HUNTINGTON — Call it another homecoming for the Marshall men’s basketball program.
Adam Williams, a former player for the Thundering Herd and a West Virginia native, has been named an assistant coach, head coach Dan D’Antoni announced Tuesday afternoon.
“I always try to favor those who serve Marshall and have been a part of Marshall. He’s got all of the qualifications,” D’Antoni said.
Williams previously served as the head coach at Salem University. Williams played for the Thundering Herd for two seasons — 2007-08 and 2008-09 — and played in 59 games.
More recently, he spent three years as an assistant coach at Stetson University under former Marshall coach Donnie Jones, who recommended him for the job in Huntington.
“Down at Stetson he’s been a great assistant to Donnie Jones. Donnie recommended him highly,” D’Antoni said.
“He’s been in the business for a little while and presents himself well and I think we got a great guy to help us move forward at Marshall,” he added.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Tamar Slay resigned from his position as an assistant coach, a title he only briefly held after being hired in April.
D’Antoni worked quickly but efficiently at finding Slay’s replacement in such a short window, narrowing what he said were many qualified candidates to who would fit best with the Herd.
“He’s certainly younger and we needed a younger guy,” D’Antoni said. There were a couple guys that were recommended that were more toward 50s and 60, but I think our program needed a younger guy. They’ve got 50s and 60s with me and [assistant coach] Mark [Cline]. We needed a younger face and he fit the bill.”
Williams is the son of Tex Williams, a West Virginia coaching legend who was inducted into the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2004, Adam Williams earned the Evans Award as the top high school basketball player in West Virginia while playing at St. Albans High School.
“West Virginia has sent away a lot of talent over the years and it’s time we started keeping them. He wanted to be here, and that’s another big factor,” said D’Antoni. “He wanted to come back and be a part of something where he played and his dad obviously played, too.”