When it comes to basketball recruiting, the Internet does not elevate, it only magnifies.

Georgetown fans that came of age during the early days of the Internet were treated to all sorts of names of can't-miss recruits previously found in the back pages of recruiting newsletters: Antric Klaiber, Derrick Payne, Korleone Young, Dennis Lattimore, John Gilchrist. One of the most promising (and most talked about) recruits of his day was Latavious Williams, whose footnote in basketball history is a cautionary one.

Over four years as a 6-8 forward at Starkville (MS) High School, Williams' national reputation soared as his scoring average did. By the time he was a senior, Williams averaged 18.9 points, 14.5 rebounds and five blocks a game, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 29-4 record. Williams was strong enough to get a #29 ranking nationally for the Class of 2008 by Clark Francis' Hoop Scoop newsletter, but most recruiting services steered clear. For all his talent, Williams seemed hopelessly unprepared for college.

At issue was the NCAA's requirement for core courses to qualify to compete as a student-athlete: a total of 16 high school courses (among them, four years of English, three years of math, two years of science, two years of social studies, and five additional courses.) This was standard course work in almost all high schools nationwide, and a recruit that had not passed all 16 might be directed to junior college or a prep school as a result. But Williams' problem was more profound, and somewhat shocking: in four years at Starkville High School, he had completed just two core courses. Two.

"Half the time, I wasn't even going to school and stuff," Williams told the New York Times. "You know when you're at a school and you're the best player, they're going to work something out. It was just like that."

Starkville officials couldn't work that kind of miracle, and Williams reclassified to the class of 2009, attending Christian Life Center Academy in Humble, TX, where in addition to averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds a game, the school said he would be enrolled in and pass 14 full core courses... all in one year.

"He is taking a full course load with us, and he is also in some courses outside of our school, so that's been his main focus and that's kind of what is taking him so long, if you really think about it," his coach, Carlos Wilson, told a Memphis recruiting site. "He's really entrenched in his studies to get qualified, so he doesn't have any hours in the day to sit down and really focus on where he's going to go to school."

Only four schools stayed in his recruitment: Georgetown, Memphis, Florida International, and Kansas State, each hoping that in lieu of certifying all 14 courses, the NCAA might issue a waiver.

"I just think the lure of the playing time is the thing he is looking at the most and to be in a system that allows him to be Latavious Williams, which is up-tempo, and have a little freedom," Wilson continued. "Georgetown doesn't have anyone with his skill set, so that's intriguing. Even though they are more of a half-court, Princeton offense type of system, but they would really like to get up and down the court a little more, and they don't have any of those kind of players, so that's kind of intriguing for him."

Georgetown had a pressing interest in a player of Williams' size and potential, having lost Vernon Macklin to transfer in 2008 and Dajuan Summers to an early draft entry after the 2008-09 season. Now ranked as high as #17 nationally, the risk of Williams' status as either an NCAA nonqualifier or to be rejected outright by Georgetown admissions was no closer to being resolved. On April 21, 2009, head coach John Thompson III signed 6-8 forward Jerrelle Benimon from Fauquier HS in Warrenton, VA. Williams canceled his pending visit to Georgetown and declared for Memphis in early May.

But Memphis was no sure thing, either. As it became clear the NCAA was not signing off on 14 courses in one academic year, Williams announced on July 21 he would leave Memphis and play overseas, with claims of a $100,000 a year offer in China. Instead, he landed at the Tulsa 66ers, the Oklahoma City Thunder's developmental league team, for a reported salary of just $19,000, hoping to get more attention as an NBA Draft candidate.

Williams averaged just seven points and seven rebounds in 46 games, becoming the the first player ever to join the NBA developmental league straight from high school. He still had enough potential to be drafted in the second round of the 2010 draft by the Miami Heat, becoming only the second player ever drafted directly from the developmental ranks. However, Miami promptly traded his rights to Oklahoma City, returning him to Tulsa. In 2011 Williams left for overseas basketball, where he has remained ever since.

Latavious Williams is one of two players in the history of what is now the NBA G-League to have been drafted, but not play a single minute in the NBA. His lack of academic commitment cost him the ability to play in college, perhaps at Georgetown, and to set the groundwork for an NBA career that never arrived.