Fork Union Military Academy has named Robert “Bob” Williams as the head coach of the postgraduate basketball program, Director of Athletics John Shuman announced.
“I could not be more excited about the future of Fork Union Military Academy’s postgraduate basketball team and, in particular, about having Bob Williams lead our program,” said Shuman. “Bob brings a wealth of experience, a tenacity for recruiting and a tremendous basketball mind that our players will appreciate.”
Williams comes to the Academy with 22 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, most recently leading the West Virginia University Tech Golden Bears from 2002-2019.
During his 17 seasons at West Virginia University Tech, Williams led Tech to the NAIA National Tournament in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Golden Bears were 30-5 in his final season at Tech in what amounted to Williams’ most wins in a single season. During the 2018-19 season, Tech was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation (NAIA DIII). The squad was also crowned the River States Conference regular season champions as well as claiming the River States Conference Championship.
In addition to the 2018-19 historic season, Williams was voted “Coach of the Year” three times, recorded his 403rd career win with five 22-win seasons, produced 14 All-Americans and won three conference championships at West Virginia Tech.
Prior to WVU Tech, Williams served as head coach at Glenville State College from 1997-2002. He helped lead a basketball resurgence at the NCAA Division II School, taking a 13th place team to consecutive top 5 finishes, including winning 25 of 36 regular season games from 2000-2002. Only two teams had better conference records during that stretch.
From 1995-1997, Williams served as head coach at his alma mater Jefferson Community College (NY) and led the NJCAA Division III school to back-to-back Final Fours. The 19996-97 team won the program’s first ever Region III Championship and advanced to the NJCAA National Championship game. Williams’ two-year record at the school was 53-14 with two Mid-State Athletic Conference tournament championships and one regular season title. He was twice named NJCAA District 7 “Coach of the Year” and was named the 1996-97 Mid-State Athletic Conference “Coach of the Year” and New York State junior college “Coach of the Year.” Williams was inducted into the Jefferson Community College Hall of Fame in August 2015.
Williams served as the associate head coach at Jefferson Community College during the 1994-95 season and was an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Potsdam State (NY) from 1990-94. The 1990-91 Potsdam team went 24-7 and upset No. 1 ranked Hamilton College for the ECAC Championship. Williams also was the head coach at Indian River High School (NY) from 1988-1990 and was a student-assistant coach at Ithaca College (NY) from 1986-88.
Williams played two years at Jefferson Community College and one at Ithaca College. As the starting point guard at Jefferson Community College during the 1984-85 season, Williams averaged 11.1 assists per game and still holds several assist records at the school. He once notched 21 assists in one game. He hails from a basketball family. His father, Bob Williams, Sr., was a First Team All-American at Broome Community College (NY) and later played at Lamar University (TX). He then went on to a 31-year coaching career, including 27 seasons at Jefferson Community College. Williams played for his father at Jefferson Community College and later followed him as head coach in 1995.
Many of Williams’ players have gone on to play professionally overseas, including Switzerland, Portugal, Argentina, Canada, Tunisia, Iceland, France, Germany, Columbia, Scotland, Kosovo, Czech Republic, Hungary, Saudi Arabia and England. In the summer of 1999, Williams coached a WVIAC All-Star team that toured Venezuela. Williams has spoken at numerous basketball clinics, including the NY State Coaches Clinic, the WV State Coaches Clinic, the John Beilein WVU Coaches Clinic and the Bob Huggins WVU Coaches Clinic. During his final three years at WVU Tech, his Tech squad served as the court team for the Nike Coaches Clinic in Pittsburgh, PA, with over 300 coaches in attendance, working with top coaches like Bobby Knight and Jay Wright.
Williams graduated from Ithaca College in 1988 with a degree in Physical Education and Health. He earned a Master’s degree in Sport Management from the United States Sports Academy, Daphne, AL, in 1993. Williams taught classes in WVU’s Sport Management program at Tech.
Williams believes in academics and community. He wants his players to be students first and his WVU Tech teams provided community service projects in the area each year. Williams directed the “Little Stars Basketball Camp” at WVU Tech for boys and girls each summer and directed a “Skills for Kids Basketball Clinic” each fall. Williams plans to take over the historic Fork Union Basketball School this upcoming summer.
Long-time college head coach Williams takes over at Fork Union
