Top High School Basketball Recruit Mikey Williams Arrested, Faces Charges Of Assault With A Deadly Weapon

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Mikey Williams, a top high school basketball recruit and Memphis Tigers signee, has been arrested on five charges of assault with a deadly weapon. The five-star hooper was arrested in Souther California on Thursday and released on bail of $50,000 on Friday morning.

While the San Deog Sheriff's Department does not release booking photos to the public, the department did confirm the basketball star had been arrested. Williams' Instagram account was deactivated shortly after he was released on bail.

Williams was booked on five counts of assault with a deadly weapon using a firearm, and in California, each of those counts carries a minimum sentence of six months in county jail if convicted.

Mikey Williams, a Memphis recruit, could be looking at serious jail time following his arrest. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Williams is a consensus Top 30 recruit in the class of 2023. The San Ysidro High School product had offers from the likes of Tennessee, Kansas, Arkansas, San Diego State, and USC before signing with Penny Hardaway's Tigers in November 2022.

“We are aware of the situation and are gathering more information,” Memphis said in a statement.

A report in January named Williams as the No. 2 NIL earner in college athletics only behind LeBron James' son, Bronny. Williams' NIL evaluation came in at $3.6 million.

OutKick's Sean Labar dove into the hype surrounding Williams at the time:

Mikey Williams is clearly one of the top hoops prospects of the 2023 class as the 24th best player in the country. He’s already mastered the art of branding which makes him the second-ranked NIL athlete in the nation.

The 6-2 guard from San Diego, CA has become a social media phenom, with 6 million total followers. The 17-year-old became the first high schooler in the U.S. to land a multi-year sneaker deal with Puma back in October and has endorsement agreements with CashApp, LaceClips and others.

It's safe to say that NIL evaluation has taken a mighty hit with this latest development.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.