Former UConn women’s basketball star Gabby Williams is still in the first month of her career in California after signing with Golden State this offseason, but the French international is already hitting the silver screen.
Williams is set to join Theresa Plaisance and Syd Colson in the development of the film “Courtside,” a modern sports romantic comedy produced by the creator-led, multi-platform company “Run-A-Muck,” according to a report from Deadline on Thursday.
“Courtside” centers around an injury-plagued women’s basketball player trying to reconcile her championship ambitions after falling for her teammate. The romance story has deep ties to the women’s basketball world it depicts.
“I don’t think I’ve ever said yes to an opportunity faster than I did for Courtside,” Colson, a WNBA veteran who will serve as an executive producer for the film, told Deadline. “I respect [director Carly Usdin] and [writer Brittani Nichols’] sense of humor so much, and being involved with this in any capacity sounded amazing. I’m elated to see a new generation of women’s sports films. I can already feel how transformative this movie will be in terms of representation on screen for minorities, queer people, and women’s basketball players and fans alike.”
Williams is enjoying a similarly storybook start to her WNBA season so far this season, on pace for a career-best 15 points per game for the Valkyries while continuing to provide an elite defensive presence on the perimeter. She scored a season-high 19 points against Phoenix on May 10 while poking free four steals in a 95-79 win.
The two-time NCAA champion isn’t the only former UConn star set for a prominent role in a women’s basketball-related project. Deadline reported last fall that Paige Bueckers is attached to the Apple TV project “Jess & Pearl” alongside Angel Reese as a leading actor and executive producer.