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Oklahoma's Madi Williams Drafted by Seattle

Playing for both Sherri Coale and Jennie Baranczyk, Williams concluded her OU career as one of the Sooners' most decorated players in the history of the program.

John E. Hoover

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Madi Williams certainly weathered the storm in Norman.

So maybe it’s only fitting that Oklahoma’s outgoing senior star will play for the Seattle Storm.

Williams on Monday was the No. 6 pick of the second round (No. 18 overall) of the WNBA Draft and will play for Seattle.

Williams is the Sooners' first draft pick since 2013, when Whitney Hand was picked by San Antonio. She's OU's highest pick since Danielle Robinson went No. 6 overall in 2011, and is the 15th Sooner selected in the WNBA Draft.

For her career, Williams averaged 16.1 points and 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. She's the only player in school history with 2,000 points, 950 rebounds and 300 assists.

She goes down in program history as one of the team leaders who not only eased the transition between the end of the Sherri Coale era and the beginning of the Jennie Baranczyk era, but lifted the Sooners up on her way out, elevating OU from three years of no postseason appearances to back-to-back first-round NCAA Tournament wins and the program's first Big 12 Conference regular season title since 2009.

The 6-foot Williams was a five-year starter for the Sooners after signing with OU out of Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, TX.

She averaged 11.6 points and 8.0 rebounds as a true freshman, 16.1 points and 7.3 rebounds as a sophomore, 20.0 points and 5.1 rebounds as a junior, 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds as a senior, and 15.7 points and 5.4 rebounds as a super senior.

Williams shot .474 from the field for her career, including a career-best .514 this season. She also shot a career-best .765 from the free throw line this year.

Williams finished her career second in school history with 2,365 points, fifth with 995 rebounds, ninth with 354 assists, and eighth with 215 steals. She and fellow super senior Taylor Robertson both broke the school mark for career games played. Williams finished with 147, while Robertson played in 151.

Williams was a three-time unanimous All-Big 12 selection, and was named a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award while also earning honorable mention AP All-America and WBCA All-America.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.