Player Preview: Gabby Williams

Each week, we’ll offer a preview of what to expect from each member of the defending National Champion UConn Huskies roster.

Gabby Williams
Sophomore G/F
5’11

Background:

Last week, Tyler noted that the background section was getting redundant because UConn keeps bringing in players who are remarkably good at life. This week is no different. Williams nearly averaged a triple-double in high school (18 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals), leading her team to a Class 4A state title as a sophomore. When she wasn’t winning things on the court, she was busy being named Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year in track and field. Twice. Then, when she came to Connecticut, she won more things. As the team won the 2015 national championship, she was named AAC Sixth Player of the Year and placed on the conference all-Freshman team. Oh, and when she was 15, she was the youngest competitor in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials. So she’s accomplished more in the last four years than you have in your life. Let that sink in.

Last year:

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Williams came to UConn as a guard but saw more time as a forward in her first season in Storrs. As a freshman, she played in 38 games, averaging 8.3 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 63.7 from the field — by far the best mark on the team. On top of that, she averaged 14.7 rebounds per 40 minutes, which is the best rate by a freshman in UConn history. As she told Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register: “Pretty much every time I go in, the first thing Coach says to me is to rebound everything.”

Though she came off the bench and ranked eighth in minutes played per game (15.6), that was enough for her to be named conference freshman of the week three times.

What to expect:

One way to tell how scary UConn will be this year is to look at Williams’ freshman campaign and realize she will probably again play the role of sixth player. The Huskies return four starters from last year’s team and freshman Katie Lou Samuelson or incoming transfer Natalie Butler will likely take that fifth spot. So that leaves Williams as the first one off the bench to come in and “rebound everything.” It’s a role she embraced last year, so expect her to do the same again. Top 25 recruit De’Janae Boykin may compete with Williams for some playing time — as we noted earlier, Boykin is quite the rebounder as well.

Guess at stats: