Peyton Williams: Home from China

The K-State Hall-of-Fame Career Nobody Watched

Start with the numbers. At Kansas State, Peyton Williams finished 9th in program history in career points (1,553), 3rd in rebounds (967), 5th in blocks (119), 10th in field goals made (585), and 5th in free throws made (333). She was the first player in K-State basketball history to finish with 1,500 points, 900 rebounds, 200 assists, 150 steals, and 100 blocks combined. That is a very specific kind of rare: the Wildcat who did everything.

K-State is not a program you need to defend. But women's college basketball attention has always flowed to a small number of blue-blood programs, and when a player like Williams puts up a historic career at K-State, she ends up with a fraction of the national profile a player at UConn or South Carolina would get for the same production. That is the system. It does not reflect the player.

China for Two Years

When the WNBA did not come calling, Williams went to China. Wuhan Shengfan in the WCBA. In her 2024-25 season she averaged 15.0 points and 9.0 rebounds at 61.1% from the floor. That is a near double-double for an entire season at high efficiency in a foreign professional league. In 2025-26 she averaged 12.0 points and 7.1 rebounds at 58.4% from the floor, playing 29.9 minutes a game. Those are consistent, reliable pro numbers. The efficiency numbers in particular are striking: a 58% shooter over 29.9 minutes a night is a player who knows where her shots are and takes them.

Players who grind in the WCBA for two seasons at that kind of efficiency are rarely mid-career athletes hiding from real competition. They are usually players who have a skill set that works anywhere and a door in the American league that did not open soon enough. Portland is the door.

The Portland Signing

April 15, 2026. Training camp contract. Same day as Teja Oblak and Kamiah Smalls. Four signings in two days, all veterans with clear international production, none of them name-recognition stars. This is GM Černivec's pattern. Build a camp roster out of players who have been producing professionally and let them fight for the final 12.

Williams is the most straightforward of the four. She is a 6-foot-ish forward who finishes around the rim, rebounds at both ends, and plays within herself. She does not need the ball to be productive. She is exactly the kind of frontcourt role player that winning teams keep on the bench and hate to play against. In camp she profiled as a backup behind Bridget Carleton and Emily Engstler, but the frontcourt was crowded and Coach Sarama did not keep her on the opening-night roster.

The Name Collision

Portland now has two Williams on the roster: Peyton Williams (this page) and Serah Williams, the 6-4 center the Fire traded for on WNBA Draft night. Peyton is a forward. Serah is a center. Peyton is a training-camp veteran of China. Serah is a true rookie out of UConn. When you see "Williams" on the Fire, ask which one.

Waived Before the Opener

The bet was rebounding. Williams has been a rebounder at every level: 9 per game in China one year, 7 per game the next, third all-time at K-State. In the preseason she got a brief look. Against Seattle on April 29 (an 81-91 loss) she went 1-of-1 from three for 3 points in limited minutes. Small sample, but the shot fell.

It was not enough to crack the frontcourt logjam. Portland waived Williams in early May 2026 as it trimmed to the 12-player opening-night roster, and she did not suit up for a regular-season game with the Fire. The K-State record book, and two productive years in China, remain the story here.