Mckayla Williams just announced on Instagram that she's headed to Cal!

"Caliiiiiii...I'm back!!

The 6'1 Guard played at Gonzaga for 3 years and is Reshanda's sister.

I suspected this might eventually be happening when I noticed that she was being followed on Instagram by Charmin, Kai, Eliza, Michelle, Leilani and Kemery.

From Raoul
Gonzaga WBB transfer McKayla Williams (6-1 JR wing, Los Angeles, CA) has announced her commitment to Cal, who've also landed grad xfers Ioanna Krimili (San Francisco) and Ila Lane (UC Santa Barbara); 2022-23-stats for Williams: 7.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.3 APG; honorable mention All-WCC

Nice. I don't know much about her. She's listed as a 6'1" guard. I'll have to look up some footage on YouTube.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrpCdtQpthR/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

ESPN stats:
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/4433490/mckayla-williams

SFCALBear72 said:

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Mckayla Williams just announced on Instagram that she's headed to Cal!

"Caliiiiiii...I'm back!!

The 6'1 Guard played at Gonzaga for 3 years and is Reshanda's sister.


I suspected this might eventually be happening when I noticed that she was being followed on Instagram by Charmin, Kai, Eliza, Michelle, Leilani and Kemery.

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As in Reshanda Gray, I assume? Excellent!

BearBint said:

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SFCALBear72 said:

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Mckayla Williams just announced on Instagram that she's headed to Cal!

"Caliiiiiii...I'm back!!

The 6'1 Guard played at Gonzaga for 3 years and is Reshanda's sister.


I suspected this might eventually be happening when I noticed that she was being followed on Instagram by Charmin, Kai, Eliza, Michelle, Leilani and Kemery.

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As in Reshanda Gray, I assume? Excellent!

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Yes!!!

Fantastic news! I have never seen her play but here's my take based upon info below:
McKayla Williams - Women's Basketball - Gonzaga University Athletics (gozags.com)

She's perfect for a junior SF/SG (6-1) athletic player from a winning program in high school (Windward) & Gonzaga (28-5). She was ranked #85 prospect in the nation out of high school.

2022-2023 Gonzaga University Women's Basketball (PDF) - Gonzaga University Athletics (gozags.com)
Her stat lines are solid all the way across...She plays 30 mpg, good ball-handler, hits the three (34.1%), shot blocker (2nd on Zags) and steals the ball (3rd). McKayla hits 80% of her free throws. too.

This young lady will likely start for the Bears. Charmin Smith has matched last year's haul of three but there's probably room for at least one more. Cal still needs a fourth frontline (post) player. They could also use a scorer that can create her own shot (like Jayda Curry) when she needs to...Who is the Bears best one-on-one offensive player now?

Good news, thanks!

It looks to me like Mckayla and Ioanna will be capable replacements for Karisma and Amaya.

Defense first, something we can surely use:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jan/11/our-main-goal-is-to-win-defensive-stopper-mckayla-/

Does this move the needle? Are we now going to finish in the upper 1/3 or at least the upper half of the PAC-12 or are we going to be stuck again in the bottom like the last four years?

Go Bears!

calbear80 said:

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Does this move the needle? Are we now going to finish in the upper 1/3 or at least the upper half of the PAC-12 or are we going to be stuck again in the bottom like the last four years?

Go Bears!

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I think Mckayla moves the needle but I don't know how much. IMHO we still need one at least one of the following:

* Michelle to stay on the court for 25 or 30 minutes.

* Claudia to improve her speed and rebounding.

* to recruit another athletic big.

* to play effective small ball with 4 guards and 1 post.

* to improve team defense.

I think we'll see a good 3-point shooting team but not a great running or defensive team. I think we can have a better record than this season but I'm not expecting to finish in the top half of the conference. I'm hoping to see steady improvement.

MW is Cal's defensive stopper so that dictates that she starts. She only committed 62 PFs in 33 games (average of 1.88 per game). McKayla did not foul out last season. Eliza Pierre finally has someone to coach.

Without having seen any of our new players I'm guessing our starters will be:

Leilani - no question
Kemery - outside shooting
Mckayla - defense, running, passing
Michelle - rebounding, best athlete
Ila - experience and size

If/when we go small maybe Ioanna instead of Michelle.

We're now at a roster of 12 players. 11 on scholarship/1 walk-on.

I still think we add another player, perhaps an experienced point guard as a back-up for Leilani.

I thought maybe Jada Wynn would also be coming to Cal, but she committed to Texas Tech earlier today.

I think we are still facing four key issues going into next season.

1. We are still relying heavily on grad transfers in the portal who want to put Cal on their academic resumes in their final year of play.

2. As a result, we could have a starting line-up with four players using their final year of eligibility - Lane and Krimili, added to Leilani and Kemery.

3. For a successful program longer-term, we must still attract top high school recruits, as we have not done for several years. So there will be heavy pressure to win early and decisively to regain the attention and respect of those younger recruits.

4. And of the transfer players we will be relying on coming in, none have PAC-12 or other major conference experience, although Gonzaga does play a tough out-of-conference schedule.

The way the other PAC12 programs have been loading up on ESPN Top 100 recruits, we will have no choice but to accomplish #3 this year, or we are going to have to go in a different direction.

I totally prefer 4-year players but I think we need immediate reinforcements. If we do better with experienced transfers then we might become more attractive to high school kids.

stu said:

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I totally prefer 4-year players but I think we need immediate reinforcements. If we do better with experienced transfers then we might become more attractive to high school kids.

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That was my point. But after striking out two years in a row, I think we have to be looking good by the end of January to convince next year's recruiting class. And it has to be significant progress.

The school that has benefited the most from our own high school recruiting decline has been Washington. Five of their recent ESPN Top 100 recruits have been from California:

Recruiting Class 2022
#40 Hannah Stines La Mirada, CA
#53 Elle Ladine San Francisco, CA
#79 Teagan Brown Sacramento, CA

Recruiting Class 2023
#28 Savia Sellers Anchorage. AK
#46 Ari Long Moreno Valley. CA
#93 Chloe Briggs Ontario CA

So we have to do enough early this year to displace them before this continues for 2024.

I believe that Kemery Martin will be a RS junior in eligibility this season. She was in the soph class with Jayda Curry, Mia Maslov & Claudia Langarita last year..

In regards to a backup PG, can Lulu Laditan-Twidale, Alma Elsnitz or Ornela Muca fill the bill? The Swede was a point guard before she suffered two knee injuries here. She has only played a single season for Cal. She would probably qualify for an additional year of eligibility IF AE experiences a breakout season in 2023-24. GO BEARS!

calbear80 said:

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Does this move the needle? Are we now going to finish in the upper 1/3 or at least the upper half of the PAC-12 or are we going to be stuck again in the bottom like the last four years?

Go Bears!

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It's hard to say where Cal will finish. It don't see top 1/3 at all. I think we could be competing for the middle of the PAC. But keep in mind that every team ahead of us in the standings has gotten better, either through the portal or by bringing in 5-star recruits.

Everything will depend on if Ila and Ioanna can play at Pac12 level. We saw last season that Claudia's game didn't immediately translate from the WCC. I'm hoping Claudia plays better this season as Stu already mentioned.

stu-I think the transfer portal option combined with NIL compensation has changed the college game. The concept of a four-year recruit out of high school may not be too realistic anymore with ability of every player to transfer any time that they want. I think that there likely will have to be a balance between prep recruits and transfers going forward.

Will also have to see how things work out for grad transfers who are in traditional masters degree programs rather than the new certificate programs. A traditional masters program at Cal is usually pretty demanding and less flexible in terms of classes and timeframes.

There's a school of thought that believes that rolling the dice on unproven 17-year-olds isn't as good a strategy as bringing in transfers with track records in college.

Of course, that means you have to have the transfer train pull into the station every year, but Cal's presence in the Pac and its academic reputation will have a bigger draw to older players, especially grad students. I generally discount the value of a Cal undergrad degree, but Cal master's is a different story.

This might be the best plan moving forward.

ClayK said:

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There's a school of thought that believes that rolling the dice on unproven 17-year-olds isn't as good a strategy as bringing in transfers with track records in college.

Of course, that means you have to have the transfer train pull into the station every year, but Cal's presence in the Pac and its academic reputation will have a bigger draw to older players, especially grad students. I generally discount the value of a Cal undergrad degree, but Cal master's is a different story.

This might be the best plan moving forward.

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Right now the number of grad transfers is up due to the extra year of Covid eligibility. In the future, this grad group will be mostly players who had a redshirt year and kept studying or those who had a year out with an injury. You will be able to get an occasional grad transfer, but you will not be able to build a program around them.

Non-grad transfers can definitely help and are now part of the new college game. But the problem is you can live by the portal, but also die by the portal (Daniels, Curry). So you need a program that can also get some good high school recruits and then develop and retain them along with portal transfers. Right now USC seems to be striking a great balance and UCLA is hitting it out of the park.

The defense, the FT shooting numbers.. what's not to love?

The portal taketh but can also giveth. It has been good to us this off-season!

Cal Signs McKayla Williams For 2023-24 Season - California Golden Bears Athletics (calbears.com)

Here's her official announcement as a bonafide member of the 2023-24 team. Go KK!

Here's a boxscore of Gonzaga's upset of Tennessee. McKayla Williams scored a dozen and grabbed eight boards while playing 35 minutes. Marta Suarez did not contribute much for the Lady Vols.

Women's Basketball vs #23 Tennessee on 11/21/2022 - Box Score - Gonzaga University Athletics (gozags.com)

Marta did get 3 rebounds in 8 minutes.