Roy High alumnus Josie Williams will play college basketball at national power Louisville this year
Roy basketball player Josie Williams poses for a portrait Thursday, March 29, 2018, at Roy High School. Williams was selected as the Standard-Examiner All Area girls basketball MVP.
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- Josie Williams, a Roy High alumnus, poses for a photo during a visit to the University of Louisville’s women’s basketball program.
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Roy basketball player Josie Williams poses for a portrait Thursday, March 29, 2018, at Roy High School. Williams was selected as the Standard-Examiner All Area girls basketball MVP.
Things have changed a lot for Josie Williams in the last five months.
Toward the end of the college basketball season, Williams went to her coaches at Utah Valley University and told them she wanted to transfer.
From the UVU coaches’ standpoint, losing a three-year starting post player who averaged a double-double in 2021-22 wouldn’t be great, and the coaches eventually convinced Williams, a Roy High alumnus, to stay.
Then two assistant coaches left, including Williams’ post coach Morgan Bailey, who went to BYU.
So Williams went in the transfer portal but where she initially thought she might end up down the street at BYU, she ended up two time zones away, swapping dry Orem, Utah, for humid Louisville, Kentucky, and swapping the WAC for ACC by committing to the University of Louisville.
“First of all, it’s an incredible opportunity and such a compliment to even have an opportunity. What I’m most excited for is the learning experience,” Williams said by phone Wednesday from Louisville.
At Louisville, Williams joins a Cardinals team that went 29-5 last year and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation before losing to No. 1 South Carolina in the Final Four.
The Cardinals averaged 8,361 fans per home game last year and are one of the most recognizable women’s basketball programs in the country.
Williams has her Bachelor’s degree in secondary education from UVU and is enrolled in a sports administration Master’s program at Louisville.
Her move to Louisville is as a graduate transfer, an opportunity she didn’t think she would get until the COVID-19 pandemic happened. That affected multiple seasons and resulted in the NCAA affording athletes an extra year of eligibility, often termed the “COVID year.”
It worked out for Williams that she not only had her degree in hand but an extra year of basketball eligibility — along with being a 6-foot-5 post player who was a two-time, first-team All-WAC player.
“I wasn’t ready to be done last year by any means. I still felt like I had more drive and more in the tank to give,” Williams said.
She completed her student teaching at American Fork High School last school year, balancing a teaching schedule — she taught 10th-grade health and loved it, she said — along with being a full-time student-athlete at UVU.
“It was hard, but once I was in the routine it was just a normal thing,” Williams said.
Her schedule appears to be considerably freed up at Louisville, whose coaches have told Williams there are opportunities to play but she has to work for them.
Williams, who was the 2018 Standard-Examiner All-Area Girls Basketball MVP, went to UVU and played 29 games her freshman year with four starts, then started the next 77 games the following three seasons.
It culminated with the 2021-22 season where she averaged 17.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game on 55.3% field-goal shooting and 81.1% free-throw shooting.
Her junior year, UVU went to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 16 seed and lost its first-round matchup to No. 1 Stanford in San Antonio.
“We are thrilled to add Josie to our Cardinal family,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said in a press release announcing Williams’ transfer. “She brings experience and depth to our front court. We are excited to get her on campus as soon as we can.”
There are few connections between Louisville, UVU and Roy High, but there are multiple now that Williams is with the Cardinals. Louisville women’s basketball coach Stephanie Norman played college basketball at Arizona State and was teammates with Roy High girls basketball coach Carolyn DeHoff.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.