BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Faith and basketball. That's what led Jada Williams to UCLA.
"I've been praying about this day since I was a little girl," Williams said. "Since I started playing basketball."
The Blue Springs point guard and Hy-Vee Athlete of the Week committed this week to play college basketball at UCLA.
"I've been smiling for the last two days, and everybody is like 'Why are you smiling?'" she said, "and I'm just like, 'It's not stressful anymore, ya know?'"
True, the highly-recruited sophomore in high school has already made her collegiate decision.
"When I knew, I knew," Williams said. "And I didn't want to wait any longer. I wanted to let everyone know."
She let everyone know in a big way. Along with her announcement Monday, she posted a six-and-a-half-minute long video detailing her basketball life.
"I wanted to tell more of my story than I'm just committing," Williams said. "In a book, you don't skip to this part of the chapter just to say you're done."
The video was actually a short film produced by local filmmaker Adrian Herrera.
"It was a big deal and I think we definitely shocked the internet," said Williams.
With her college decision out of the way, Williams now lists winning a state championship with her Wildcats as a goal.
But she also has seasons of summer basketball left where she hopes to become a McDonald's All-American as a senior and become a member of Team USA before her junior year. She tries out for the 16U team this summer.
"I think once you make the USA team, there are a lot of gates that open for you," she said.
Williams is the 13th-ranked player in the Class of 2023, according to ESPN.