NEW YORK — Ja Morant still recalls what a young Zion Williamson looked like the first time he saw him at a practice for the South Carolina Hornets AAU team.

"I knew it along since the first day of that practice," Morant said Wednesday in Manhattan at NBA Draft Media Day. "We saw a new dude in the gym who was about 6-4 and was down there windmilling. And we was like, 'What grade he in?' They like, 'Ninth,' so we thought he was playing with the younger team. He came and played with us."

Morant added: "Zion was a great player. I was a sophomore, he was a freshman. He was a very shy dude, though, but would go and score 30. So it was very fun to play with him."

Williamson, then a shorter, pudgier version of himself, recalled what a young Morant was like on the Hornets AAU squad.

"How Ja is now, he had a similar game but dunking the way he is now, he was nothing like that," Williamson said. "But he still had that same mindset to go out there and be the best version of himself."

Now the two South Carolina natives and former AAU teammates are poised to go 1-2 in the NBA Draft on Thursday night at Barclays Center. The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to take the 6-foot-7 Williamson at No. 1, with the 6-4 Morant expected to go No. 2 to the Memphis Grizzlies.

“It is truly amazing,” Ricky Taylor, who coached Williamson and Morant on the Hornets in the summer of 2015, told PostandCourier.com. “When I sit back and think about those kids, I don’t know how many states can say they’ve had two kids go 1 and 2 in the same draft the same year. I think it’s amazing that it could be two kids who grew up an hour away from each other.”

The newspaper pointed out that the last time one state had the 1-2 picks in the NBA Draft was California in 1990 when Derrick Coleman of Los Angeles and Gary Payton of Oakland went first and second, respectively.

Williamson and Morant didn't stay together long on the AAU circuit, but now they're about to become the faces of their respective NBA teams.

Williamson, who could command a $100-million sneaker deal, is looking to become the face of the Pelicans after the Anthony Davis trade.

Zion says he’s ready to be the face of the Pelicans. ‘I’m just ready to help my team win’ pic.twitter.com/VIBf8CvRAz

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 19, 2019

He will join a young team that now also has Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and whoever is selected at No. 4 on Thursday.

Of his journey to the NBA, Williamson said, "It's truly been a movie. It had a lot of ups and it had a lot of downs, but if you asked if I would change anything, I wouldn't change anything about it."

When Morant looks at Williamson now, he's not surprised at the athletic freak who made SportsCenter highlights every time he played for Duke.

"He's gotten bigger," Morant said. "It's rare that you see people at that size doing what he does. But if I tell you that he was doing that his ninth-grade year, you'll probably believe it. Playing with him that season [of AAU], I knew he would be a great talent and he would excel in this league."

As for Morant, with Memphis on Wednesday agreeing to trade point guard Mike Conley to Utah according to reports, it opens the door for Morant to become the starting point guard for the Grizzlies from day one.

"I feel like I am a good player," Morant said. "I don't speak too much on my talent. I feel like wherever I go I'm going to try to make an impact and also make my teammates better."

‘I think we’ll find out tomorrow night at 7, me and you both’ - Ja Morant told me On if he expects Memphis to take him at No. 2 pic.twitter.com/2q5OWrtrwD

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 19, 2019

Asked if he expected the Grizzlies to draft him, he said, "I think we'll find out tomorrow night at 7, me and you both, so we'll see."

Coming from Murray State, Morant will follow guys like Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollam, and Steph Curry, who played at mid-major schools. He's also drawn comparisons to McCollam in terms of style of play.

"They made a name for themselves and that's what I'm going to go in and try to do and hopefully keep the door open for mid-major guys," Morant said. "I'm just going to try to come in and help the team win ball games."

Williamson and Morant, two South Carolina guys, also want to represent their home state, which they will do beginning Thursday when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calls their names.

"We all feel like the state of South Carolina is very slept on," Morant said.

It probably would be slept on less if Morant and Williamson had stuck together on that Hornets AAU team, but that never happened.

"I think it would've been a great team," Williamson said, "but I think him being in that situation probably made him into the player he is today."

Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who runs ZAGSBLOG.com and contributes to The New York Times. Follow Adam on Twitter.