Tamika Williams-Jeter facts for kids
| [[Dayton Flyers|Dayton Flyers]] | |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | April 12, 1980 Dayton, Ohio, US |
| High school | Chaminade-Julienne (Dayton, Ohio) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 195 lb (88 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | UConn (1998–2002) |
| NBA Draft | 2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall |
| Selected by the Minnesota Lynx | |
| Pro career | 2002–2008 |
| Coaching career | 2002–present |
| League | Atlantic 10 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2002–2007 | Minnesota Lynx |
| 2008 | Connecticut Sun |
| As coach: | |
| 2002–2008 | Ohio State (GA/assistant) |
| 2008–2011 | Kansas (assistant) |
| 2014–2016 | Kentucky (assistant) |
| 2016–2019 | Penn State (assistant) |
| 2019-2021 | Ohio State (assistant) |
| 2021–2022 | Wittenberg |
| 2022–present | Dayton |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
Tamika Williams-Jeter (born Tamika Maria Williams on April 12, 1980) is a well-known American basketball coach and former professional player. She is currently the head coach for the University of Dayton women's basketball team. Before becoming a coach, she played as a forward in the WNBA for teams like the Minnesota Lynx and the Connecticut Sun.
Contents
Early Life and High School Success
Tamika Williams-Jeter was born in Dayton, Ohio. She started playing organized basketball at age 10. She played for the Dayton Lady Hoopstars, an AAU team. Her teams won a national AAU championship and often finished in the top four.
Tamika had an amazing basketball career at Chaminade-Julienne, a Catholic high school in Dayton. She was named the Ohio Player of the Year in both 1997 and 1998. She was also chosen as "Ohio's Miss Basketball" by a group of sports reporters. The WBCA named her an All-American and their high school player of the year. She even scored eight points in the WBCA High School All-America Game.
After high school, many colleges wanted Tamika to play for them. A magazine called Sports Illustrated even wrote about how much pressure she faced during this time. One college offered to fly her on a private jet, but the coach from UConn sent her a small wooden plane instead, joking that it was the best he could do.
College Career at UConn
Tamika Williams-Jeter chose to attend the University of Connecticut (UConn). She studied interpersonal communications. She was also the president of UConn's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. From 1998 to 2002, she was a key player for the UConn basketball team.
Her team won two NCAA Division I National Championships in 2000 and 2002. These wins happened under the famous coach Geno Auriemma. Tamika was part of a group of four players, including Asjha Jones, Swin Cash, and Sue Bird, that Sports Illustrated called the "best recruiting class of 1998."
Tamika finished her college career in 2002 with great stats. She averaged 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She set a UConn record for the highest field goal percentage at 70.3%. This is also an NCAA Division I record! She is 14th on UConn's all-time scoring list with 1,402 points. She also ranks 10th in all-time rebounds with 763. After her playing career, she earned a master's degree in sports management from Ohio State University.
Professional Basketball Career
In the 2002 WNBA draft, the Minnesota Lynx picked Tamika Williams-Jeter as the sixth player overall. In 2003, she set a new WNBA record for field-goal accuracy. She made 66.8% of her shots that season.
On March 14, 2008, Tamika was traded to the Connecticut Sun. She played for them for a short time before ending her professional playing career.
Coaching Career Highlights
After her playing days, Tamika Williams-Jeter became a basketball coach. She has worked as an assistant coach at several universities.
She was an assistant coach for the University of Kansas women's basketball team. She also coached the Senior National team of India at the Asian Games in 2010. In August 2014, she joined Matthew Mitchell's staff as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky.
Coaching at Wittenberg
In May 2021, Tamika Williams-Jeter became the head basketball coach at Wittenberg University. In her first year, her team, the Wittenberg Tigers, had a big win. They beat #10 ranked DePauw in the NCAC Tournament on February 25, 2022. This win helped them reach the championship game.
Coaching at Dayton
On March 26, 2022, Tamika Williams-Jeter was announced as the new head coach for the University of Dayton Flyers. This brought her back to her hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
Career Statistics
Coaching Statistics
| Dayton Flyers women's basketball (Atlantic 10 Conference) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| 2022–23 | Dayton | 7-21 | 5-10 | 12th | |
| 2023–24 | Dayton | 12-19 | 5-13 | T–12th | |
WNBA Statistics
| 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 high | ° | League leader | ||||
Regular Season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Minnesota | 31 | 31 | 33.0 | .561 | .273 | .583 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 10.1 |
| 2003 | Minnesota | 34 | 34 | 33.0 | .668 | .000 | .484 | 6.1 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 8.9 |
| 2004 | Minnesota | 34 | 33 | 28.8 | .540 | .250 | .563 | 6.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 7.5 |
| 2005 | Minnesota | 34 | 9 | 22.3 | .551 | .000 | .543 | 5.0 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.8 |
| 2006 | Minnesota | 31 | 30 | 21.6 | .442 | .111 | .444 | 5.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 4.7 |
| 2007 | Minnesota | 21 | 2 | 7.1 | .600 | .000 | .636 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
| 2008 | Connecticut | 34 | 1 | 11.0 | .417 | .000 | .585 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Career | 7 years, 2 teams | 219 | 140 | 23.2 | .549 | .161 | .543 | 5.1 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 6.1 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Minnesota | 3 | 3 | 38.7 | .607 | .000 | .667 | 7.3 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 16.7 |
| 2004 | Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 36.0 | .625 | .000 | 1.000 | 8.5 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 12.0 |
| 2008 | Connecticut | 3 | 0 | 9.3 | .500 | .000 | .000 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Career | 3 years, 2 teams | 8 | 5 | 27.0 | .604 | .000 | .714 | 5.8 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 9.8 |
College Statistics
| * | Denotes season(s) in which Williams-Jeter won an NCAA Championship |
| Tamika Williams Statistics at University of Connecticut | |||||||||||||||||||
| Year | G | FG | FGA | PCT | 3FG | 3FGA | PCT | FT | FTA | PCT | REB | AVG | A | TO | B | S | MIN | PTS | AVG |
| 1998-99 | 33 | 173 | 263 | 0.658 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 98 | 151 | 0.649 | 226 | 6.8 | 27 | 66 | 12 | 50 | 738 | 444 | 13.5 |
| 1999-00* | 31 | 115 | 161 | 0.714 | 0 | 0 | — | 51 | 71 | 0.718 | 111 | 3.6 | 24 | 65 | 8 | 40 | 509 | 281 | 9.1 |
| 2000-01 | 33 | 132 | 174 | 0.759 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 60 | 97 | 0.619 | 186 | 5.6 | 25 | 54 | 7 | 45 | 656 | 324 | 9.8 |
| 2001-02* | 35 | 140 | 199 | 0.704 | 0 | 0 | — | 73 | 112 | 0.652 | 240 | 6.9 | 44 | 47 | 16 | 52 | 766 | 353 | 10.1 |
| Totals | 132 | 560 | 797 | 0.703 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 282 | 431 | 0.654 | 763 | 5.8 | 120 | 232 | 43 | 187 | 2669 | 1402 | 10.6 |
Awards and Recognition
Tamika Williams-Jeter has received many awards throughout her career:
- WBCA high school player of the year (1998)
- Ohio Miss Basketball (1998)
- Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award (2009) - This award goes to a WNBA player who shows great leadership in their community.
- Inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame (2013)
See also
- UConn Huskies women's basketball
- List of Connecticut women's basketball players with 1000 points
- List of NCAA Division I women's basketball career field-goal percentage leaders
