Why Serah Williams chose UConn

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Why Serah Williams chose UConn

When Serah Williams entered the transfer portal after three years at Wisconsin, she had a simple criteria for picking her next school.

“It's my last year and I'm a very [instinctual] person,” she said in June. “I really thought: Where can I have the most fun but also take a big jump on the court?”

Although Williams was one of the most sought after players available, the decision ultimately came down to UConn and LSU.

Williams visited the Tigers first, who took an over-the-top approach true to their program’s personality. They hosted a team dinner with the entire roster, where she was greeted with sparklers and a flashing neon sign that read “Welcome to Baton Rouge”. LSU star Flau’jae Johnson posted the festivities on her Instagram story.

The Huskies also stuck to their guns. They were far more subtle and kept the news of Williams’ visit largely under wraps from the outside world. They didn’t need anything flashy to sell her on UConn. At the end of her time on campus, Williams committed.

“Once I got here, the girls were very funny, the staff was very [welcoming]. It was homey, the environment,” she said. “You see all the championships everywhere and the success of the program, it's hard to not want to come here after seeing that.”

It helped that Williams already had a sense of her future teammates. Given how popular the likes of Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, KK Arnold and other Huskies are online, Williams felt like she already had a window into who they were as people before she even looked at UConn as a potential option.

“The girls also do have a big social media presence so you see a lot of their personalities,” she said. “To come and see they’re actually genuine people and they're a fun group of people, that’s just a perfect way and a perfect environment in which I would want to spend my last year.”

As soon as Williams hit the portal, she was identified as a potential fit for the Huskies since she spent the first three seasons of her career playing for former UConn assistant Marisa Moseley. That connection didn’t end up factoring into the decision, though — at least not on Williams’ end.

“I’m not a big outside advice person. I know she did work here and she's had her time here, but that was when she was here and I'm here now. So I don't really look for that,” Williams explained. “But me and her do stay in contact, we just talk, she wishes me good luck and she keeps me confident.”

The senior forward comes to Storrs with an impressive resume. Standing at 6-4, she was a two-time All-Big Ten First Team selection and the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year who averaged 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds as a junior. Geno Auriemma even called her “one of the top players in the country” when she officially signed.

Team success never followed, though. The Badgers finished below .500 and failed to win a game in the Big Ten Tournament during each of Williams’ three seasons.

As such, the transfer isn’t taking anything for granted at UConn.

“I'm just being a sponge right now, asking questions and doing everything they tell me to do,” she said. “That's all I can do for right now.”

Williams admitted the transition hasn’t been perfect. After three years in the same program with the same coaching staff, learning the ins and outs of life at UConn has taken some time. That’s what summer workouts are for, though.

“It's definitely different. I think on-the-court will take time just coming from a three year system, which is so different, and now being on a different team with a different system,“ she explained. “Trying to give myself grace and not be too hard on myself, to trust the process. I've only been here three weeks and I have months to go and build that on court stuff.”

It’s not just x’s and o’s that have been an adjustment for Williams, either. She was comfortably the best player on her team at Wisconsin, which didn’t have a roster that could challenge her on a daily basis. She only went up against top talent during games when facing teams like UCLA, USC or Iowa.

At UConn, Williams joins a squad with a returning All-American in Sarah Strong, the reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player of the Year Azzi Fudd and other pieces that played key roles in the national championship run.

Given all that talent, practices should be far more difficult than games for Williams.

“The competitive level in practice is a lot higher than what I'm used to,” she said. “It just forces me to be on my game even for pickup and practices because now I'm playing against better players.”

That’s part of what drew Williams to UConn, though. She wanted to have fun and make a big leap during her final season in college. The first part came easy — as it should be. The latter will require much more work, but that’s what she signed up for.

“It's motivating,” she said. “The standard’s high. You have to come in and compete every day.”

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