Lady Tigers land local 4-star recruit, twin sister
Lance Williams can laugh about it now.
“At first, it was funny,” the former DePaul star said. “When my daughters first started playing ball, they’d have a fast break lay-up and everybody knew they were gonna miss. I would cross my fingers — I did everything. But they still missed.”
Fast-forward a handful of years and Williams’ twin daughters, Lanetta and Lanyce, have made titanic strides. Lanetta is ranked by ESPN as the 36th-best girls basketball player in the country for the Class of 2019. Lanyce, who missed her junior season with a torn ACL, is ranked a three-star prospect by ESPN.
On Aug. 30, the Arlington stars announced their commitment to Memphis, choosing the Lady Tigers over Ole Miss and Georgia. In front of about 30 friends and family at the high school, the Williams sisters read prepared statements before popping balloons filled with Memphis blue confetti. They shed their Arlington windbreakers to reveal Tiger T-shirts and put on Memphis headgear.
“All schools had great things about them,” Lanyce said. “But we realized we’ll be gone from our family for the vast majority of the year and we would miss out on things we wouldn’t miss out on if we were here in Memphis.”
“(Lanetta) is great rim-to-rim with the ball. That’s, without a doubt, her strength,” Arlington coach Wes Shappley said. “That’s her bread-and-butter. She’s extremely good in transition.
“(Lanyce) is a tremendous leader. She’s a very good defender both on the perimeter and inside. She really helps the team with her intangibles.”
Led by Lanetta, Arlington reached the AAA quarterfinals and finished with a 27-8 record.
Despite Memphis finishing 10-20 last season, the down year was not a deterrent for the Williams twins.
“I feel pretty good about Memphis,” Lanetta said.
“It feels good to say, ‘I’m going to Memphis.’ We plan on coming in and adding energy,” Lanyce said. “We’re different types of post players. Memphis has great back-to-the-basket post players. So we’ll just add on to that.”
Lanetta credited her dad with helping them develop their game.
“He taught us everything we know,” she said. “Watching him play overseas, I always knew I wanted to play basketball.”
The twins join Houston’s Madison Griggs as pledges to Memphis’ 2019 recruiting class.