Dream becomes reality for late-blooming Division I recruit. ‘She’s so talented.’
Malea Williams, Scott County’s candidate for 2020 Miss Basketball and a coaches’ association 11th Region Player of the Year, announced her commitment to the Louisville Cardinals on Monday via an Instagram live stream.
“I’ve always known I wanted to go to Louisville,” Williams told the Herald-Leader on Monday. “I watched them all the time as a kid. And it’s close to home with Mom being sick and stuff (she has a chronic condition), I feel like it’s a blessing that I get to play close and play with one of the best programs in the country.”
Williams, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward, expects to sit out her first year for the Cardinals.
“I’m going to have to learn to balance a lot of stuff, but my first year I’m going to redshirt, so I feel like that’s going to help me a lot. I’m going to get stronger. I’m going to get faster,” she said. “I’ll learn to balance school and next year, hopefully, I’ll be ready. Hopefully, a year from now, I’ll be dunking on people.”
Louisville has become a perennial top-10 women’s basketball program and has a recruiting class that has been heralded as one of the best in the nation. Williams’ commitment comes in the wake of transfers by two of its recent high-profile in-state recruits — 2017 Miss Basketball Lindsey Duvall and 2018 Miss Basketball Seygan Robins.
Williams chose Louisville over 20 other NCAA Division I offers. Kentucky was not among them.
“Malea brings a unique skill set as she is able to knock down the three-point shot from the trail position at the post and adds a presence as a shot blocker on the defensive end,” Louisville Coach Jeff Walz said in a press release announcing the signing. “We anticipate her being a great addition to our core group and look forward to getting her in the mix this fall.”
Williams showed tremendous growth during her high school career and not just in her skill set. A shy, lanky 5-10 freshman who spent much of her time on the bench developed into a confident and dominant 6-4 junior who became a team leader for the Cardinals on their way to a 30-3 record and second consecutive 11th Region title in 2019.
During her senior season, Williams averaged 19.6 points, 13.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game. She finished her career with 1,595 points and 1,102 rebounds. More than two-thirds of those totals came as a junior and senior.
“The thing with Malea was her transition from her freshman and sophomore year, learning the system … her junior and senior year, she really developed into a dominant player on both ends, offensively and defensively,” Scott County Coach Steve Helton said. “Even at 6-4 in girls’ basketball, you automatically think of a back-to-the-basket player. Very few times did we try to run her back-to-the-basket. Obviously, if we had a mismatch, we would. But she was more effective facing the basket. She was more effective running the floor. She was so talented getting up and down the floor.”
Her improved perimeter game showed her senior year as she made 34 of 103 of her three-point tries after only going 6-for-30 the year before. Overall, she shot 63 percent from the field as a junior and 55 percent from the field as a senior.
“I’ve grown a lot as a player, and now I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself and my game and my shot,” Williams said. “That’s made a lot of difference in my game, having confidence in myself.”
Helton did not have Williams’ block statistics on hand when he was interviewed Monday, but she developed a reputation as a tenacious defender with clutch shot-blocking ability. Her denial of a last-second bucket helped Scott County secure a tough semifinals win over Franklin County in 2019 on their way to the Cardinals’ second straight 11th Region championship. She also turned away a late potential game-winner against highly ranked Simon Kenton this past season in Scott County’s Toyota Classic.
“She’s so talented. Great size, great wingspan, but also a kid who can shoot the ball from the perimeter. She can handle the ball well for a 6-4 kid,” Helton said. “In college, she’s just going to get better. She’s going to get stronger, bigger and she’s going to be able to play with some of the best talent in the country at the University of Louisville. We’re excited for Malea.”
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 5:20 PM.
