Dayton women's basketball head coach Tamika Williams-Jeter is entering her fourth season at the helm of the Flyers in 2025-26.
The 2024-25 season saw even more growth from the program as the Flyers went 18-13 overall, increasing their win total by six games from the year prior. Dayton earned the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship tournament after being picked 11th preseason, and won its A-10 Second Round match-up for three consecutive seasons with a postseason victory. Coach Williams-Jeter led the team to a pair of four-game winning streaks during the season, including the end of the regular season and beginning of postseason play. Seniors Arianna Smith and Ivy Wolf earned Second and Third Team All-Conference honors respectively.
The second season in the Williams-Jeter era saw even more growth and success as the Flyers won yet another Atlantic 10 Tournament game and increased their win total by five games. Dayton finished the year with a 12-19 mark and 5-13 A-10 record, earning the No. 12 seed in the A-10 Championship. The season opened with a road trip to Williams-Jeter's alma mater UConn, where they Flyers faced the No. 2 team in the country. UD battled a challenging non-conference schedule, including games against Power 4 opponents Purdue and Vanderbilt. The Flyers capped off the season with a 66-52 victory over No. 14 seed St. Bonaventure in the conference tournament before falling to No. 6 seed Rhode Island in the second round.
In her first season in charge, Williams-Jeter focused on putting together a competitive team and experienced coaching staff while facing a challenging schedule in and out of Atlantic 10 play. The Flyers finished the season with a 7-21 record overall, but went 5-10 in A-10 play, earning the No. 12 seed in the 2023 A-10 Championship tournament. Williams-Jeter earned her first win in charge of Dayton on Dec. 29 with a home win over Cedarville and her first postseason victory for the Flyers with a first-round win over VCU in Delaware. Senior Sydney Freeman reached the 1,000-point mark in her career while redshirt-senior Mariah Perez recorded 12 double-doubles on the season.
Williams-Jeter has been successful at every level of basketball, both as a player and as a coach. From a stellar playing career at the top levels of high school, college, and professionally, to coaching stops at Division I powerhouses such as Kansas, Kentucky, Penn State, and Ohio State, and head coaching experience at Wittenberg and with the India National Team, she has been a winner everywhere she goes. Williams-Jeter has helped advance the game for women athletes and coaches, both domestically and internationally.
Williams-Jeter joins the Flyers from Wittenberg University where she has served as a head coach, leading the Tigers to an 18-8 record overall, a NCAC Tournament Championship, and the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament. During the season, Wittenberg rode a 10-game winning streak to the conference championship which included a win over 10th-ranked DePauw. It was their first national tournament appearance since 2014-15.
Prior to her time at Wittenberg, Williams-Jeter had assistant coaching stints at prominent Division I programs such as Ohio State, Penn State, Kentucky, and Kansas. She helped lead those programs to eight NCAA Division I Tournaments and 11 postseason season appearances overall.
Coming out of high school at nearby Chaminade-Julienne, Williams-Jeter was the No. 1 recruit in the nation and two-time Ohio Player of the Year. The former forward was named Ohio Miss Basketball and led the Eagles to their first ever Final Four appearance. A highly sought-after recruit and arguably the best women’s basketball player to ever come out of Dayton, Williams-Jeter went on to UConn as part of the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation in 1998.
Collegiately, Williams-Jeter had a Ring of Honor playing career at the University of Connecticut where she won two national championships in 2000 and 2002. She earned National Freshman of the Year honors from The Sporting News and was Big East Rookie of the Year. She went on to be named Most Outstanding Performer at the 2000 Big East Tournament en route to her first national title and received All-America Honorable Mention accolades as part of her second championship in 2002. Williams-Jeter was a Naismith Player of the Year candidate her senior season as well. Her career field goal percentage of 70.3 percent is the current NCAA Division I record.
While at UConn, she served as the president of the Huskies’ student-athlete advisory committee.
Williams-Jeter went into coaching after playing professionally for seven seasons in the WNBA. She was selected in the 2002 WNBA Draft with the No. 6 overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx and earned WNBA All-Rookie team honors her first year. She finished with over 1,400 points and 1,100 rebounds in her career, and set a WNBA single-season field goal accuracy record in 2003 at 66.8 percent that still stands today.
Williams-Jeter earned her bachelor’s degree from UConn in interpersonal communication. She and her husband Richard have two sons, R.J. and Jojo.
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