Colton Williams spent the past year living in two worlds, but the Nebraska commit says the baseball side started pulling ahead fast once his arm took off in February.
The 2027 Millard West left-hander had been drawing attention in both football and baseball, and that split recruitment lasted into this winter. Then came a showcase event after a stretch of lifting and football training, and the mound began to win out. Williams said his fastball jumped from around 85 to 86 miles per hour and got close to 90, and from there the baseball interest picked up in a hurry.
“Things started heating up for baseball,” he said.
That rise helped lead to Williams announcing his commitment to Nebraska in early July, giving the Huskers another piece in their growing 2027 class. The offer from Nebraska came at the start of July, and Williams said he took a few days to sort through it before making the call.
“Leaving there I knew I had a hard decision to make. By Thursday or Friday I knew I was going to be a Husker, drove down Monday and committed in person,” Williams said.
For Williams, the decision came down to relationships. He said Nebraska’s coaching staff, especially Childress, stood out during the process, and the fan base mattered too.
"My relationship with Coach Childress is amazing," Williams told Husker247. "I've been growing a relationship with him since February and got to a point where they offered me and I was deciding between them and K-State.
My No. 1 thing was relationships and Coach Chilrdess and the rest of the coaching staff was just great. (Childress) was a big reason why I committed.
That and the fan base. I wanted to go where they care about athletics and baseball and Lincoln is somewhere it's a huge thing."
Before the Nebraska offer, Williams was hearing from Kansas State, Illinois and Iowa on the baseball side. Football schools had also been in the mix, with visits to North Dakota State, Wyoming and Northern Illinois, plus offers from Northern State and Wayne State.
Even with college baseball settled, Williams still has plenty on his plate at Millard West. He’ll have a bigger football role this fall, moving from wide receiver and corner last season to quarterback and safety as a senior. That has meant juggling weekend baseball events with learning the offense and getting on the same page with his teammates.
"It's definitely a full plate. You're never not doing anything.
I'm not complaining. I enjoy doing that.
I'm just used to it. It's not a hassle any more," he said.
"(Playing quarterback) is definitely different. The aspect of knowing the plays isn't the hard part.
It's the timing of things, but that's getting there."
On the baseball side, Williams is already thinking about what comes next in Lincoln. He throws both a two-seam and four-seam fastball, along with a changeup and slurve, all from a 3/4 arm-slot. And now that he’s locked in on one college sport, he wants to make an immediate impression.
"I want to come in there as a freshman and make an impact and show what I can do," he said.
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