DETROIT (11/4/2014) -- Having your number retired once is a beautiful thing, but twice can be just as nice as former women's basketball standout Cheryl Williams-Miller will finally see her number hang from the rafters in a ceremony on Dec. 20 when the Titans take on in-state rival Western Michigan.
 
The event is also a part of Alumni Day at Calihan Hall for the women's basketball team as former players come back to celebrate their time wearing the red, white and blue as well as get honored during a halftime. More information on that event, including RSVP information, will be released in the near future. 

 
For Williams, it is the second time that she will be honored with her numbered being retired as she is still the only female student athlete in Titan history to have her number retired. The first time came just after her playing days and her jersey hung outside the women's basketball locker room, but after some renovations in Calihan Hall moved the locker room, the jersey never found a new location.
 
 "I am just so honored to be the first person to have their number retired," said Williams. "When Coach Rademacher called me a few weeks ago and told me what was happening, I was just so honored. I remember the first ceremony and I was speechless and I am still that same way today."
 
Williams not only set the standard for Titan players at that time, but her numbers still rank in the top 10 - if not the top five - in school history in several statistics including first in rebounding (1,368/11.3 rpg.), blocks (288/2.38 bpg.), steals (441/3.6 spg.) and total field goals (859) and second in career points (1,991/16.5 ppg.). She is also fifth in field-goal percentage (51.4%) as she started all 121 games in her collegiate career. She was All-State, All-Region, All-American and a Wade Trophy nominee. Not too shabby for a player that wasn't even highly recruited while starring at Detroit's Chadsey High School.
 
"When I was in high school, I wasn't even thinking about college to be honest," said Williams. "The opportunity to play gave me so many opportunities and it made my life easier. I wasn't recruited highly and for Detroit to take a chance on me, I am truly thankful."
 
How exactly an All-City, All-PSL and All-Metro player was overlooked might be a mystery today, but just as the Titan program was starting to develop and make a name for itself on the national scene, a little luck was needed and that came by way of an assistant coaches watchful eye during recruiting season.
 
"My high school team was good, but wasn't great and a lot of recruiters were not really looking at me," said Williams. "Detroit didn't even recruit me at first, but I remember talking to Lydia Sims (Detroit assistant basketball coach) years later about recruiting me and she said that she was at one of my games looking at another player. She saw me playing and was impressed and then talked to head coach Sue Kreszewski about me and that is how I got to U-D."
 

Williams was part of a Titan program that didn't just play basketball, but were nationally recognized in the polls spending 15 weeks in the top 20 during the 1979-80 campaign, including its highest ranking of No. 12 twice that year. The Titans were 95-26 in her four years, winning three-straight State Large College Tournaments and receiving a bid to the 1980 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Tournament, the precursor for the NCAA Tournament.
 
U-D also played the best in nationally-ranked foes Delta State, Northwestern, North Carolina State, Kansas with Lynette Woodard and No. 1 Old Dominion featuring Nancy Lieberman.
 
"It wasn't just me, we had such great players on those teams," said Williams. "When you talk about players like Lydia Johnson, Lisa Blackburn, Gigi Yax, Mary Lillie, I could go on and name everyone cause we were a team. We really gelled together and we all hand the same mindset to be successful."

Detroit would go on to record wins over No. 3 Kansas in the 1980-81 season and No. 9 North Carolina State in the 1981-82 season. Both wins were historic and occurred in Calihan Hall as the victory over the Jayhawks was the first win over a ranked opponent in Titan history. Williams dominated with a game-high 28 points and added eight rebounds and her defense in the zone helped limit Kansas' Woodard to just 11 points.
 
The following season, the Titans hosted the Fourth Annual U of D/Coca-Cola Women's Classic and after two-straight years of falling in the championship game, the team pulled together to defeat the ninth-ranked Wolfpack, 60-59. Williams controlled the glass with a game-high 18 rebounds – just eight shy of her career high 26 she posted that season and one of nine games that she corralled 17 or more boards as a senior – while adding 10 points and four assists.
 
"In one year, we knocked off two ranked teams. I love the memories that when we came into the gym, everyone looked over us. They always looked over us and then when we played, we were diving for balls and playing tough defense and that's how we played. When we stepped out on the floor, we had so much confidence. We were a family and we supported each other and pushed each other to be better," added Williams.
 
Historic Calihan Hall is full of memories and some of the greatest players are now raised above watching and guiding today's Titans as they look to make their own history. Williams now joins a select hardwood company in Bob Calihan, Dave DeBusschere, John Long, Rashad Phillips and Terry Tyler in the rafters, a place for all-time legends.

"I tell kids all the time that the harder you work, the further your dream will take you," said Williams. "I appreciate the honor of being a trendsetter. Hopefully this is the start of more female athletes getting there jerseys raised because I know Detroit has had a lot of talent and so many people deserve to be recognized. Thinking back to high school, I never would have thought all of this was possible and I thank Detroit for everything it has done."