iowaFormer Arizona guard Jada Williams definitely likes big crowds. She announced her commitment to Iowa State on Wednesday morning. The Cyclones were the only team in the Big 12 to outdraw the Wildcats last season.
Let me reintroduce myself #8 pic.twitter.com/LIvab71n2G
— Jada Williams (@cbgjada2) April 2, 2025
Williams is going to a Cyclones team that will have star post Audi Crooks and forward Addy Brown back. What they won’t have is fifth-year point guard Emily Ryan.
Williams appears to be a possible replacement for Ryan, but she will have big shoes to fill. Ryan was a career 45 percent shooter for the Cyclones. That includes 37.9 percent from 3. Her worst year from 3 was 32.7 percent during her freshman season in 2020-21. She shot as high as 43.5 percent in 2023-24. In comparison, Williams shot 36.2 percent from the floor and 27.9 percent from 3 in her two seasons at Arizona.
The Cyclones are also looking for a replacement for Ryan’s career 6.5 assists per game against 3.3 turnovers. At Arizona, Williams averaged 2.6 assists and 2.4 turnovers per game in her two years.
To her advantage, though, the Cyclones are an offense-focused team. As Arizona head coach Adia Barnes said when the Wildcats faced ISU, their intent is simply to put up a lot of points and hope the opponent doesn’t match. Defense is not at such a premium.
To that point, the Wildcats were ranked the No. 42 defense by Her Hoop Stats last year despite not playing as well defensively as they have in years past. In comparison, the Cyclones were ranked No. 58. On the flip side, ISU was the No. 21 offense compared to No. 93 for UA. The focus of the program may allow her to improve from distance and with her ballhandling.
Iowa State beat Princeton in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament this season. They fell to Michigan in the round of 64.
Williams also visited Iowa, another program with a large fanbase.