Cal Adds Guard Kayla Williams From USC

SFCALBear72

1:31p, 5/3/24

Charmin said:

"We could tell instantly that Kayla was a great fit for our culture and our team," Smith said. "Our players absolutely loved getting to know her. She has experience as a starting guard on an NCAA Tournament team. She's going to elevate our defensive presence and bring her winning mentality and playmaking skills to our squad and allow us to hit the ground running as we head into the ACC."

Cal Signs Kayla Williams For 2024-25 Season - California Golden Bears Athletics (calbears.com)

FYI. Her screen name on Instagram is kayla_bucketz. A scorer.

stu

2:15p, 5/3/24

Welcome Kayla! Nice to add a high-intensity point guard.

Schroeder71

2:36p, 5/3/24

2022-2023 University of Southern California Women's Basketball (PDF) - USC Athletics (usctrojans.com)

This player is one of the best defensive guards that I've seen play against (Jayda Curry) Cal. Gottlieb brought in a trio of new backcourt personnel last season so she only received 10 minutes of PT per game. If you look at the prior year at USC, she led the Trojans in steals (48) and was 2nd in assists (74), starting and playing 24.8 mpg. Kayla Williams is super quick and can score as she did at UCI during her frosh and soph seasons when she averaged 14-15 points per game.

Quality defensive stopper that should get enough shots for the Bears to tally 10 points. She is NOT a good three- point shooter, however. She probably will be the starting point guard. Unbelievable-Kayla Williams replaces McKayla Williams. Good get, Charmin!

stu

3:41p, 5/3/24

In reply to Schroeder71

Thanks Schroeder for the info.

I'm guessing that despite the similarity in names Kayla will more or less take on Leilani's role while Jayda will take on McKayla's role.

Another guess is Ioanna, Marta, and Michelle will round out the starting five. However we should have a bunch of good young players in the mix.

annarborbear

4:02p, 5/3/24

Should help create havoc on the defensive end. But career field goal and three-point shooting percentages will be a limitation on offense. Noble- 32.6%, 20.7%. Williams - 36,9%,, 32.4%. That is where we will miss Leilani.

We still need Tess Heal of Santa Clara as another scorer.

SFCALBear72

4:08p, 5/3/24

I'm hoping that Lulu can improve her percentages on both of those from year 1 to year 2. And that would lessen the blow of having no Leilani.

annarborbear

4:12p, 5/3/24

In reply to SFCALBear72

SFCALBear72 said:
I'm hoping that Lulu can improve her percentages on both of those from year 1 to year 2. And that would lessen the blow of having no Leilani.

That would be a good outcome if she can step into the starting line-up next year. Williams off of the bench could then lockdown an opposing guard who is scoring against us.

SFCALBear72

4:14p, 5/3/24

In reply to annarborbear

annarborbear said:
Should help create havoc on the defensive end. But career field goal and three-point shooting percentages will be a limitation on offense. Noble- 32.6%, 20.7%. Williams - 36,9%,, 32.4%. That is where we will miss Leilani.

We still need Tess Heal of Santa Clara as another scorer.

Well, she seems to be still available. No announcement of a commitment from Raoul or one on her Instagram page where she announced her portal entrance.

CalWSportsFan

4:19p, 5/3/24

Prior to USC, there's this from her first two seasons at UC Irvine.

"A two-time All-Big West First Team honoree at UC Irvine, the 5-7 guard was also named Big West Freshman of the Year in 2021. She was the first Anteater freshman to earn All-Big West First Team honors. Williams is coming off a 2021-22 season in which she led UC Irvine in scoring (15.5 points per game), assists (4.2 per game) and 3-pointers made (68). Also with the Anteaters, Williams was selected to the Big West All-Tournament Team in 2021 and 2022. Academically, Williams was a two-time member of the Big West Winter All-Academic Team."

Sounds like a great fit for the Bears as a student and on the court--just what the doctor ordered. Welcome to Cal Kayla!

stu

4:23p, 5/3/24

In reply to annarborbear

annarborbear said:
Should help create havoc on the defensive end. But career field goal and three-point shooting percentages will be a limitation on offense. Noble- 32.6%, 20.7%. Williams - 36,9%,, 32.4%. That is where we will miss Leilani...

I'll miss Leilani for a lot of reasons.

However players get better with practice. Last season Jayda shot .387 overall, .318 on threes and Kayla shot .444 overall, .276 on threes. With more experience and good shot selection those numbers should improve further.

Schroeder71

5:19p, 5/3/24

I agree that Cal may not have enough offense to stay with high-scoring teams in the ACC. If Charmin decides to get one more transfer in her backcourt-the player must be a double-digit scorer like Tess Heal. The other option would be to get another post player that averages double-digits and is a strong rebounder/ shot blocker.

San Jose State and Arizona State got the post players that I wanted. Cal was asleep at the switch to be beaten out by the Spartans and the Sun Devils.

CalFanatic

5:23p, 5/3/24

The theme of both recent signees is defense.

Nice to see us bring in multiple All Pac-12 Defensive selections.

SFCALBear72

5:34p, 5/3/24

In reply to Schroeder71

Schroeder71 said:
I agree that Cal may not have enough offense to stay with high-scoring teams in the ACC. If Charmin decides to get one more transfer in her backcourt-the player must be a double-digit scorer like Tess Heal. The other option would be to get another post player that averages double-digits and is a strong rebounder/ shot blocker.

San Jose State and Arizona State got the post players that I wanted. Cal was asleep at the switch to be beaten out by the Spartans and the Sun Devils.

So, you know the full circumstances of these transfers to make this assessment? Doubtful.

Woodacre

5:50p, 5/3/24

I also wonder how Cal's academic standards factor into Portal and recruitment decisions. No aspersions on any particular student athlete...just don't know if Cal has a different line in the sand than some other Div 1 schools.

CalWSportsFan

7:26p, 5/3/24

In reply to Woodacre

Exactly.

HoopDreams

8:06p, 5/3/24

we played SC once, and in 17 minutes she was 2-2 including 1-1 from 3, 1-2FT, 1 assist and 1 steal

offensively SC shots were dominated by a few players

annarborbear

10:00p, 5/3/24

LG played two guards ahead of her - Padilla shot 42,8% from three, Bigby shot 37.0% from three, and Williams shot 27.6%. It probably came down to which players fit in best with Watkins game, and outside shooting was apparently highly-valued. But we can certainly use her as an experienced PAC12 player and a defensive force.

Schroeder71

10:36a, 5/4/24

Two post players that I alluded to:
---------------------------------------------
Women's Basketball Adds Transfer Hennie van Schaik - University of Louisville Athletic (gocards.com)
She didn't get to play much so she transferred to San Jose State. She was the best player on Cal State
Bakersfield for her frosh-soph seasons. Van Schaik (6-3) is a member of the Dutch National Team.

Oregon WBB: Basham returns home, commits to Arizona State | Sports | kezi.com
Kennedy Basham, Oregon's soph 6-7 PF, has transferred to Arizona State. She began shooting the ball towards the latter part of the season and was hitting frequent double figures with high accuracy. Basham hit 4-5 shots vs Cal for 8 points at season's end. She started for the Ducks. Kennedy would have two years of eligibility left.

UCSB's 6-2 PF Alexis Whitfield has transferred to Oregon as Basham's replacement.
Alexis Whitfield - Women's Basketball - University of Oregon Athletics (goducks.com)

All three of these transfers would have been good for Charmin Smith.