WNBA DRAFT

April 15, 2021

Kiana Williams

Q. It's been a long haul for you this season with Stanford being on the road all those months. Now you're one of the few draftees to have actually had a chance to play against some of these WNBA greats, specifically Sue Bird when they came to Stanford that fall. What are your thoughts on playing with her or learning from her when you arrive at camp with Seattle?

KIANA WILLIAMS: She's the first person I thought of when I saw Seattle drafted me. I get to learn from a legend. I feel like she's one of the best point guards to ever play the game, and I'm going to go in there and be a sponge, try to soak up as much information, not only from her but from all the other vets.

Q. You probably were expecting to go a little bit higher, especially after the season you had, but you're going into such an ideal situation, playing with Sue Bird, a championship team. How much does that matter to you, that maybe you didn't go as high as you would like, but the situation you're in is so ideal for you to have success and longevity in the league?

KIANA WILLIAMS: Yeah, I didn't even have that approach. I wasn't really necessarily worried about what number I was going to get drafted or what round. I honestly just wanted -- I just prayed to God that I got drafted to a good situation for me, and I feel like Seattle was one of the best situations for me, and I was extremely grateful.

I feel like the league is so competitive, and I feel like it's more about fit rather than what number you're getting drafted. But you said it, I'm coming from Stanford, that's a winning culture, and I'm going right into a professional winning culture. Like I said earlier, I'm just going to go in and soak as much information as I can, and whatever the team needs, make sure I'm doing that to the best of my abilities.

Q. I've seen a lot of things saying that you were probably going to go late in the first round. When it got past the first round, was there any sense of disappointment, or as you said earlier, you just wanted to get drafted at some point?

KIANA WILLIAMS: No, there was no disappointment. Obviously you want to get drafted in the first round and be as high as you can, but I feel like just with my situation, I just wanted to go to the right situation, and like for example, Dallas had four picks and maybe that wasn't the best situation for me. When the first round was over, I just took a moment, let it go, and the right thing happened for me. Delayed gratification I guess you could say.

Q. I do remember you talking about how your team's season kind of changed after you lost to UCLA in January. You talked about how you thought you were focusing too much on this night, on the draft, than on the season and getting to it. When you look back on that three and a half months later, what would you tell yourself three months ago that you know now?

KIANA WILLIAMS: Stay in the moment, have a great practice that day, have a great game that day. I couldn't control April back in December, back in January. So I'd tell Kiana back then to remember to maximize every day, have a great practice, have a great game.