INDIANAPOLIS - Every now and again, a sports team is blessed by the presence of generational talent. The Chicago Bulls had Michael Jordan. The New England Patriots had Tom Brady. The University of Connecticut Huskies had Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, among others. At the Horizon League level, the IUPUI Jaguars have Macee Williams of Veedersburg, Indiana.
 
Williams is as dominant a force as you can find in all of mid-major women's basketball. A four-time Horizon League Player of the Year, Williams is the most prolific scorer in Jaguar history, with 2,267 points and counting. She was named Freshman of the Year in 2018 and is a finalist for this year's Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year accolade.
 
"She's no doubt the best player to ever play at IUPUI," said Austin Parkinson, who has coached the Lady Jags for nearly 12 years. "For the women's program, that's not close."
 
It's high praise coming from a coach who's had a great run of talent. Take for instance center Nevena Markovic, who is 18^th in the school record book with 1,105 career points. After graduating in 2015, Markovic played pro basketball in Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Next came Mikale Rogers from Indianapolis' own Lawrence North High School, a former First-Team All-Summit League center. Rogers put up 1,249 points as the 13^th best scorer in program history.
 
Assistant coach Holly Hoopingarner was a 1,000-point player herself, as well as the 2020 Horizon League Tournament MVP. And let's not overlook guard Danielle Lawrence, the fourth-best scorer in IUPUI history, whose 1,604 career points earned her three straight First-Team All-League selections.
 
Yet in Parkinson's mind, there is no question: Williams stands above them all. In fact, when recruiting the Veedersburg native, Parkinson compared her to his former Marion High School teammate Zach Randolph. Yes, that Zach Randolph, the two-time NBA All-Star who played 18 years in the big league and wore No. 50—just like Williams does.
 
Parkinson stands by that comparison. "They both have soft hands," he explained. "Both incredible offensive rebounders, both lefties. Although not the highest jumpers, they have some of the quickest reactions to things [that I've ever seen]."
 
Williams, however, does not carry herself with the cocky, self-absorbed swagger that one might expect from a celebrated athlete. Instead she is humble, almost to a fault. In March 2020, after helping IUPUI capture its first-ever Horizon League title, Williams credited her teammates and even doubted the notion that she's the conference's best player. The Zach Randolph comparison fuels her, but it does not go to her head.
"I just feel like I'm not the best player on the team," Williams said. "Like, coming from my high school, I was nowhere close to what some of the other people were on my team. But [being compared to Randolph] and just hearing stuff like that, it's like: maybe I am actually capable of going as far as I'm wanting to, and maybe I'm as good as what everyone says I am."
 
Everyone who's watched her play says that Williams is better than good, and not just for obvious reasons. Sure the Veedersburg native is efficient down low, armed with great strength, smooth footwork and deft touch around the rim. But there's more to her game than just scoring in the post, as her teammates know.
 
Redshirt senior Rachel McLimore highlights Williams' unselfish nature. Williams is a capable post playmaker with 40-plus assists in each of her past four seasons including the current one. Her passing skills keep defenses off-balance: sending a double-team to the post means leaving one of IUPUI's lethal jump shooters open.
 
Super-senior Morgan Allen, who is Williams' roommate and close friend, praises her basketball IQ. Williams has a natural inclination of where to be on the floor, a key reason why she grabs so many boards. She sets herself and her teammates up in the right places and times, and she's a diligent student of the game.
 
Having said all of that, No. 50's impact on those around her extends beyond the athletic realm. According to many, Williams is a better person than she is a basketball player, and she has truly come a long way.
 
Veedersburg is a town of roughly 2100 people, located an hour and 10 minutes northwest of downtown Indianapolis. The closest city, Lafayette, is a 45-minute drive. And sitting away from most of the town, just off Highway 136, is Fountain Central High School where IUPUI's best hooper first blossomed.
 
A former three-sport athlete, Macee Williams split her time between basketball, tennis and volleyball in her teen years. Her potential was apparent since eighth grade: Fountain Central tennis coach Dave Kight says she owns the best hands of any high school player (male or female) that he's seen in 22 years. Practicing other sports helped Williams develop the hand-eye coordination that would later make her an excellent rebounder and passer.
 
Yet Williams did not have high aspirations at first. "The only reason why I got into sports was just to spend more time with my friends," she admitted. "I know, that's kind of funny. My friends made it fun, but just realizing I was a fairly good athlete, that made it even better."
 
As basketball became a serious pursuit, Williams knew she had to put other sports aside. She asked Kight—albeit uncomfortably—if she could miss tennis workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kight didn't mind at all: he had Williams' best interests at heart, and they both knew that one day college basketball would pay for her education.
"We're a school that sits in the middle of cornfields and a very rural part of Indiana," Kight said about Fountain Central. "We aren't necessarily noted for our athletic teams, [the Mustangs], very often. It takes a special player to get noticed by major colleges here."
 
Williams, of course, proved that she was special. Her 1721 points are good for second all-time in the history of Mustangs basketball. She won two consecutive Journal Review Player of the Year awards and became the first Fountain Central athlete—male or female—to pull down over 1000 career boards (1203). Williams averaged 26.2 points and 16.2 rebounds per game as a high school senior, adding 120 steals, 72 assists, 55 blocks and just 16 turnovers.
 
As Kight recognizes, the points are one thing. But to average 16 rebounds per game in high school is nearly unheard-of, and it turned plenty of heads.
 
Parkinson was one of the first college coaches to recruit Williams, and IUPUI was the only university she visited. Numerous factors attracted her to the school, including its location, its community and the approval of her stepdad, whom Williams looks up to. Former Jaguar standouts Danielle Lawrence and Mikale Rogers also helped.
 
The Veedersburg native remembers both Lawrence and Rogers welcoming her at one of the first Jaguar games she ever attended. Afterwards, they made time to get to know her.
 
"After games, sometimes you're not wanting to talk to anyone, but they just really pulled me in and talked to me for quite a bit," Williams recalled. "I just felt like I was already on the team without technically being on the team."
 
The rest is history. But as Williams grew from an unrefined eighth-grade player into a quality center, she was growing just as much off the court.
 
At Fountain Central, and even as a college freshman, Williams was shy and introverted. She would go about her business, often keeping to herself and allowing others to take the lead. Today Williams may still be modest, but she has also become confident—fiery when need be—but overall comfortable in her own skin.
 
So why such a drastic change? Well, God had a hand in things. Although Williams did not grow up in a religious home, the Veedersburg native joined a program where Christianity is nearly as ubiquitous as basketball. Parkinson is open about his faith in Jesus Christ, as are several current and former members of the team such as Allen, McLimore, Rachel Kent, Madison Wise, Agatha Beier and Allex Brown (all of whom Williams played with at some point).
 
Thus Williams was exposed to the Christian faith on a regular basis. More importantly, she was surrounded by people who helped and guided her in faith and in athletics. This support system helped Williams overcome certain hurdles in her life, and she decided to get baptized before going into graduate school last fall. 
 
"Macee was very introverted at first, and now she just won't shut up," Allen said with a laugh. "She's grown as a person, and in her faith. She has grown into someone completely different [than the one who] walked on campus freshman year."
 
Now five years removed from being a freshman, Williams has one last ride with the Jaguars that—one way or another—will conclude in March. The prospect of winning another Horizon League Tournament and finally punching a ticket to the Big Dance is no doubt on her mind. After that, she hopes to turn professional, and while she's open to playing overseas as Nevena Markovic did, her first goal is the WNBA.
 
Parkinson vouches for Williams as a viable option at the highest level of women's basketball. "What I would tell all those WNBA general managers is: she can run any offense that you have. She's going to pick it up quick," he said. "Plus, we played two Big Ten teams, [Michigan and Iowa], and both Big Ten teams felt it was necessary to double our post."
 
Kight believes that Williams would have thrived in any sport she chose—basketball, volleyball or tennis. He also feels that her very humility could propel her to even greater heights.
 
"Macee doesn't want to admit that she's the best player because she wants to continue to try to prove that she's the best player," Kight said.
 
No matter where she ends up, Williams now strives to help others aim high in life. She knows she has a platform, and that platform has already reached many—especially in her hometown. It's an opportunity she takes to heart.
 
"Even in high school, I knew a bunch of little kids looked up to me," Williams said. "I want to represent myself how I want the little kids to represent themselves too. So I've always got to be careful what I post on any form of media, and just being that role model.
 
"I want people to figure out: even though we come from a smaller community, you can still make yourself big."