As soon as former Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams got a new NBA head coaching job with the Detroit Pistons, everybody knew Arizona also lost one of the top 2026 high school basketball prospects in the nation.
Elijah Williams, a 6-foot-6 wing, will continue his high school career at Brother Rice High School, The Detroit News reported. Brother Rice is a small all-boys school in Bloomfield Township, which is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. The basketball team went 22-2 last season, losing its last game to St. Mary’s Prep in the state tournament.
Scottsdale Christian head coach John Anderson confirmed that Williams is headed to Michigan with his father, who led the Suns to the NBA Finals in 2021, then to the best record in the NBA in 2022, before being fired by the Suns after the Western Conference semifinal series with the Denver Nuggets ended in a blowout loss in Game 6.
Anderson said the entire Williams family is moving to Detroit.
“I did hear from him that he is attending Brother Rice,” Anderson said in a text message to The Arizona Republic.
Williams was invited to Team USA U16 tryouts in Colorado Springs. He averaged 10 points in a Nike EYBL event in Mesa in May.
Williams averaged 19.8 points and 9.1 rebounds for Scottsdale Christian’s varsity as a freshman. He made 46% of his 3-point tries and 61% of his two-point shots. While an efficient scorer for the Eagles, he became an elite defender who is just scratching the surface of his potential.
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