Rutgers was the first high major Division I school to express interest in Mike Williams.
The future Big Ten program will also be the Brooklyn sharpshooter’s home for the next four years.
The 6-foot-2 guard, a rising senior from Bishop Loughlin known for his sweet stroke, verbally committed to head coach Eddie Jordan and the Scarlet Knights Monday afternoon, eschewing what could’ve been a long recruiting process.
Days after Jordan was named as the Rutgers coach, the Scarlet Knights lost out on top city guard Jon Severe, but they got a virtual clone in Williams, an undersized yet rugged shooting guard.
“Mike’s a player. They need a sharpshooter and I think Mike is one of the best shooters in the city,” Bishop Loughlin coach Ed Gonzalez said. “They got somebody who can help them. The Big Ten is a tough league and Mike is a tough kid.”
After leading Bishop Loughlin to the CHSAA Class AA intersectional championship game in March, Williams has enjoyed a big AAU season with the New York Lightning on the Nike circuit and has seen his stock skyrocket.
Dayton, Iowa, St. John’s, Temple, Fordham and Rhode Island, among scores of others, offered him a scholarship. Yet Williams opted for Rutgers, the first major program to recruit him.
“If it feels good, the fit is right, what are we waiting for?” Gonzalez said. “He feels comfortable with it. He wanted to get it done before school started. That was part of the game plan.”
Rutgers was in on Williams early in his junior year, when Mike Rice was the coach. Van Macon, who Jordan kept on his staff when he was hired, led the charge then and spearheaded the commitment now as well.
Landing Williams is another major coup for Jordan, the former NBA head coach who has hit the grounding running on the recruiting trail.
“He’s the second best guard in the city,” one Division I coach familiar with Williams said. “He’s a hard worker, the total package on the court and off.”
Jordan has picked up junior college prospects Bishop Daniels, Craig Brown and D’Von Campbell, nabbed top Virginia high school forward Junior Etou of Bishop O’Connell and a pair of transfers in wings J.J. Moore (Pittsburgh) and Kerwin Okoro (Iowa State), both of whom are looking to gain a hardship waiver to be immediately eligible to play this season.Jordan also convinced point guard Jerome Seagears to return, after the sophomore initially transferred to Auburn and most recently nabbed Spring Valley, N.Y. forward D.J. Foreman, who is part of the 2014 recruiting class along with Williams.
zbraziller@nypost.com