Born in Dayton, Ohio, Williams-Jeter started playing organized basketball at age 10 in the Dayton Lady Hoopstars AAU program,[1] played on Lady Hoopstar teams which won one national AAU age group championship and finished in top four twice.
Williams-Jeter had a stellar basketball career at Chaminade-Julienne,[2] a Catholic high school in Dayton, Ohio. She was named the 1997 and 1998 Ohio Player of the Year and was named in the 1997-98 Associated Press girls Division I All-Ohio high school basketball team. She was named "Ohio's Miss Basketball" by the Associated Press and chosen by a statewide media panel.[3] Williams-Jeter was also named a WBCA All-American and the WBCA high school player of the year.[4][5] Williams-Jeter participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored eight points.[6]
After graduating from Chaminade-Julienne, Williams-Jeter was heavily recruited by numerous collegiate teams. In 1997, she was the subject of a seven-page feature in a January 1998 issue of a Sports Illustrated magazine article on the pressures of being recruited.[7] Ohio State arranged for a private jet to fly Williams-Jeter from her home in Dayton to Columbus, approximately 70 miles away. She mentioned this to UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who responded by mailing her a little wooden plane, explaining, "Sorry, Tamika. This is the best we can do."[8]
She completed her four-year collegiate career in 2002 with averages of 10.6 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. She finished as UConn's all-time leader in field goal percentage at 70.3% (560-for-797), which is also an NCAA Division 1 record.[10] She also holds the Huskies' top four single-season marks for field goal percentage,[11] ranked 14th on UConn's all-time scoring list with 1,402 points,[12] and finished 10th all-time in rebounding (763).[13] She was one of four players (along with Asjha Jones, Swin Cash, and Sue Bird) called by Sports Illustrated "best recruiting class of 1998".[14]
During the 2002 WNBA draft, the Minnesota Lynx selected Williams-Jeter in the first round, sixth overall.[15] In 2003, she set a WNBA single-season record for field-goal accuracy, with a percentage of 66.8%.[16]
Williams-Jeter served as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas for their women's basketball team.
Williams-Jeter served as the head coach for the Senior National team of India at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou (China). The games were played in November 2010.[18]
Williams-Jeter joined Matthew Mitchell's Kentucky staff as an assistant coach in August 2014.[19]
Head coach
Wittenberg
In May 2021, Williams-Jeter became head basketball coach at Wittenberg University.[20] In her first year as the head coach of the Tigers, Wittenberg knocked out #10 DePaw out of the NCAC Tournament on February 25, 2022, advancing to the title game.[21]
Dayton
On March 26, 2022, Williams-Jeter was announced as the head coach of the University of Dayton Flyers.