After a three-year drought of not seeing one of its players selected in the WNBA draft, the Florida women’s basketball team has once again sent a player to the pros.
Senior forward Ronni Williams was picked 22nd overall by the Indiana Fever on Thursday night to become the first Gator drafted since Indiana took forward Jennifer George in 2013.
Williams is coming off a dynamic final season at UF that saw her lead the SEC in scoring at 19.2 points per game while also averaging 7.8 rebounds and shooting 53.8 percent from the field.
The Daytona Beach, Florida, native is one of only nine players in program history to register at least 1,400 points and 800 rebounds in her career and is 10th all-time in field goals made at Florida with 596.
Following Williams’ selection on Thursday, 18 different Gators have heard their names called on draft night since the WNBA was founded in 1997.
Only three UF players have ever been selected in the first round, with forward Murriel Page picked third overall by Washington in 1998, forward DeLisha Milton-Jones picked fourth overall by Los Angeles in 1999 and center Vanessa Hayden picked seventh overall by Minnesota in 2004.
As a second-round draft choice, Williams heads to an Indiana team that went 17-17 in 2016 and fell to the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
The former Gator appears to be a good fit with the Fever, who are looking for a forward with scoring ability to replace the recently retired Tamika Catchings.
Indiana’s regular season begins exactly one month from today, with a road matchup against the Seattle Storm scheduled for May 14 at 7 p.m.
Contact Dylan Dixon at ddixon@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @dylanrdixon.
UF forward Ronni Williams dribbles the ball during Florida's 102-51 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 28, 2016, in the O'Connell Center.
