'It means the world to me'

In a week’s time, Kansas women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider will open his fourth season with star point guard S’Mya Nichols on his roster. 

There was a time, however, not long ago, when Nichols starring for the team just down the road from her Overland Park home was far from a given. In fact, Schneider himself played a role in making that the case. 

It’s not that he didn’t recruit her hard from the start. These coaches track everything years out, particularly when the talent is so close to home, and he and his coaching staff were in on her as soon as the rules made it possible for them to be so. 

But that didn’t mean it was a full-court press right away. 

“I remember telling S’Mya as an eighth grader, when we offered her, ‘You shouldn’t come right now; you shouldn’t consider us right now,’” Schneider revealed at last week’s Big 12 Media Days at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., before finishing the pitch. “But give me some time and we’ll be the right fit for you.’” 

Nearly five years passed from that moment in 2018 to her commitment to KU in late 2022, and by the time she signed on to become the future face of Schneider’s Jayhawks, the KU women had made drastic progress, capped, at the time, by their run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2022. 

Nichols, who could have gone anywhere in the country, said then that culture and chemistry and fit were just as important as anything else in her decision, but the timing of KU’s rise and the people responsible for it made it easy for her to choose Kansas.

“Given the circumstances and our improvement as a program, we were deserving of her to choose us,” Schneider said with pride. “And then that made it OK for other Kansas City players to consider KU. And their desire to play with her, that didn’t hurt.” 

Fast-forward a few years to last week’s Media Days, where Nichols was joined in representing KU by a pair of other Kansas City kids, Jaliya Davis and Regan Williams. 

Like Nichols, who was always a bit older, the two grew up with their eyes on the Kansas program while playing against each other and together throughout their youth basketball days. 

They’ve made it clear that Nichols’ decision to come to KU, and what she has done as a Jayhawk, helped nudge them to pick Kansas, as well. And today the idea that there is so much KC talent on the current KU roster has all of them feeling great pride in what they’ve done, where they came from and what’s possible, both for others who follow them and the KU program currently. 

“It means the world to me,” Schneider said of bringing three KC kids to Media Days with him. “Because when we first came to Kansas 12 years ago, we couldn’t get the best players in the area. We tried. We recruited them. But it took a while to get to this point.” 

Williams and Davis, both projected starters, have played an important role in where the program currently sits. 

But they both still feel like it was just yesterday when they were facing off against each other in the KC Hoops program or playing together for the Missouri Phenom AAU program. And the fact that they were at T-Mobile Center representing the Jayhawks was no small feat to them. 

“I grew up around here, but that was never in my mind,” Williams told R1S1 Sports. “I had heard about media day when I was younger, but I just never thought that I’d be here. So, it’s super-special to me. “It’s definitely less nerve-wracking and more exciting. This is the beginning. We have a whole season ahead of us. And we can’t wait to play.” 

Added Davis, who was a star last season en route to being named the Big 12 Conference’s Freshman of the Year: “Media Day’s always been a big thing. It’s super-cool to be in this situation and I’m just excited to have this opportunity.”

Doing it with someone she has played with forever and with another local star that they both looked up to merely makes the experience sweeter. 

And, in Williams’ eyes, playing with both Nichols and Davis — undeniably two of the best college players in the country entering the season — makes her one of the luckiest players in college basketball. 

“I’d say it’s been probably one of the biggest honors of my life, playing with these two,” she said. “They’re just amazing at everything they do and are super-great people on and off the court. It just means so much more because we grew up playing together, playing against each other and it just feels like we’re continuing that journey.” 

While their bond with Nichols is something that has grown in recent years, the connection between Davis and Williams has been rock solid for ages. And because she’s been on both sides of the coin, playing with her and against her, Davis said she’s far happier to have Williams as a teammate these days. 

“She’s definitely always been a really gritty player,” Davis recalled of the younger Williams. “Playing with her is way better. She’s not diving at my knees and I get to have that on my side. I think we really do a good job playing big to big and that’s been huge for us and really helps our team.” 

As for Williams’ memories of a young Davis, she said the 6-2 sophomore forward said it’s tough for her to put into words how much she always has admired Davis’ game, whether they were teammates or opponents. 

“She was great back then,” Williams said with a strong head-nod. “Everybody knew. And it just kind of feels like we were always meant to play together. I love playing with Jaliya and I feel like we work really well together.” 

The KU women, who opened their exhibition schedule with a 90-43 home win over Northeastern State last Thursday, will play Washburn this Thursday in their final exhibition tune-up before the regular season arrives. 

Thursday’s game will also serve as the women’s version of Late Night in the Phog, with skits, videos, games, prizes and more filling in around the game. 

The Jayhawks will open the 2026-27 regular season schedule at home on Tuesday, Nov. 3 against Omaha. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com