Just hours after being honored by the mayor of San Antonio for bringing a championship to her hometown, Stanford's Kiana Williams was drafted 18th overall by reigning WNBA champs, the Seattle Storm.
That's right, Our Champ is heading to The Champs. We can't wait to see her wearing those now viral new Nike threads! Until then, we'll settle for the new color scheme:
After sweeping the Aces in the WNBA Finals last year, the Storm, led by four-time champion Sue Bird, have no intention of slowing down. For the Storm, Kiana Williams means depth and outside shooting ability. For Kiana Williams, the Storm should provide incredible role models from which to learn and develop.
Kiana leaves Stanford a legend of the program. The senior tallied 1,834 points (10th in program history), 434 assists (9th), and 311 three pointers (1st) over the course of her college career. She was excellent beyond the Farm too, earning three All Pac-12 selections and a 3rd Team AP All-America honors. And of course, she just led the Card to their first National Championship in 29 years.
A glue player through and through, Kiana is a team player who deeply values the relationships she's forged in the fires of play. Evidence of her impact can be seen in a series of videos her teammates made, wishing her luck prior to the draft today:
Despite the departure of Kiana Williams, Stanford Women's Basketball will be just fine next year. For one, ESPN has already placed the Cardinal at #3 in their Way-Too-Early Top 25. And for good reason: almost all of the stars from the championship run return, with the exception of Williams and (potentially) fifth-year senior Anna Wilson.
From a position perspective, expect former 5-star recruit Jana Van Gytenbeek to take a big step forward in her sophomore season as she earns minutes that belonged to Williams this year.
From a leadership perspective, expect Most Outstanding Player Haley Jones to become the new face of the franchise, a passing of the torch.
We here at Channel Tree look forward to seeing Kiana continue to be special at the next level.
Go Storm! And as always, Go Card!
--Fear The Me.