SPORTS
She is expected to make it official at a 6 p.m. press conference. "Right now I'm leaning toward UConn, but I'm really not 100 percent sure," said Williams Monday night after practice."It's really a hard decision. All the schools I visited have great programs.
"I'm going to sit down with my parents and look at what all the schools have to offer me as a player and a student. I want to make sure I feel right about everything."
Tamika's mother, Jo Williams, said she expects her daughter to sign with Connecticut. `I'd say I'm about 90 percent sure that she's going to Connecticut, but you know how teenagers can change their minds," Mrs. Williams said Monday.
Tamika Williams, a 6-foot-2 center, averaged 21.2 points and 12.4 rebounds
a game last season for C-J. UConn will probably get the nod over the
University of Dayton, Georgia, Ohio State, Purdue and Notre Dame. Defending
national champion Tennessee showed interest in Williams over the summer, but
backed off in September.
She took her final official visit to UConn over the weekend. The visit was
apparently the deciding factor. "It was a great atmosphere and the people were
just great" said Williams of watching UConn defeat Holy Cross, 74-49, in the
preseason NIT. "They had a whole cheering section set up for me which kept
chanting "Tamika, Tamika, Tamika" during the game.
"When I went up to buy a UConn T-shirt and hat like I do at all the schools
I visit, I was mobbed by people wanting my autograph."
The addition of Williams would give Connecticut the strongest recruiting
class in the nation for women's basketball. The Huskies have already signed
three players ranked in the top 16 in the country - 6-1 Swin Cash of
McKeesport, Pa.; 6-2 Ashija Jones of Piscataway, N.J.; 5-9 Sue Byrd of Christ
the King High School in Queens, N.Y., and 5-9 Kieirsten Walters.
Cash and Walters were teammates with Williams on a AAU summer team from
Philadelphia, which played in two tournaments in the U.S. and one in France.
Connecticut has finished No. 1 in the country in the AP poll the last two
years. It won the national championship two years ago with a 35-0 record and
lost in the NCAA regional final last year to Tennessee to finish 33-1.
The University of Dayton made a strong bid to get Williams to stay home and
help build the foundation for a top 20 women's program. "When we were getting
on the plane to go to Connecticut there were posters on the airport walls with
my picture on them that said `wanted by the University of Dayton,'' Williams
said. "When we were on the airplane the pilot gave us the usual speech about
flying time and stuff and then said `we'd like to welcome Tamika Williams on
board. Go Flyers.''
When Williams returned from Connecticut on Sunday night, UD women's coach
Clemette Haskins called her up. She asked her to come to the University of
Dayton so she could make one last recruiting pitch.
When Williams got to the Arena, the UD pep band, cheerleaders and women's
team were assembled with Williams' name flashing in the scoreboard.
Haskins gave a prepared speech about Dayton playing Connecticut in the NCAA
finals. UD trailed by a point with one second left. Timeout was called and a
play was set where Williams got the ball and scored over Cash and UD won the
national title.
Several members of the UD team got up and gave speeches urging Williams to
stay in town.
"It was a wild weekend," said Williams. "I have a lot of mixed feelings.
The Connecticut visit was a great experience. The school has a lot going for
it. But there's a lot to be said about staying home too."
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* CONTACT Dave Long at 225-2251 or e-mail him at dave_long@coxohio.com