Wikipedia

Courtney Williams

For the runner, see Courtney Carl Williams.

Courtney Monae Williams (born May 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Williams completed her high school basketball career at Charlton County High School. She signed with the University of South Florida and enrolled at the school in the fall of 2012.[1]

Courtney Williams
Williams in 2024
No. 10 – Minnesota Lynx
PositionShooting guard
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1994-05-11) May 11, 1994 (age 30)
Folkston, Georgia, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight142 lb (64 kg)
Career information
High schoolCharlton County
(Folkston, Georgia)
CollegeSouth Florida (2012–2016)
WNBA draft2016: 1st round, 8th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016Phoenix Mercury
2016–2019Connecticut Sun
2017–2018Perth Lynx
2020–2021Atlanta Dream
2021Elitzur Ramla
2022Connecticut Sun
2023Chicago Sky
2023Shaanxi Red Wolves
2024–presentMinnesota Lynx
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Representing the USA
World University Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Gwangju Team Competition
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 2015 Toronto Team

Early life

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Williams grew up in Folkston, Georgia, a town with under 5,000 people. In her childhood she slept with a basketball and said she wanted to play in the WNBA.[2] Her father said that she "didn’t play with dolls or any of that growing up. She was jumping on my dirt bike, riding four-wheelers. Mostly, though, she was hanging with the fellas out there on the court banging and balling.”[3]

She played basketball for the Indians at Charlton County High School. Her mother Michelle Williams (then Michelle Granger)[4] also played basketball for the same high school 22 years earlier. Michelle set the single-game scoring record when she scored 40 points. In her junior season, Williams took over the record by scoring 42 points in a game.[5] She later broke her own record by scoring 44 points in a game.[2] Williams credits her father, Donald Williams, with challenging her athletically too.[6] Her father advised her to develop her midrange because of her smaller size in high school. "My daddy told me to get a little middy so I wouldn’t get hurt,” [Williams] said with a laugh. “It kind of became my identity.”[7] Her father also wouldn't let her play basketball for her high school during her sophomore year as punishment for sneaking out of the house to spend time with someone he thought was trouble. Her mother let her continue to play AAU basketball that year.[2] In her senior year, she led her team to the state semifinals. In the quarterfinals she scored 47 points.[2] She was named to the first team for all state in Georgia but was left off the senior all-star game.[2]

College career

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Williams was a solid role player coming off the bench in her first season with the South Florida Bulls. she appeared in every game and started in 3. She averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and .88 assists over 33 games.[1]

In William's sophomore year she averaged 30.4 minutes a game compared to her 15.3 coming off the bench the season before. She finished the year with 16.3 points a game along with 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists. She was named All-Conference First team and was an Honorable Mention for the All-American team.[1]

She was a starter in every game her junior season and averaged 20.3 points per game which led the AAC. Overall she was the ninth leading scorer in the country with 20 or more points in 20 different games. During one stretch of 10 game she scored over 20 points in each game which is the longest streak in the nation at the time.[1]

In her senior year Williams hit 308 field goals which was second in the nation among all Division I teams. She scored 763 points which was eighth best among all Division I players.[8]

Williams was inducted into the University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 and her number 10 jersey is retired by the team. University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma said of Williams, "She was just a really difficult match up for anybody and I don’t think there’s anybody in college who really had an answer for her on a regular basis."[2]

Professional career

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Williams playing for the Minnesota Lynx during the 2024 WNBA Finals

WNBA

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Phoenix Mercury

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Williams was selected as the eighth overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2016 WNBA draft. She was surprised by the selection since she didn't have many pre draft discussions with the Mercury. Williams has identified Diana Taurasi as a player who “I look up to and who I compare my mentality to”, and now she will be playing on the same team as Taurasi.[9] After appearing in a handful of games for the Mercury, Williams was traded to the Connecticut Sun on June 26, 2016.[10]

Connecticut Sun (2016–2019)

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Geno Auriemma encouraged the Sun coach Curt Miller to give Williams a chance as a player who could go out and get points; "There’s nobody that I know that can stop her from doing that.’”[2] Williams helped the Sun reach the WNBA Finals during the 2019 season, before they ultimately lost to the Washington Mystics. During the 2019 season, Williams was also honored by the league with a Player of the Week nod.[11]

Atlanta Dream (2020–2021)

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On February 19, 2020, Williams was traded to the Atlanta Dream as part of a three-team trade.[12]

In October 2021, Williams (along with teammate Crystal Bradford) was released from her contract after a video of them circulated through various media outlets of their involvement in a fight outside of an Atlanta area food truck.[13]

Connecticut Sun (2022)

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The Connecticut Sun re-signed Williams for the 2022 WNBA season.[14]

Chicago Sky (2023)

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On February 4, 2023, the Chicago Sky announced the signing of Williams. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, per team policy.[15] The Sky asked Williams to switch to playing point guard. Although she was reluctant to begin with, she finished the season fourth in the league in assists per game.[16] Williams said the position switch "felt like a whole new world opened up for me."[17]

 
Williams guards Leonie Fiebich during game 2 of the 2024 WNBA finals

Minnesota Lynx (2024–present)

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On January 31, 2024, Williams signed a two-year guaranteed deal with the Minnesota Lynx. In free agency she expressed a desire for stability in playing for a team longer term.[16] Williams ruptured a right thumb ligament in training camp and played through it until the Olympic break allowed enough healing time.[6] In the June 14, 2024, Lynx home game against the Sparks, Williams became only the 4th WNBA player to have 15+ points, 10+ assists, 8+ rebounds, and 4+ steals.[18] After the October 4, 2024, semifinals Lynx win over the Connecticut Sun, Cheryl Reeve said that Williams's "way with this team is exactly what was missing from our team last year. The toughness, the swag, the dog, and all of those things, the belief. But not just in her ability to score the ball, but also her ability to play make to make our team better."[19][20] Reeve has had Williams playing the point guard position, a new role for Williams that started with her play for the Chicago Sky.[7][21] Williams' trash talk was noted in the semifinals against the Sun, but she says her style is to remain light.[22] Williams is known for her midrange shooting; she leads the WNBA in midrange attempts with 6.9 per game, while shooting 46.2%.[7] In the 2024 season, 57.5% of her points were made in the midrange.[16] In the October 8, 2024, game 5 semifinals Lynx win against the Connecticut Sun, Williams "had her most points in a playoff game since 2019" with 24 points; she also had seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals.[23]

Williams's four-point play with 5.5 seconds remaining

In Game 1 of the finals against the New York Liberty on October 10, 2024, Williams became only the second in Lynx franchise history to have 20+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in back-to-back playoffs games. Maya Moore had been the only Lynx player to do that before Williams.[24] Williams played a clutch role for the team in their historic comeback win by scoring 8 of the last 10 points in regulation and 5 of the last 7 in overtime.[25] Her four-point play with 5.5 seconds left in the game gave the Lynx their first lead.[25]

International play

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On August 10, 2017, Williams signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2017–18 WNBL season.[26] Williams was named to the WNBL Team of the Week on 14 November 2017, after a 26-point performance against the University of Canberra Capitals. The following week, Williams was named WNBL Player of the Week, after tallying 37 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists across a pair of victories. Williams was a key contributor in the Perth Lynx's historic 14 game winning streak, resulting in the team finishing the regular season on top of the ladder. Williams finished the WNBL regular season averaging 21.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.1 APG, 2.25 STPG and 0.9 BLKPG.[27]

Athletes Unlimited

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Williams played for Athletes Unlimited in the 2022 season.[28]

Unrivaled

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On October 9, 2024, Unrivaled announced that Williams would play in the inaugural 2025 season for the new league.[29]

National team career

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Williams in the World University gold medal game against Canada

Williams was selected as one of 12 players to play for the US at the 2015 World University games, held in Gwangju, South Korea in July 2015. The USA team opened with a win over Italy. In the second game against China, Williams was the leading scorer with 18 points. The USA team won the next two points to earn a berth in the semifinal against Japan. The USA team was down by 15 points, but came back to tie the game up and send the game into overtime. The teams matched scores in the first overtime and went into double overtime for the first time in World University Games history. With 10 seconds left in the second overtime, Japan cut the lead to two points but Williams hit two free throws to secure the victory. Williams recorded a double double, scoring 17 points and securing 10 rebounds. The gold-medal game was against Canada. The USA won the gold-medal 82–63 with Williams again contributing a double double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds.[30]

Williams was selected for the 2017–2020 USA Women's Basketball National Team pool and participated in National Team training camp in 2022 as well.[31][32]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

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Regular season

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WNBA regular season statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2016 Phoenix 6 0 4.2 .111 .000 .500 1.2 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.5
Connecticut 19 0 17.2 .427 .308 .579 3.6 1.5 0.6 0.2 1.0 8.1
2017 Connecticut 34 28 26.0 .473 .324 .878 4.2 2.1 0.5 0.2 1.4 12.3
2018 Connecticut 30 29 27.1 .456 .377 .680 5.9 3.0 0.8 0.1 1.8 12.6
2019 Connecticut 34 34 29.1 .435 .457 .800 5.6 3.8 1.4 0.4 1.6 13.2
2020 Atlanta 20 14 30.8 .436 .235 .696 7.2 3.2 0.7 0.1 2.7 14.6
2021 Atlanta 32 32 34.4 .418 .382 .642 6.8 4.0 1.1 0.5 1.8 16.5
2022 Connecticut 34 34 27.9 .426 .338 .750 4.6 3.3 1.0 0.4 1.7 11.1
2023 Chicago 40° 40° 30.1 .437 .443 .600 6.0 6.3 1.0 0.3 2.5 10.4
2024 Minnesota 40° 40° 26.5 .443 .333 .810 4.7 5.5 0.9 0.4 2.5 11.1
Career 9 years, 5 teams 289 251 27.5 .438 .369 .736 5.3 3.8 0.9 0.3 1.9 12.0
All-Star 1 0 20.1 .875 — .500 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 15.0

Playoffs

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WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2017 Connecticut 1 1 31.0 .455 .000 .000 6.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 3.0 10.0
2018 Connecticut 1 1 33.0 .478 .800 .333 8.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 27.0
2019 Connecticut 8 8 34.4 .428 .414 .813 5.8 4.4 0.9 0.1 1.8 17.9
2022 Connecticut 12 12 27.1 .415 .318 .667 3.9 2.3 0.6 0.5 1.4 10.3
2023 Chicago 2 2 32.5 .316 .286 .000 8.0 4.0 0.5 1.0 3.5 7.0
2024 Minnesota 12° 12° 29.4 .415 .444 .913 4.1 6.0 1.2 0.3 3.1 13.8
Career 6 years, 3 teams 36 36 30.1 .419 .407 .813 4.8 4.1 0.8 0.4 2.2 13.4

College

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Source[8]

Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 South Florida 33 245 41.9 32.4 72.5 3.4 0.9 0.8 0.4 7.4
2013–14 South Florida 36 586 43.8 27.4 76.7 7.5 2.4 1.0 0.5 16.3
2014–15 South Florida 35 710 42.0 36.9 78.9 7.5 3.3 1.6 0.9 20.3°
2015–16 South Florida 34 763 42.6 38.2 69.7 8.4 2.6 1.3 0.9 22.4°
Career South Florida 138 2304 42.6 35.3 74.6 6.7 2.3 1.2 0.7 16.7

Personal life

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Courtney's father Donald at Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals

Williams is the daughter of Michele and Donald Williams, and has one sister, Doniece. Her father is a visible supporter when in attendance at her games, dancing, cheering, and high fiving fans.[33] He describes watching his daughter play well in the postseason as "euphoria," and Williams credits her father with "always instilling confidence in me. ... I try to put on a show for him."[33] Outside of playing basketball, she does day and night trading.[34] She has an American bulldog.[35] Williams is openly queer, and her relationship with real estate broker N'Shya was featured in a video in the WNBA Pride is Love series in 2024.[36]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Courtney Williams Bio". GoUSFBulls.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Cretaz, Britni de la (May 23, 2019). "Courtney Williams is showing the WNBA how to let loose". SBNation.com. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Jacobs, Jeff (October 1, 2019). "Sun's run a joy ride for Courtney Williams and her dad". Connecticut Post. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  4. ^ "Courtney Williams – WNBA.com – Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com – Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  5. ^ "To star guard, mom knows best". The Oracle. March 11, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Borzi, Pat (September 27, 2024). "The heart of the Minnesota Lynx, Courtney Williams". MinnPost. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "WNBA playoffs: Lynx eschew superteam model to build with undervalued assets". Yahoo Sports. October 4, 2024. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  9. ^ "USF's Courtney Williams goes No. 8 in WNBA draft to Phoenix". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on April 27, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  10. ^ Knight, Joey (June 26, 2016). "Courtney Williams traded to Connecticut". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  11. ^ "Connecticut's Williams, Phoenix's Griner Win Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  12. ^ "Dream Acquire Courtney Williams In Three-Team Trade". WNBA. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  13. ^ "WNBA Players Released From Team After Food Truck Fight". sis2sis.com. October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  14. ^ "Now's The Time: The Connecticut Sun are Hungrier Than Ever for a Title | WSLAM". SLAM. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  15. ^ "Chicago Sky Sign Courtney Williams". Chicago Sky. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c Hurd, Sean (October 1, 2024). "Courtney Williams may have found a home with the Minnesota Lynx". Andscape. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  17. ^ "Guard Courtney Williams' biggest asset for Lynx: Her voice". Yahoo Sports. May 2, 2024. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  18. ^ Across the Timeline (June 14, 2024). "Williams the 4th WNBA player with stat line". X.com (formerly Twitter). Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  19. ^ Pickman, Ben. "Lynx cruise past Sun in Game 3, only 1 win away from reaching WNBA Finals: Takeaways". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  20. ^ Minnesota Lynx (October 4, 2024). "So Much Belief." | Cheryl Reeve, Napheesa Collier & Courtney Williams Postgame Sound | 10.04.24. Retrieved October 5, 2024 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ "Hoops Review". HoopMajor Media. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  22. ^ Dalzell, Noa (October 4, 2024). "Courtney Williams might just be the best trash talker in the WNBA". SBNation.com. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  23. ^ "Connecticut Sun vs. Minnesota Lynx – WNBA Game Summary – October 8, 2024 | WNBA". www.wnba.com. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  24. ^ Epps, Wendell (October 11, 2024). "Last night, Courtney Williams joined Maya Moore". Twitter. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Courtney Williams Was the Engine of the Lynx's Unlikely Game 1 Win". SI. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  26. ^ "PERTH LYNX LAND WNBA STAR COURTNEY WILLIAMS". PerthLynx.com. August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ "Courtney Williams Stats – WNBL". WNBL. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  28. ^ "Athletes Unlimited | Courtney Williams". Athletes Unlimited. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  29. ^ Unrivaled (October 9, 2024). "Courtney Williams is Unrivaled". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  30. ^ "2015 World University Games". www.usab.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  31. ^ "All-American Courtney Williams Named to National Team Pool". USF Athletics. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  32. ^ "Reeve Focuses on X's and O's at USA Women's National Team Camp". USA Basketball. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  33. ^ a b Dalzell, Noa (October 9, 2024). "Courtney Williams (and her dad) are ready for the WNBA Finals". SBNation.com. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  34. ^ Minnesota Lynx (September 6, 2024). Episode 11: Courtney Williams | Lynx Unleashed. Retrieved October 6, 2024 – via YouTube.
  35. ^ Clark, Jim (August 10, 2018). "Sun guard Courtney Williams talks about hoops, life, and being herself | Women's Hoops World". Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  36. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  37. ^ a b c "Courtney M. Williams". www.usab.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  38. ^ a b Courant, Hartford (March 4, 2016). "UConn Women Dominate AAC Awards List". courant.com. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  39. ^ "2016 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Regular Season Awards Announced". theamerican.org. March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
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