The last time you saw Shaquala Williams, the star point guard was embroiled in a dispute with Oregon head coach Bev Smith, only to be dismissed from the team.
On Friday, it was a time for Williams to embrace her professional career and leave behind painful memories from the 2002-03 season.
She was drafted 30th overall — a third round selection — by the Cleveland Rockers in the WNBA draft.
“It’s been an anxious last few weeks,” Williams said. “I’m happy to have that question mark out of my life and kind of get to know where I get to head and move on to the next phase. It’s been a while since I’ve played basketball, at least competitively, where it has some importance, so I’m definitely excited to get out there and play again.”
Williams heads to a team that finished 10-22 last season, finishing seventh in the eight-team Eastern Conference. The Rockers also selected Mississippi State forward LaToya Thomas with the first overall selection Friday, then grabbed UMass center Jennifer Butler in the second round.
Williams was the only Pacific-10 Conference player chosen.
“I’ve never been to Cleveland,” Williams said. “I’ve never been a big fan of the Midwest, but I’ve only got to be there three months, so maybe I’ll find something new when I get there, and it’ll more fun than I think it will.”
For Williams, the selection is more of an opportunity to exorcise the demons that have followed her since her dismissal from the Oregon program in December. Neither she nor Smith have publicly disclosed those reasons, and it may have played a factor in Williams’ selection in the third round. Entering the season, Williams was considered first-round material and was named as one of the top collegiate point guards in the nation by ESPN.com.
“Based upon my talent abilities, I was ranked somewhere else but I think everybody had a lot question marks about my character because of everything that had happened last year,” Williams said. “So, that’s a little bit disappointing that people would judge me on an isolated incident, but that’s life. You make some mistakes, people are going to hold it over your head.
“The biggest thing for me is getting there and showing people I’m not a bad person.”
Williams said training camp begins Thursday, and she will most likely fly out to Cleveland today.
She is the fourth Oregon player to be drafted into the WNBA, following Jenny Mowe by Portland in 2001, Angelina Wolvert by Cleveland in 2001 and Edniesha Curry by Charlotte last season.
Speaking of Mowe, the former Oregon center was taken eighth by the Washington Mystics in the player dispersal draft Friday.
Mowe, the only Oregon player to play in a WNBA game, played for Portland the last two seasons. However, the Fire — in addition to the Miami Sol — folded after last season.
Mowe also saw action with China’s Baiquanchun team, a member of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association, last year.
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