Adam Williams, former guard at the University of Kentucky and Marshall University, joined the Longwood men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach, Longwood head coach Jayson Gee announced.
The son of collegiate hall of fame player and coach Tex Williams, Adam Williams comes to Longwood after a three-year stint as assistant director of basketball operations at the University of Central Florida. A 2009 graduate of Marshall, he also held coaching positions at West Virginia Tech from 2010-12 and his alma mater in 2009-10.
“Coach Williams is in my opinion one of the top young coaches in our game,” said Gee, who is entering his third season at Longwood. “I have known Adam since he was a baby and watched him grow from a top-100 high school player to playing for Tubby Smith at Kentucky. Adam has benefited from having hall of fame basketball coach Tex Williams as a father, the same man who was my head coach at the University of Charleston.
“We are expecting big things from Adam in the area of recruiting, player development and offensive strategy. He will be joined here in Farmville by his high school sweetheart Megan Williams, and we are excited to have both of them become part the Longwood family.”
Williams joins a Longwood program that returns four seniors and four juniors for the 2015-16 season, including four of five starters. The Lancers are coming off a trip to the semifinals of the 2015 Big South Basketball Championship as well as the most overall wins and conference wins since joining the Big South in 2012-13.
“Words cannot describe how excited I am to join the Longwood family and coach Gee,” Williams said. “I have been close with coach Gee my entire life and consider him a friend and mentor. I am eager to help continue the process that he and his staff have already started. In my short time here I can already tell Longwood and the Farmville community is a special place. I would also like to thank coach Donnie Jones at UCF for my opportunity and time with him in Orlando.”
Williams spent the past three seasons with the Golden Knights, handling UCF’s video coordination, team travel and summer camp programs. Prior to Central Florida, he was an assistant coach at West Virginia Tech from 2010-12 where he helped the Golden Bears to a 35-24 overall record including a 21-8 mark in 2011-12. He also served as a graduate assistant coach at Marshall during the 2009-10 season, helping the Thundering Herd to a 24-10 overall record, including an 11-5 mark in Conference USA play and a postseason win in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
A native of Charleston, W.Va., Williams enjoyed a decorated playing career at St. Albans High School where he played for his father, Tex, a member of the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame, the University of Charleston Athletics Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Athletics Hall of Fame. Adam won the Bill Evans Award in 2003-04 as the top high school player in West Virginia and went on to play his first season of collegiate basketball for Tubby Smith at the University of Kentucky. He appeared in eight games for the Wildcats as a freshman before playing his final three years at Marshall where he played in 51 games with 11 starts.
http://www.longwoodlancers.com/news/2015/7/7/GEN_0707151010.aspx
Photo Courtesy Longwood Athletics
