Jimmie Williams, who joined the Furman men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach in the fall of 2018, is entering his fourth season with the program.
In 2019-20, Williams helped the Paladins to a 25-7 overall record and 15-3 Southern Conference mark in 2019-20 as Furman posted a school-record for victories for a second consecutive season. Furman finished the season at No. 74 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) Rankings and No. 81 in the Pomeroy Ratings. Jordan Lyons, a College Insider Mid-Major All-American, earned first team All-SoCon honors while Clay Mounce and Noah Gurley received third team all-league accolades. Lyons finished his Furman career as the winningest player in school history with 96 victories.
In his first season as an assistant coach at Furman, Williams helped the Paladins to a school-record 25 wins, the school's first ever national ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. The Paladins notched victories over 2018 national champion and 2019 Big East champion Villanova as well as a road win versus 2018 NCAA Final Four participant Loyola Chicago.
Williams, a native of Olathe, Kan., spent the past three seasons as an assistant at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., serving as an associate head coach in his final year. After joining a program that had not had a winning season since 2010, Williams helped the Cardinals to a 20-9 overall and 10-win season in the Great Lakes Valley Conference during the 2017-18 campaign. The 20-win campaign and No. 20 national ranking marked the first for the Cardinals since moving to NCAA Division II.
Prior to joining the William Jewell staff, Williams worked for four years as an assistant to head coach Chad Lister at North Greenville. He helped guide the Crusaders to their first Conference Carolinas title and NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in 2015 after NGU posted a school-record 22 wins.
In 2006, Williams began his coaching career as an assistant at MidAmerica Nazarene and later served as head coach at Stoutland High School in 2008-09. He spent time as an assistant at Texas Wesleyan University and Southwestern University before joining the North Greenville program.
As a player, Williams was a two-time all-conference selection at MidAmerica Nazarene and led his squad to a school record 117 wins and four tournament appearances over his four years, including a runner-up finish in 2001. During his high school career, he guided Olathe East to the Kansas 6A state title in 1998.
Williams completed his Master of Business Administration at North Greenville University in 2014 after earning his undergraduate degree from MidAmerica Nazarene in 2002. He is married to the former Stephanie Rickey and the couple have four children: Christopher, Sloane, Stella and Jimmie V.
