Nebraska Basketball's Amy Williams: 'This League Unlike Anything We've Seen Before'

Nebraska's Amy Williams joined coaches from Iowa and Minnesota for a roundtable at Big Ten Women's Basketball Media Day.

Oct 2, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Iowa head coach Jen Jensen, left, Minnesota head coach Dawn Plitzuweit, middle, Nebraska head coach Amy Williams, right, speak with Mike Hall during the 2024 Big Ten Womenís Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. / Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images

Nebraska women's basketball coach Amy Williams is front and center for the league ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

Williams joined Iowa's first-year coach Jan Jensen and Minnesota coach Dawn Plitzuweit for a roundtable to begin discussions at Big Ten Women's Media Day. Coaches and players are speaking throughout the day in Rosemont, Ill.

The trio of coaches, the first of several coach roundtables to begin the event, were first asked about the strength of the Big Ten.

"I think its tremendously strong," Jansen said. "It always has been. But then when you're adding our friends from the old Pac-12, it instantaneously gets a lot stronger."

This is the first year of the Big Ten growing to 18 teams. The four new programs are UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington.

"We've been saying a lot lately that we've never seen anything quite like what we're seeing right now in women's basketball, in general," Williams said. "But I feel like this league might be unlike anything we've ever seen before. The competition from top to bottom, 18 of the best teams in the country.

"To be the best you have play the best, you have to beat the best, and we're going to have that opportunity pretty much every night."

Depth of the league is nothing new, with or without the new teams from out west.

"It's a mix of great players, great coaches," Plitzuweit said. "Last year the league was as veteran as ever. I think this year is going to be another veteran year. Again, we have a lot of players using COVID years nationally. The experience in the league is something that is really, really, special, and very challenging."

Nebraska center Alexis Markowski passes off the ball as the Oregon State Beavers take on the Nebraska Huskers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday, March 24, 2024, at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Williams agreed.

"The coaching in this league is unbelievable," Williams said. "Every program, every coaching staff has seemed to raise the bar with transfer portal recruiting, bringing in some of the best players, retaining the best players in this league."

Jensen noted the growth of fan investment in not only showing up to games, but being knowledgeable of the rosters and recruiting.

"When I first started in the league, no one was caring about our recruiting," Jensen, who spent 24 years in the Big Ten before becoming Iowa's head coach, said. "But now you can't get on Twitter without somebody telling me who we're going to get and who we're not going to get."

As for the transfer portal, all three highlighted the fact about the importance of high school recruiting. That said, there is now an avenue to immediately bolster a roster with either a high level transfer or simply fill a hole with an experienced player.

"We now have opportunities to complement the players that we have with players that are coming in from the transfer portal," Plitzuweit said.

Williams said there's a small shift in where recruiting is focussed, having initially been just high school and then including some international players. Now, that includes more transfers.

"Transfer portal is just another aspect that you're paying attention to on a daily basis," Williams said. "As a coaching staff, we're coming in and really working to establish the relationships we always have had in the high school recruiting realm."

Mar 10, 2024; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Natalie Potts (22) works around Iowa Hawkeyes guard Kate Martin (20) during the second half at Target Center. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

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