Tamika Williams
Birthdate: April 12, 1980
Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio
High School: Chaminade-Julienne (1998)
College: University of Connecticut (2002)
Year Inducted: 2013
Tamika Williams was one of the country’s most sought-after college recruits during her days at Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton. While playing for the Dayton Lady HoopStars, Williams won an AAU championship, and her success for the C-J Eagles added to her reputation. She made the AP Division I All-Ohio first team as a sophomore. The 6-foot-2 center scored a school-record 2,015 points for the Eagles whose pursuit of a state championship was thwarted by Pickerington, 44-27, in the 1998 final in spite of her 24-point, 10-rebound performance. Williams was named national prep player of the year by Street & Smith and Parade magazines, Naismith and USA Today. She was also Ohio’s Miss Basketball. Connecticut won the recruiting battle, and the Huskies won NCAA championships in her sophomore and senior years. Williams scored more than 1,000 points and graduated as UConn’s all-time leader in field goal percentage with an NCAA-record 70.3 percent. Selected sixth in the 2002 WNBA draft by the Minnesota, she remained with the Lynx for six years during which she collected 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She was with the Connecticut Sun in 2008. She served as an Ambassador for Women & Girls Against HIV/AIDS and as a US State Department Sports Ambassador. She also travels internationally with NBA Global, promoting the game of basketball. She was hired as an assistant Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Kentucky in August of 2014.
Watch Tamika’s Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech:
