Memphis recruit Mikey Williams has been ordered to stand trial on six felony gun charges and could be sentenced to up to a maximum of 28 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
The 19-year-old appeared in court this week for a preliminary hearing after he was arrested in April, following an argument at a home that ended in gunshots.
He faces five charges of assault with a weapon and one count of firing into an occupied car at his San Diego-area home.
The original police report said there were five people in the car, but that number has now increased to six, which may lead to more charges.
Judge Sherry M. Thompson-Taylor said that “while no witnesses saw Williams fire a gun, there is probable cause to move the case forward based on testimony that witnesses saw him with a gun and heard him threaten to kill them,” ESPN reports.
Thompson-Taylor scheduled Williams’ arraignment for Oct. 24.
Williams’ attorney, Troy P. Owens, has entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.
Williams was one of America’s best high school basketballers and signed a multi-million dollar deal with Puma before heading to college.
But his immediate basketball future is very much in doubt.
The guard is still enrolled in online classes at Memphis and is on the Tigers’ roster, but does not have access to the team’s facilities or activities.
He will remain away from Tigers program “until his pending legal process is complete,” the school said last month.
Williams is currently ranked 49th in the ESPN’s list of the top 100 recruits in the 2023 class.