Appears in SLAM Issue 238. Published on June 22, 2022 at slamonline.com
They both share the same gleaming smile. They’re both defensive aficionados, begging you to bring the ball anywhere near their paint, let alone attempt to score over their outstretched arms. Both of their games have been hardened and emboldened by the craziness at Cameron Indoor. Both were named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. And in June of 2022, Elizabeth and Mark Williams will become the only current sibling duo wearing their last name across the backs of WNBA and NBA jerseys at the same time.
As the children of Nigerian immigrants who grew up in Virginia Beach, the kids took to hoops at a young age. Elizabeth started at age 9, and by the time she was 11, she’d fallen for the rhythm and beauty of the game while sending the ball out of bounds left and right at AAU tourneys. She started working with current Rutgers assistant Nadine Domond around that same time and by 13, she was putting down dunks with ease.
Years spent in the gym honing her bag with Domond culminated in a life-changing letter from one of the best programs in the country—a scholarship offer to join the Tennessee Lady Vols.
“It was like, Whoa, like, this is legit. Like, this is for real. And everything that we had talked about was kind of coming into fruition,” Elizabeth tells SLAM on a late-April call from Turkey, where she’s playing for Fenerbahce Safiport.
When it came time for her college commitment, Elizabeth wanted 9-year-old Mark to be a part of the process. She knew that she didn’t want to take the traditional route of announcing her pick by selecting a hat, so she instructed her younger brother to wear a Duke shirt underneath his hoodie.
After she said those six magic words, “The school I’m going to is…” Mark would unzip his jacket to reveal the school of her choosing printed across his chest. Both of them flash that signature grin as soon as the memory is refreshed in their minds. (READ THE FULL STORY HERE.)