BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
Serah Williams had already made up her mind. She had assembled a list of Division I women's basketball programs that were recruiting her and was close to deciding on which one would be her final destination. In her mind, Williams was eager to pick a winner and didn't have a lot of time to waste.
Then came an unexpected development.
Marisa Moseley had just taken over the program at Wisconsin, and one of her assistants, Scott Merritt, had been familiar with Williams' recruiting dossier while he was an assistant at Illinois. He asked Williams if she would take a Zoom call from Moseley.
Williams, a 6-foot-4 forward from Brooklyn, N.Y., by way of Toronto, did so great reluctance. "What would it hurt?" she finally thought to herself. It wound up being a life-altering event for all involved.
The call gave way to a campus visit to UW. That turned into an offer from Moseley. That resulted in Williams signing with the Badgers.
"I took the call," she said. "And here I am."
Moseley did more than land a prospect with an unteachable collection of skills, someone who's been told that her abilities translate to a long career in the WNBA. She also made a distinct impression on Williams' mother, Olabisi, who is Nigerian and the single mother of three.
"I fell in love with her," she said of Moseley.
Olabisi and her only daughter are extremely close, so much so that their rhetoric strikes a familiar chord.
"She's my best friend, my confidant, she's my everything," Olabisi said.
"She's my best friend," Serah echoed. "I'll do anything for her. Hopefully I'm making her proud."
By most every account, Serah is fulfilling the promise she showed coming out of the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association.
As a freshman at Wisconsin, she averaged 12.7 points and 5.4 rebounds. She also had a team-best 58 blocked shots, which ranked second in the Big Ten Conference, and was named to the all-rookie squad.
Williams has followed that up with a thoroughly dominant showing as a sophomore that has her on the verge of a spot in the Big Ten record book.
She's averaging 18.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per outing. She's currently working on a 15-game streak of double-doubles – points and rebounds – which equals the Big Ten record set by Megan Gustaffson of Iowa in 2018-19.
"I have no reason to be upset with anything," Williams said. "I think I'm having a good season. I feel very blessed to be in this situation right now, waking up every day and playing the sport I love."
Just this week, Williams added to her resume after being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and becoming the seventh UW player to be a unanimous all-Big Ten pick (media and coaches). There is no question the league has taken notice.
"I've been busting my behind all season just to get that respect as a player," she said. "I'm trying my hardest to play my best."
Williams grew up in Brooklyn, but was recruited in the 10th grade by coach David Picton to come and play for Niagara in the OSBA, an independent prep school league that competes against elite basketball teams all over the U.S. and Canada.
"She's a coaches' dream," Picton said. "She'll just think things through, and she'll just start working. Her ceiling is so high."
Picton said he told Williams when she was in the 11th grade that if she worked hard, she'd be a pro because of her versatility, size and how she understands the game.
"I think she's starting to see she has all the tools to become a pro if she really wants to focus on it," he said.
"I still have a lot more learning to do just to be able to put all that together and push myself every day," Williams said. "I think I can be a pro in the WNBA one day."
How would Picton describe Williams' game?
"She's a game changer," he said. "She's pretty unstoppable at times."
Williams has surpassed 20 points in seven career outings at UW and has twice scored a career-best 31. Her best showing in the rebounding department is 18.
Moseley said Williams has improved her stamina and grown mentally over the last two seasons. She's also worked hard at her perimeter game, going from a 0-for-3 showing in three-point shots as a freshman to 8-of-22 as a sophomore, and become a more reliable rim defender.
Williams said she ultimately chose Wisconsin because she believes it's a program on the rise.
"I wanted to come in and make an impact right away, to be part of a rebuild," she said. ''From last year to this year, we're a lot more competitive. We all have that internal drive."
Olabisi said she promised Moseley that her daughter wouldn't let her team down and that "she's always going to try her best."
"Whatever she has a passion for," Olabisi said of Serah, "she puts all her strength and energy into it."
Williams, who grew up sandwiched between brothers Solomon and Michael, said her mother works as a daycare provider, which helps explain why Serah wants to be a neonatal nurse.
"I love babies," she said.
This mother and daughter have a bond that has endured through three years of prep school and two more in college.
"We both like sitting down and listening to Nigerian pop music," Serah said. "We'll be on our phones, she'll show me a funny video, and I'll show her one. We'll watch movies together and TV shows. Just sitting down and spending time together."
It's time well spent.
