New Longwood men’s basketball head coach Griff Aldrich announced the first coaching hire of his tenure, tapping Johns Hopkins assistant Maurice Williams to join his Lancer staff as an assistant coach.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Williams joins Aldrich’s bench with six years of coaching experience and two NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, most recently with a Johns Hopkins team that went 24-5 and won the 2018 Centennial Conference Championship.
“I am extremely excited that Maurice Williams has joined our staff and is now a part of Longwood basketball,” said Aldrich, who took over as Longwood’s head coach in March after helping UMBC win the America East Conference and pull off a historic upset over No. 1 seed Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Maurice embodies each of the key elements that we’ve been looking for in our staff members: A passion for working with our student-athletes; a love for the game; a tireless commitment to recruiting; and unquestionable integrity. It has been a great joy to watch him quickly develop positive relationships with our players, and I know he will quickly become a beloved member of our staff and broader Longwood community. We are thrilled to welcome him and his wife, Davia, to Farmville and the Longwood family.”
In his young coaching career, Williams already has two 20-win seasons, two conference championships and two NCAA postseason trips to his name. He has been a part of two conference coach of the year staffs, and in just six years, he has played a part in the development of six all-conference selections.
Williams’ most recent coaching success came at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., where he was part of a coaching staff that earned first-year head coach Josh Loeffler Centennial Conference Coach of the Year and NABC Middle Atlantic Region Coach of the Year honors. Williams’ role on Loeffler’s bench was to assist in all aspects of the program, from recruiting to player development and opponent scouting.
Now Williams, who has spent the entirety of his coaching career in the Northeast, will bring his experience to Farmville where he will join a Longwood program that returns 14 players and three starters from last season’s squad.
“It has been a dream of mine to become a coach at the Division I level, and I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity coach Aldrich has afforded me at Longwood,” Williams said. “This is a special place with terrific people, and I couldn’t be more excited to start working with our student-athletes and help them reach their goals on and off the court.
“It’s obvious that Farmville is a community that embraces Lancer basketball, and I’m excited to go to work every day and make this program the best it can be. Longwood is a sleeping giant in the Big South Conference, and I believe we can achieve success here with the culture we have begun to establish. Our student-athletes are hungry and motivated to make this program successful. That’s been obvious in every workout and how openly they have embraced the new style of offense we will run.”
In Williams’ one year alongside Loeffler at Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays reached 20 wins for only the second time in the past decade and won the Centennial Championship for the first time 2014. Johns Hopkins finished the season ranked No. 12 in the nation and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual Final Four participant MIT.
With player development oversight of Johns Hopkins’ guards and forwards, Williams was paramount in the development of freshman Conner Delaney, who earned Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year honors, and All-Centennial first-team selections Kyle Doran and Michael Gardner.
Williams’ stint at Johns Hopkins was the most recent stop in his ascent through the Division III ranks, which has taken him from Eastern University in Pennsylvania to Frostburg State and Stevenson in Maryland, and then to Johns Hopkins.
During that time, Williams also played a key role in another conference coach of the year staff at Salisbury where in 2014-15 he helped the Sea Gulls to a 21-8 record and the Capital Athletic Conference Championship. Salisbury head coach Josh Merkel earned CAC Coach of the Year honors for that season, which included a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament and a first-round win over Eastern Connecticut State.
Williams entered the coaching ranks after a decorated playing career at Frostburg State where he captained the team and earned All-CAC first-team honors after leading the Capital Athletic Conference in points per game, offensive rebounds and free throw percentage. He was also a CAC All-Academic Team selection and went on to earn his Bachelor of Science in health and physical education with a minor in coaching.
Following his playing career, Williams began his coaching pursuits while also juggling his graduate studies, eventually earning his master’s degree in recreation and sports science from Ohio University in 2015.
Along with his coaching posts, Williams has also held teaching and academic advisory positions at the Community College of Baltimore County, Frostburg State and in the Wicomico County Public Schools system in Maryland.
Williams is married to the former Davia Procida, a 2010 graduate of Frostburg State and member of the women’s lacrosse team.
