The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Thursday afternoon that Mikey Williams’ preliminary court date has been postponed to July 12.
The hearing concerning Williams’ 6 gun-related felony charges was originally scheduled for June 29. The decision to postpone the hearing was made Thursday during a readiness conference at El Cajon Superior Court that Williams did not attend.
His attorney, Troy P. Owens Jr., appeared virtually via Microsoft Teams. During the conference, Owens requested for the June 29 hearing to be postponed.
“We have just received a significant amount of discovery,” Owens said while asking Judge Henry M. Elias for more time.
A new readiness conference will happen on July 3 with the rescheduled preliminary hearing taking place nine days later.
And for those thinking about the possibility of a plea deal, discussions in that area haven’t gone far, per San Diego County Deputy District Attorney George Modlin.
“We haven’t and we won’t share those discussions out here in the public,” Modlin said. “But at this point, there’s been nothing significant. It’s part of the process, and Mr. Owens and I have been in contact. If we get [to the preliminary hearing], that’s when most things will be revealed.”
What Does This Mean for Both Williams and Memphis?
Truth be told, Williams’ legal process was always going to get complicated. It’s simply the nature of these kinds of situations. On surface level, at least, this is rather unfortunate for Williams.
The 6-foot-3 guard clearly wants to move past this situation as quickly as possible. And, among things, he wants to end up at Memphis sooner rather than later. Williams, who recently lost an NIL deal with LaceClips, is one of 4 Memphis scholarship players that aren’t on-campus.
The other three are Teafale Lenard, Jayhlon Young and David Jones. However, Lenard and Young will arrive in July while Jones will report in either late-July or early-August. Meanwhile, Williams has no set timetable.
As this process continues, the legal timeline becomes even more inconvenient for Memphis. And though head coach Penny Hardaway has continuously stood up for Williams, he still acknowledges the possibility of him not making it to campus.
“I mean, I’m gonna continue to recruit,” Hardaway told reporters back in April. “[But] as of right now, Mikey is still with us. That’s how I have to keep it until otherwise.”
