Jimmy Williams (basketball coach)

Jimmy Williams is an American basketball coach. Williams is a native of Havana, Florida and graduated from Ashland University in 1970. He was formerly an assistant coach with the University of Memphis men's basketball team under former head coach Josh Pastner.

Williams began his coaching career in 1969-1970 at Ashland University, as the head coach of the junior varsity team. Williams became an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in 1971. He remained with the program until 1986. He served as the interim head coach for the Golden Gophers during the 1985-86 season. During his time as an assistant at Minnesota he worked under both Bill Musselman and Jim Dutcher.

After two-years away from coaching, Williams returned to the collegiate ranks as an assistant for J.D. Barnett at the University of Tulsa in 1988. He spent two seasons in Tulsa before moving on to San Diego State University, where he was an assistant for three seasons with the Aztecs. In 1992, he became an assistant coach and later associate head coach at University of Nebraska. He later coach at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Oklahoma State University. He also spent time with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves from 2000 to 2002 as an assistant. He later scouted from the Golden State Warriors.

In the summer of 2007, Williams was offered an assistant coaching position again with the University of Minnesota, by new head coach Tubby Smith. Williams resigned his position at Oklahoma State. Minnesota's athletic director Joel Maturi nixed the deal allegedly due to NCAA violations from the 1970s and 80s at the University of Minnesota that Williams may have been involved in. In October 2007, Williams filed a lawsuit against the University of Minnesota, alleging that Smith had negligently misrepresented himself as having the authority to hire Williams. Williams was awarded $1.25 million by a jury for lost past and future income on May 26, 2010. The district court reduced this judgment to $1 million under the Minnesota Tort Claims Act. The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment on appeal, but the state supreme court reversed the decision on grounds that the University did not owe a duty of care to Williams. It was announced in December 2011 that Williams would accept a position as an assistant coach with The University of Memphis.

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