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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > November > 02
Monday, November 2, 2009
High praise for Tamika — but is she Dayton’s best?
I just got a copy of “GENO: In Pursuit of Perfection,” the book University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma has done with Jackie MacMullen..
In it he makes several mentions of Tamika Williams, the Chaminade Julienne High School All American, who was one of the fixtures on two of the six national titles UConn has won with him.
Auriemma tells about getting her out of Dayton to be part of one of the most celebrated recruiting classes in women’s basketball history. He recounts various games she played and the way she often was the glue that held the various personalities of the team together.
He talks especially glowingly of the impact she made at UConn before heading off to her pro career and then — after marrying former college athlete Ben Raymond — becoming an assistant hoops coach at the University of Kansas.
Here’s Auriemma on Tamika:
“Tamika Williams was — and still is today — maybe the most popular player among the coaches of anybody that came here. I just think her personality is so terrific. Her father was a Vietnam vet and he came back and was a DJ, among other things, and he is absolutely the most outgoing guy. He is funny and embracing and Tamika takes after him. She’s a lot of fun and very nurturing, always bringing people together.
“If you talk to Tamika and you’re not laughing, you don’t have a sense of humor Tamika and Meghan Pattyson, to me, epitomize the spirit of UConn basketball.”
That got me thinking. Tamika had a great prep and college career — she remains UConn’s all-time leader in field goal percentage — and then played several years in the WNBA.
Is she the most celebrated woman’s athlete ever to come out of the Greater Dayton area prep scene?
I’m not sure. Here are five other women I’d put in the mix:
LaVonna Martin (Floreal) — The Trotwood Madison High track star became a University of Tennessee All American and then ran the 100 meter hurdles at two Olympics, Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992, where she won a silver medal. Her husband Edrick Floreal is the Stanford track coach.
Tonja Buford (Bailey) — The Meadowdale High sensation went on to star at Illinois, where today — married to former pro football player Victor Bailey — she’s the head women’s track coach. She competed in three Olympics, Barcelona, then Atlanta in 1996, where she won a bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles and finally the Sydney Games in 2000. She also won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg
Megan Duffy — After starring in hoops at Chaminade Julienne and then Notre Dame — where she was an Academic All American and won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association as the best senior player under 5-foot-8 — she played for Minnesota and New York in the WNBA, played overseas in Wales, Italy Slovakia and Romania and now is an assistant women’s basketball coach at St. John’s University.
Alison Bales — A high school All American at Beavercreek High, she starred at Duke University — where, at 6-feet-7, she became the third all-time shot blocker in women’s college basketball history — then played for three WNBA teams as well as playing pro in Moscow and Turkey.
Brandi Hoskins — Another CJ hoops star, she became a cornerstone player for Ohio State — where she was the MVP of the Big Ten Tournament in 2005 — then went on to the WNBA and plays overseas.
I’m not sure who I’d rate as the best of that group and likely I’ve forgotten someone who is deserving, but I do agree with Auriemma on his assessment of Tamika.
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