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By Brevan Branscum
Cronkite News

GILBERT – Two years ago, Perry High School standout Cody Williams was coming off his first of two state basketball championships while his older brother, Jalen Williams was generating moderate NBA draft buzz as a potential first-round pick out of Santa Clara.

Zip ahead to today.

Cody is now a budding college star at Colorado and projected as a possible NBA lottery pick. Jalen is a blossoming NBA star with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ask their current and former coaches, trainers and even the Williams brothers, and they’ll all tell you that their successes on doesn’t come as a surprise.

The Perry High School basketball program, recently coming off its third straight state championship on March 2, wouldn’t be as prominent of a program in Arizona without Cody and Jalen. Cody was on the first two championship teams. Although Jalen never won a state title, he “set the program in motion,” according to Perry coach Sam Duane Jr.

“Learning how to handle adversity throughout the playoff run and winning games even when it’s an off night, that’s something that I’ve taken to college and it’s helped us win,” Cody said.

Cody, 19, is having a successful first year at Colorado, highlighted by efficiency uncharacteristic of a first-year college player. The freshman is averaging 13.7 points per game on nearly nine shots, while shooting 59% from the field and 45.7% from beyond the arc. His scoring comes with moderate volume as he has taken a backseat to upperclassmen KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva. Still, Cody has consistently produced, despite missing 13 games due to injury.

“My playstyle (in high school) really translated to the college level because I play unselfish and play the right way,” said Cody, who has battled wrist and ankle injuries. “It also helps to have such great teammates … they get me open shots, so it’s allowed me to be productive on the court.”

Cody is widely projected to be a top-10 pick in the upcoming NBA draft. Many experts predict that he will be selected in the top five and some mock draft even project him to be the No. 1 pick.

“He’s as close to a can’t-miss prospect as I’ve ever been around and worked with,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. “His game is going to continue to grow and develop because he works hard at it.”

Cody has drawn more eyes than his brother in the recruitment process and the lead-up to the draft. Jalen was a three-star recruit and did not receive many offers out of high school before committing to Santa Clara, while the younger brother, a five-star recruit with two Arizona state championships on his high school resume, chose Colorado over the University of Arizona and LSU.

Jalen, however, provided the blueprint for Cody to find success in college and in the NBA. Not only leading by example, Jalen sends his younger brother film to help him succeed, even as he has his own workload. And Jalen’s recruitment process out of high school led Cody to land in Boulder.

“I told his parents, the one thing I’ll expect from Cody if he comes to play at Colorado is that he tries not to make the same mistakes twice,” Boyle said. “I expect the same from myself … one of the biggest recruiting mistakes I made in my career was not recruiting Jalen Williams harder than we did.”

Despite being overlooked throughout his career, Jalen is thriving in the NBA as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The second-year player has made the NBA All-Star Rising Stars game each year and built on a runner-up Rookie of the Year campaign by improving everywhere in an increased role. His points per game jumped from 14 to 19, and similar to Cody, he’s scoring on an efficient 54% shooting from the field and 45% from three, among the league leaders.

Despite being one of the youngest teams in the league, the Thunder have been near the top of the Western Conference standings for several months, and Jalen’s leap is a reason for the team’s success. Playing alongside MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen has carved out his role as a star on the team, including some clutch fourth-quarter play.

He has scored double-digit points in the fourth quarter in nine different games since the start of 2024 and hit the second game-winner of his career on Jan. 23 against the Portland Trail Blazers.

This isn’t a new trend, according to his former coach.

“Jalen always wants the ball when the game is on the line,” said Duane, who coached the older brother for three years. “And when the game was on the line, we gave him the ball.”

For Jalen and Cody, their success can be credited to their time growing up in Arizona. Their parents, Ron and Nicole, spent a combined 36 years in the Air Force and their coaches and personal trainer Padraig O’Brien attribute most of their success to the parents.

O’Brien, who has worked with hundreds of professional players in the NBA and overseas, said the extra shooting workouts with their father are why they excel in shooting and a key reason the older brother is top five in the NBA in three-point percentage.

“They’d come work out with me and then they’d go straight over to another gym to work out with their dad,” O’Brien said. “Their dad is the reason their jumper is where it’s at.”

Their work ethic is what most people say sets the brothers apart. O’Brien said the brothers have been joining summer workouts with current and NBA players in Arizona since they were in high school and younger. They love the game, and the work they put in is a result of that. And, as Cody puts it, the hard work makes him appreciate the game more.

“When I know I’m prepared, when I know I’m putting the work in and I know I’ve watched film on how to get better, I learn more about the game and that’s where the fun comes in,” he said.

As Colorado enters the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament this week sitting on the NCAA tournament bubble, Cody hasn’t announced his plans for next season. If he chooses to return to Colorado, he will assume a leadership role as the program joins the Big 12 next season.

If he chooses to declare for the draft, he and Jalen will become the 14th pair of brothers in the NBA.

“He’s thriving in the NBA right now, which is my dream,” Cody said. “He’s showing me what it takes to get there.”

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