Joe Williams (1934 – March 26, 2022) was an American men's
college basketball coach. He was the head coach at
Jacksonville University from 1964 to 1970,
Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
from 1970 to 1978, and
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
from 1978 to 1986.
Career
Williams notably led
Artis Gilmore and the
Dolphins of
Jacksonville University to the final game of the
1970 NCAA tournament, where they lost 80–69 to
Sidney Wicks and the
UCLA Bruins, coached by
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as head ...
.
During his eight-year tenure (1970-1978) at Furman, the Paladins made it to the NCAA Tournament five times (1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75 and 1977–78); won the
Southern Conference Tournament five times (1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75 and 1977–78) and the regular-season SoCon title three times (1973–74, 1974–75 and 1976–77).
During his lifetime, Williams was one of only 25 head coaches to have led three different teams to the
NCAA tournament. He is a 1994 inductee of the Jacksonville University athletic hall of fame, and a 1996 inductee of the Furman University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Personal life
Williams' son, Blake, was an assistant basketball coach at Furman University in 2010. A nephew,
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
, is an
MLB pitcher. Williams died on March 26, 2022, from cancer at the age of 88.
See also
*
List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach
This is a list of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament regional championships by coach. The current names of the NCAA tournament regions are the East, Midwest, South, and West. The winners of the four regions are awarded an NCAA Regiona ...
References
Date of birth missing
1930s births
2022 deaths
American men's basketball coaches
Basketball coaches from Florida
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Florida State Seminoles men's basketball coaches
Furman Paladins men's basketball coaches
Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball coaches
People from Cocoa Beach, Florida
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