Rising Sun trip greets Williams at South Carolina

The purpose of the trip isn’t lost on LaDazhia Williams.

The recent Lakewood Ranch High School graduate is heading out on her first international trip, and she’s doing so as a member of South Carolina’s women’s basketball team.

The defending national champion Gamecocks are heading to Tokyo for an international trip (Tuesday through July 5) for three exhibition games against Japan’s women’s national team.

“I was excited to find out about the trip, and just excited to play with the team in a real game before the season starts,” Williams told the Herald.

Williams said she told her friends, family and high school coaches about the trip. One aspect about the trip that she’s looking forward to involves food.

“I’m excited to see what they eat over there and how similar it is over there to over here,” Williams said.

With Japan being 13 hours ahead of Florida and South Carolina, Williams said getting acclimated to the time difference will be difficult. Still, she’s getting set for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity starting Tuesday.

“I’m going to just enjoy the team, but remember why we came over there in the first place,” Williams said. “When it’s game time, focus on that and then have fun later.”

Williams graduated from Lakewood Ranch at the end of May and headed to South Carolina soon after.

The NCAA permits college teams to travel internationally during the summer once every four years. Perhaps more importantly than the games are the 10 days of practice the NCAA allows teams making such trips to conduct.

“I think it’s a good trip, one, because we get to practice 10 days before we go and the freshmen and newcomers, they get an opportunity to get a taste of what a practice feels like,” coach Dawn Staley recently said. “The anticipation of it, at the end of September, October, they’ll have in the summertime.”

Freshmen, such as Williams, and newcomers are allowed to take part in the practices and games as long as they are enrolled in summer school classes at the university, which is what prompted Williams’ move to Columbia so soon after receiving her high school diploma. And Williams is one of several new faces for a Gamecocks squad that is facing a dramatic roster overhaul since it cut down the nets in early April.

Williams is one of four freshmen entering the program. Graduate transfer Lindsey Spann (from Penn State) and transfer Alexis Jennings, who was forced to sit out last season after transferring, will be wearing Gamecocks jerseys in games for the first time. Transfer Te’a Cooper, who will have to sit out this season after transferring from Tennessee, is also new.

Williams hopes the practices and games will help her transition faster with her new team and to the speed of college basketball. So does Staley.

“You just have to move at a whole other level just to keep up with each other and make sure you’re doing it right,” Williams said.

However, Williams isn’t just getting up to speed with the college game; she’s jumping on college classes as well. Taking two summer classes — one for each session — gives Williams a glimpse into life as a college student-athlete.

Juggling that with basketball, where she’s learning defensive and offensive schemes, is a difficult proposition for incoming freshmen. But Williams says she is thriving in the adjustment period, and so is the team.

“We’re starting to come together as a team with the returners and the freshmen,” Williams said. “It’s another level. It’s more competitive than high school. The speed is faster, but I’m adjusting well to it.”

To help with the cohesion, Williams said she’s worked on communicating on the floor. Of course, she’s also improving by battling a specific teammate during practices: forward A’ja Wilson, a National Player of the Year candidate.

“That’s just making me a better player,” Williams said.

So, too, will playing exhibition games in the Land of the Rising Sun.

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 8:47 PM with the headline "Rising Sun trip greets Williams at South Carolina."