Deja Williams starts her second season as an assistant coach at UW-La Crosse in 2025-26. She also serves as a multicultural admissions counselor.
The 2024-25 season saw UWL take a big jump ias they finished 17-12 overall and advanced to the Second Round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III National Championships. UWL finished 7-7 in the very competitive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), which had four teams advance to the NCAA III National Championships.
UWL earned it first bid (at-large) to the national tournament since the 2019-20 season. In the first round, UWL defeated Colorado College 79-52 for its first NCAA tournament win since 1988. UWL would then face conference foe UW-Whitewater in the second round where they fell 50-49. The 2024-25 season also included wins over nationally ranked UW-Stout (#15) and UW-Oshkosh (#5). The win over UW-Oshkosh was just the fourth win over a top five ranked opponent in school history.
Williams attended Mercer University (Ga.) in 2023-24, earning her master’s degree in organizational leadership. She started all 30 games for the Bears’ basketball team, averaging 9.3 points, 2.7 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. Williams led Mercer (Ga.) in assists, steals, three-point field goals made (60) and attempted (167).
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University in psychology in 2023 after being a two-year member of the Vikings. Williams was named the 2022-23 Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year after helping lead Cleveland State (Ohio) to a 30-5 overall record, league championship and NCAA Division I Tournament appearance. She played in all 35 games, leading the team in assists. Williams played n 30 games with five starts in 2021-22.
A native of Long Beach, California, Williams attended California State University, Northridge in 2019-20. She earned Big West All-Freshmen Team honors after finishing fourth in the conference in three-point field goals (55) and eighth in steals (1.6 per game).
Williams was accepted into the 2024 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association “So You Want to be a Coach” program.
