University of Pittsburgh head basketball coach Jamie Dixon announced the appointment of Marlon Williamson as the program’s Assistant Coach on Tuesday. Williamson joins fellow assistant coaches Brandin Knight, Bill Barton, assistant athletic director/men’s basketball operations Brian Regan and video coordinator/director of analytics Jason Richards as full-time members of Dixon’s staff.
"We are excited about Marlon becoming a member of the University of Pittsburgh community and I know he is ecstatic to be coming aboard," Dixon said. "As a former point guard with strong knowledge of the game, Marlon will help us in recruiting, scouting and player development. We are fortunate to have a coach with his well-rounded background. Marlon is also extremely excited to be a part of our staff considering his family ties to Pittsburgh."
Williamson spent the last two seasons (2012-14) at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst as an assistant basketball coach under Derek Kellogg. During Williamson’s two years at UMass, the program experienced its most success in two decades as it accumulated a combined 45-21 overall record and recorded back-to-back postseason appearances (2013 NIT and 2014 NCAA). Last year, the Minutemen earned their first NCAA Tournament bid in 16 seasons as they earned a No. 6 seed, finished 24-9 overall and 10-6 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
Prior to his two-year stint at UMass, Williamson spent nine years working with The Family, an AAU program based in his hometown of Detroit, Mich., where he served as President of Youth Operations and Head Coach. Williamson’s duties with The Family included opponent scouting, practice scheduling, monitoring of the athlete’s academic progress and counseling the players on educational programs. Some of the top players to emerge from The Family included Joe Crawford (Kentucky), Jordan Crawford (Indiana/Xavier), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis), Draymond Green (Michigan State), Malik Hairston (Oregon) and James Young (Kentucky).
Along with his coaching duties with The Family, Williamson spent four years as Corporate Trainer with Associated Community Services, two years as Director of Purchasing and Sales with Charter Schools Administrative Services and two years as Transportation Manager with ABC Transportation.
Williamson was a four-year letterman at Youngstown State from 1999-2003, serving as team captain during his senior season. As the starting point guard as a senior in 2003, he averaged 8.1 points, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game en route to being named to the Horizon League’s All-Defensive Team and YSU’s team most valuable player. Over his four-year career with the Penguins, Williamson scored 379 points, dished out 199 assists and converted 45 3-pointers in 99 career games. He also starred at Detroit’s Cass Tech High School.
Williamson, whose father is a Pittsburgh native and attended Peabody H.S., earned a bachelor’s degree in Global Studies from Youngstown State in 2012. Williamson and his wife Angela have a daughter Marli (4).
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