer be the final few hours before Ishaq Williams announces his decision.¬†There is¬†new information regarding two other schools status in the Williams race. A source who is in San Antonio and talked to Ishaq today tells The Fizz the DE prospect is wavering on making an annoucement because he’s still not sure.
The Fizz believes Miami is out. Al Golden and crew simply got into the race too late and couldn’t make up the ground gained by Syracuse, Notre Dame, and, yes, Penn State. The Nittany Lions are now back in the hunt for Williams after seemingly having been eliminated. However hurting the Penn State chances is the fact that Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley is reportedly leaving to take the head coaching job Pittsburgh.
Williams is allegedly hung up on an undisclosed and unspecified problem at one school, which The Fizz believes is the DC situation at Penn State. At the moment All-American Bowl reps believe he’s still set to make his decision tomorrow.
Ishaq gets one more night to sleep on both the decision and the decision to make the decision. We just hope he wakes up seeing Orange.
Posted: Craig Hoffman and Andrew Kanell
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A source tells The Fizz that Ishaq Williams may be leaning toward Syracuse on the eve of his decision. The elite defensive recruit is scheduled to make his choice tomorrow as part of the All-American Bowl. Officials in San Antonio have told us he is still slated to announce his intent during the festivities.
The source says the New York connection and a trust in Doug Marrone has drawn Ishaq toward the Orange, plus the Pinstripe Bowl was a game-changer.
“The thing is, Syracuse feels really, really good to him. His mom and dad went there, and he’s obviously really close to his dad. The Pinstripe Bowl thing was huge for him. Fans were coming up and high-fiving him. ‘Cuse won and all that. That was big. And him and his dad really like Marrone.”
So, where does the lineage and tradition of the Irish fit into the mix?
“This thing really was down to just ‘Cuse and Notre Dame, and obviously the whole thing – history, the National Championships, all the legends that played there – makes Notre Dame really interesting, ya know? I mean, why wouldn’t it?
This week has been soaked in drama regarding Ishaq and the Miami rumors. On Wednesday, word leaked that his decision may have been delayed as Al Golden made a late push. The Fizz confirmed one of Golden’s first acts on the job was a trip to New York to visit Williams’ high school.
“I think he (Golden) swooped in and tried to tell him, ‘Hey, it’s ‘the U.’ You can be one of the greats – like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp – things like that. And Ishaq was always like, when he was growing up, ‘Damn, yeah. I wanna be a ‘Cane!’ But ‘the U’ just kinda came outta nowhere.”
So where will one of the most-decorated and highly-sought recruits be playing this fall?
“My gut is, I think it’s gonna be Syracuse. That’s not set in stone, because he’s being really tight-lipped. Like even his closest friends don’t know. But yeah, I just got a feeling. But I guess we’ll see Saturday.”
The Fizz will be live blogging all day tomorrow, starting with the All-American Bowl and continuing through Ishaq’s decision. Follow @orangefizz for constant updates and keep checking The Fizz throughout the day tomorrow.
Posted: D.A.
