TUCSON, Ariz. — For four years, Demond Williams Jr. was a Bear, leading Basha High School as the starting quarterback and winning the school's first-ever state championship in 2022.
For four weeks, Williams was an Arizona Wildcat after signing his National Letter of Intent on December 20, 2023, and then entering the transfer portal on January 17, 2024.
And now, Williams is becoming a Husky as he is following former Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch to the University of Washington.
Williams announced his transfer on social media on Sunday.
Williams, a four-star recruit, originally committed to play for the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, after his junior season at Basha, where he led the Bears to the Open Division state championship. However, he decommitted in July 2023.
Later that month, Williams committed to play for Fisch and the Wildcats.
Williams signed with the program in the 2023 early signing period and was an early enrollee, so he was already on campus when Fisch left Arizona to take the head coaching job at Washington on January 14, 2024.
Three days after Fisch's departure, Williams entered the transfer portal with the expectation that he would follow Fisch to the Big Ten and the Pacific Northwest, which then happened on Sunday.
"I'm super excited," Williams told 247Sports' Blair Angulo. "I feel like it's a great opportunity for me in Seattle. There are countless opportunities in the business field for me and I definitely got the family feel that came over from Arizona. I kind of knew I was going to like it, obviously with the relationships I have on staff, but it turned out that I actually love it up there."
Williams is one of three Wildcats to leave for Washington this weekend. Running back Jonah Coleman announced his transfer late Saturday night and cornerback Jordan Shaw, who transferred to Arizona on Dec. 21, 2023, announced his transfer about an hour after Coleman.
Williams was ranked as the 19th-best quarterback in the nation and the fourth-best player in Arizona in the class of 2024 by 247Sports. He was the top-ranked quarterback in the state, ahead of Sunnyslope's Luke Moga (who signed with Oregon) and ALA-Queen Creek's Enoch Watson (who signed with BYU).
In his four years playing for head coach Chris McDonald at Basha, Williams, a 5' 11", 170-pound dual-threat quarterback, threw for 10,035 yards and 93 touchdowns. He also ran 480 times for 2,783 yards and 42 touchdowns.
Williams was named as the 2023 Friday Night Fever Offensive Player of the Year and the All-Fever quarterback after throwing for 3,250 yards and 34 touchdowns and rushing for 1,136 yards and 20 touchdowns in his senior season. He led Basha to a 6A Premier region championship and the Open Division semifinals.
Williams, a freshman, is now the fifth quarterback on the Huskies' roster along with sophomore Camdyn Stiegeler, junior Teddy Purcell, senior Alex Johnson and freshman Demaricus Davis. Senior Will Rogers announced he was transferring to Washington from Mississippi State before former Husky head coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama, but Rogers re-entered the transfer portal on Jan. 13.
Williams told 247Sports that Fisch and the Huskies' coaching staff want him to come in and compete for playing time this fall.
"I'm excited to get in there and push for playing time right away," Williams said. "That was the plan all along, even if coach Fisch had stayed at Arizona and I was there right now. I just want to compete and plan to make an impact. They want to run an NFL pro-style offense just like they did at Arizona where they can enhance my skills."
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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