HARTFORD, Conn. — Christyn Williams had it in mind’s eye. The night of the 2022 WNBA draft would be her night in the big city, surrounded by glamour and glitz. When she came to UConn as the national player of the year, who would have imagined it any other way?
“Well, what I dreamed of growing up was actually being in New York at the draft,” Williams said. “But that’s part of life, very unfortunate.”
Instead, Williams, eight days after UConn’s loss to South Carolina, was back home in Little Rock, Ark., surrounded by 60 relatives, all five brothers and sisters, and friends in the village that helped prepare her for the ups and downs of life.
Manhattan? Some other time. Next stop: Washington.
“I’ve had a great experience in Little Rock, in front of my family and friends, just waiting for my name to be called,” she said. “It was a dream come true and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m just super excited and grateful to be a part of the league and get to work and …”
Here Mike Thibault, coach and general manager of the Washington Mystics who chose Williams, unmuted and chimed in.
“I want you to have a chip on your shoulder about not getting invited to New York,” he told Williams.
“Oh, for sure,” Williams said, giggling. “That killer mentality we talked about. That’s just part of the fuel.”
When neither Williams, nor Olivia Nelson-Ododa nor Evina Westbrook was invited to attend the draft at Spring Studios in Manhattan, it was a sign that there would be no Huskies taken in the first round. Still, it was weird to see that unfold when the Sun completed the first round by taking Nia Clouden of Michigan State and Williams, who had been slotted there or higher in some mock drafts, remained.
There were shades of other first-round vigils like the 2021 NBA draft, when UConn’s James Bouknight waited longer than expected and bristled as the Hornets took him at No. 11. Or in 2002, when Caron Butler went No. 10 and vowed to “make them pay for passing on me.” Williams didn’t seem quite as annoyed to fall into the second round, where Washington took her with the 14th pick, but she’s too much a competitor not to take note.
“Absolutely,” Williams said. “It’s all motivation. I will play with a chip on my shoulder. It’s all about motivation, me not getting invited, all the teams passing up, blah, blah, blah, I know God has me in the right place at the right time and Washington is a great fit for me.”
By the weekend, Williams will be with her new team, surrounded by former All-Americans and fighting along with No. 3 pick Shakira Austin of Ole Miss to impress at training camp. There she will learn, as most draftees do, that once the pro career starts, the number next to the draft pick becomes less and less relevant. It’s more important to go to the team that wants you and for the right reasons.
“We were a little surprised when she wasn’t invited,” said Thibault, who used to coach the Connecticut Sun. “As it turns out, she came to the 14th pick. As a league, you’re not going to get it right on who you invite to the draft or not. I know they take input from the various teams, some of us tell the truth, some of us don’t. I don’t, all the time. I don’t want everybody to know who I like. … When Vegas was picking with the 13th pick, we were all crossing our fingers and toes and everything else in hoping Christyn was still going to be there. And luckily she was.”
Williams scored 1,850 points for UConn, a stellar career that ended with a bad taste as she went 1 for 7 in the NCAA championship game. It was the only time in 16 NCAA Tournament games she fell short of double digits. She’d averaged 16.7 points in the previous 15. During the Women’s Final Four, she won the Ann Meyers-Drysdale award as the nation’s top shooting guard.
Thibault likes his guards to be able to play with or without the ball, and Williams can do that. He looks for players who can defend multiple positions. He believes Williams can do that despite her lost night against South Carolina’s Destanni Henderson, who was drafted six picks later on Monday between Nelson-Ododa at No. 19 and Westbrook at 21.
His roster as it is, Thibault said his rookies will have to earn every minute they get without the luxury of bruised feelings.
“I don’t have any expectations,” Williams said. “I just know I’m going to go in there, work my hardest, give my full effort and do whatever Coach tells me to do.”
Thibault unmuted again. “Good answer,” he said.
“The chip on her shoulder, I kind of kidded her about it,” Thibault said. “That’s another thing she can use. For any player, it’s natural to remember what people passed you by. But you also can be grateful for the ones that love you, too. When she walks in the door this weekend to get ready for training camp, she’s going to be excited and happy to be with us.”
