NICK WILLIAMS – MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY MENS’ BASKETBALL ASSISTANT COACH – EPISODE 1103

Website – https://mcneesesports.com/sports/mens-basketball

Email – nwilliams19@mcneese.edu

Twitter/X – @Nick_Williams20

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Nick Williams is heading into his first season as a Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach at McNeese State University.  Williams spent the previous three seasons as an assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2022-2025. Before joining the staff at Southern Miss he worked for 3 season at Northwest Mississippi Community College.  Prior to Northwest, Williams spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss under head coaches Andy Kennedy and Kermit Davis. Williams began his coaching career while playing two seasons professionally overseas in Brazil and Canada and coaching high school basketball in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., at Mattie T. Blount and LeFlore High Schools.   

A former standout 6-foot-4, 210 pound shooting guard, Williams played his college ball at Indiana (2008-09) before closing out his final three seasons at Ole Miss (2010-13).

Williams averaged 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and led Indiana in free throw percentage in 29 starts as a freshman. He’d go on to help the Rebels to 70 combined wins, three straight postseason berths and, as a senior, he was instrumental in helping Ole Miss reach the NCAA Tournament, claim an SEC Tournament title and win the most games in a single season in school history.

On this episode Mike and Nick discuss his late introduction to the sport, emphasizing how basketball became a pivotal force in his life, offering both a sanctuary and a pathway to personal growth. He articulates the profound impact that the game can have on individuals, particularly young men grappling with the challenges of life. As he recounts his evolution from player to coach, Williams conveys the importance of hard work, resilience, and mentorship in shaping not only athletic skills but also character. This narrative serves to inspire listeners to recognize the value of commitment to their craft and the transformative power of sports.

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Grab pen and paper before you listen to this quick hitting episode with Nick Williams, Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach at McNeese State University. 

What We Discuss with Nick Williams

• The transition from player to coach can reveal the complexities of coaching responsibilities beyond just strategy and game tactics
• Understanding the profound impact basketball can have on individuals is pivotal for coaches in motivating their athletes effectively
• A well-structured coaching portfolio is essential for distinguishing oneself in the competitive landscape of coaching positions
• Establishing a culture of competition and camaraderie within the team is crucial for fostering both individual and collective growth in athletes
• Witnessing the gradual improvement of players is a rewarding aspect of the profession
• Building strong relationships with players is essential, as it enables coaches to mentor and guide them through challenges both on and off the court
• Basketball serves as a transformative force, offering not only athletic engagement but also life skills and personal development
• Success in coaching requires a deep understanding of the responsibilities involved, including player welfare and academic support
• The journey into coaching often emerges from a place of unexpected circumstances
• Consequences for not winning help set a standard in practice
• A supportive coaching environment set by the head coach enhances performance and accountability among the staff

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Your first impression is everything when applying for a new coaching job.  A professional coaching portfolio is the tool that highlights your coaching achievements and philosophies and, most of all, helps separate you and your abilities from the other applicants.

The key to landing a new coaching job is to demonstrate to the hiring committee your attention to detail, level of preparedness, and your professionalism.  Not only does a coaching portfolio allow you to exhibit these qualities, it also allows you to present your personal philosophies on coaching, leadership, and program development in an organized manner.

The Coaching Portfolio Guide is an instructional, membership-based website that helps you develop a personalized portfolio.  Each section of the portfolio guide provides detailed instructions on how to organize your portfolio in a professional manner.  The guide also provides sample documents for each section of your portfolio that you can copy, modify, and add to your personal portfolio.

High school and middle school basketball program directors, listen closely. Coaches are expected to do far more than just coach. You know this. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing the coaching yourself, or you have a full staff of coaches with you. You know very well that coaches handle scheduling, academic issues, parent communication, leadership development, and even mental health concerns for athletes. A lot to deal with, and they haven’t even gone home yet to balance those responsibilities.

No matter the passion for the game, and burning desire to help athletes develop, this level of responsibility can lead to burnout, inefficiency, and less time spent on actual coaching. You know it’s true.

When coaches are stretched too thin, it impacts the development of athletes, team morale, and the overall success of the program. Now here comes the outsiders throwing their two cents in about what’s happening. Then come the parents complaining about how you’re running things, as if they know what they’re talking about. When’s the last time you went to their place of work chiming in from outside their window?

Before you let that fire fizzle out, know that it doesn’t have to be that complicated. There are several ways to prevent you or your coaches from feeling overwhelmed. However, I’ll tell you one of our favorite ways to keep coaches firing on all cylinders, and that’s athlete-driven accountability and organization.

Instead of coaches constantly reminding players about assignments, grades, and practice schedules, our programs at Playmaker Planner puts the responsibility back on the athletes. By tracking their own academics, goals, and commitments, student-athletes become more self-sufficient, which of course allows the coach to put their babysitter hat in the closet, and put their coaching hat back on, allowing them to focus on what they love doing.

Are we offering planners that you can get at the dollar store as a solution? Of course not, but we are starting a conversation with you to see if our programs can be a compliment to what you’re already doing. Let’s find out. To learn more visit https://playmakerplanner.com/stop-is-this-for-you

THANKS, NICK WILLIAMS

If you enjoyed this episode with Nick Williams let him know by clicking on the link below and thanking him via Twitter.

Click here to thank Nick Williams via Twitter

Click here to let Mike & Jason know about your number one takeaway from this episode!

And if you want us to answer your questions on one of our upcoming weekly NBA episodes, drop us a line at mike@hoopheadspod.com.

TRANSCRIPT FOR NICK WILLIAMS – MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY MENS’ BASKETBALL ASSISTANT COACH – EPISODE 1103

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: Hello, and welcome to the Hoop Heads podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here without my co-host Jason Sunkle this morning. But I am pleased to be joined by Nick Williams, men’s basketball assistant coach at McNeese State. Nick, welcome to the Hoop Heads Pod.

[00:00:13] Nick Williams: Mike, man, thanks for having me. Thanks for having me, brother.

[00:00:16] Mike Klinzing: Absolutely. Excited to have you on. Looking forward to diving into your career in basketball. Let’s start by going back in time to when you were a kid. Tell me a little bit about some of your first experiences with the game, how you fell in love with it.

[00:00:28] Nick Williams: And actually I was kind of a late bloomer. I didn’t start playing basketball until seventh grade.

So I’m from Mobile, Alabama. So football, baseball is usually your the sports you play. So I didn’t get in, like I said, I didn’t get into basketball until later. I was about. Maybe 11, 12 years old. So nah man. I don’t know how I fell in love with it. But it just happened.

And then just one day I just started to work at it and eventually got better. And kind of the rest is kind of history.

[00:01:00] Mike Klinzing: What did that work at it look like for you in terms of, are you playing pickup, are you going out and working by yourself? Are you working with a trainer? What’s your process for getting better?

[00:01:10] Nick Williams: Oh, nah, man, I’m a old cat, so we ain’t really have trainers back in the day. So it was just outside, man, black top playing at the park, got a hoop for Christmas one year and it kind of went from there. Like I said, I’m from Mobile, so, it’s very humid in the summer, so we deal with a lot of hurricanes. So a lot of times my hoop got blown over and the rim was bent, you know what I’m saying? Kind of like at the fair, you feel me? So that’s kind of how I perfected my jump shot, shooting on the bent rim and in the driveway.

So just a lot of hooping, man. A lot of games of one-on-one 21 just a bunch of just pickup basketball.

[00:01:55] Mike Klinzing: When you tell the guys you coach now, the way that you grew up in the game and playing outdoors and hearing you even say, we played 21 now you can tell kids, Hey man, let’s play some 21.

And they look at you like you got four heads. They have no idea what that game, they have no idea what that game even is. You know? And I mean, I’m like you, like I grew up on the playground and just playing and pick up and driving around trying to find games. And  as you well know that that culture doesn’t exist necessarily in the same way.

Tell me a little bit about the transition for you from playing to coaching. Obviously you have a really good college career, play a season at Indiana, play three seasons at Ole Miss, go overseas and have some experiences there. But talk a little bit about just your thought process in terms of getting to coaching.

Was that something that you were always thinking about while you were playing, or was that something that once you got done and you looked around, you’re like, man, I figure out a way to stay in the game. I know if either one of those paths resonates with you.

[00:02:54] Nick Williams: Obviously well, not obviously crazy thing about it, man, I did not want to coach, like playing with some of the guys I played with.

I was like, there’s no way, there’s no way I’m getting into coaching. ’cause there’s, I, I can’t, I can’t do like and I was I was team captain at Ole Miss two to three years I was there. So basically I was coaching then and I that, that was like, no, there’s no way. But  as I finished my career playing in college and I went overseas for a couple years body started to break down and I’m looking around, I’m like, man, so what am I going to do now? Am I going to be working these, these odd jobs or doing manual labor? Nothing against that, but you.

Like, what do I  do with my life? So I took a year off trying to find my way. Basketball, didn’t work out, dealt with some injuries. So I had to figure out what I was going to do. Good thing. One of my assistant coaches when I was in high school, was a head coach in my hometown.

Moved back to my hometown, started volunteering, started working guys out, kind of like, okay, good at this. You know what I’m saying? So, kind of started got on this staff and decided, Hey, look man, I’m, I, I feel like I’m, I’m pretty good at this. I can I can make a living. Let’s go back to grad school.

So I went to grad school. My head coach at Ole Miss was still, was still at Ole Miss when I was, when I wanted to go back to grad school. So I went back to grad school for two years. Did that, got started building myself up as becoming a young coach and all that type of stuff.

Learned a lot of great lessons that. Went into being a junior college coach for three years. And then like I said, went to Southern Mix for three years, and now I’m at McNees. So yeah, I kind of like fell into it, man. I kind of fell into it, didn’t really understand what I was getting into, didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing, but man, I people, you know.

A couple mentors of mine just told me like, man, you got a gift. You got a gift at being able to talk to these kids, being able to help ’em. And as a player, man, I wasn’t the most athletic or nothing like that. What I feel like made me who I was, was my intellect, my skill.

And you get that through hard work and studying. You don’t it is some guys out there that just roll out of bed and just are freaks and they just got God gift of being able to handle it and shoot it. Me, I had to work for mine. So I feel like that’s, that’s what, that’s why teaching and being around the game and helping guys, I feel like came so natural to me because the only way I was going to be successful as a basketball player was I had to work.

Can I have to study? So being like that, being in my mind and that just being ingrained in me, like I just got so much on the inside of me that I just have to get out and it’s basketball was the, was the path that I took.

[00:05:45] Mike Klinzing: So when you get back into coaching at the college level and you come back and you’re working in the program where you played, and as you said, you’re kind of looking at it going, man, there’s a lot of things that I didn’t realize.

Behind the scenes with coaching, what was the most surprising part when you got into the program as a graduate assistant? What, what surprised you about the coaching profession that when you were a player you didn’t really realize?

[00:06:08] Nick Williams: Man. The biggest thing, like people just think, man, all y’all get to do is coach basketball.

All they just, y’all just sit up and like, when I tell you that’s the least amount of, like, that’s the least amount of like effort and time, like where our time is spent. Like our time is spent in so many other areas. Man, wonder if guy’s getting to class, he’s not in trouble. Did he do his work? Is he eating right?

Is he getting sleep? Like. Basketball is the easy part. Like basketball, like had like, at least when we’re at practice they’re all there. You got your eyes on them, all that type of stuff. That’s the easy part. It’s like raising kids, man. When they’re babies, you think about how tough it is, but then when they grow up, you like.

Dang man, I wish they were babies again. Like I can’t keep, you know what I’m saying? So like, having them on the court and in practice is the easy part, man. So, yeah, man, when I got back, when I got really into coaching the college, like you just realize that there’s so much other stuff that goes on outside of the court, man.

Like I tell people all the time, this is not an easy job man job.

[00:07:14] Mike Klinzing: Yeah. There, there is a perception, right? When you’re playing. The coaches roll into practice at  if you’re practice at three, they’re rolling at two 30 and get the balls out, then they’re going home at six 30. I know when I was a player, that was definitely my perception of kind of what it looked like, and I know sometimes I’d see ’em in the meeting and in the, in the office between classes, whatever.

And you, you just don’t have, you don’t really have a perception of, of what really goes on when you’re when you’re playing. What’s your favorite part on court wise? What do you love to do? What, what, what, what gets you energized when you’re out on the floor with guys? What do you like to, what do you like to teach?

What’s your favorite part of, of being on the floor with them?

[00:07:52] Nick Williams: Development number one. I just love to see the growth, man, I love to see. I’m a, I’m a, I’m a guy that like patient man, like I had to learn a lot of patience in this profession. And just fell in love with just being patient man. And I just love to see the growth.

From from the start of the summer when guys get there to the end of the season or just the beginning of the preseason, just to see how much, how much progress guys have made in their game.  leader, the leadership aspect of it holding guys accountable, just being able to rub off on these guys.

I think that’s the, that’s the thing that I cherish the most. And  what kind of gets me going? Practice man is just like competition. Dog being competing man, defense man. Like seeing guys guard seeing guys talk to each other man. Like, like I, I love like. Confrontation on the court.

Not like fighting or nothing like that, but I love just, I love toughness and  you’re not scoring on me or I’m about to go get a bucket and there’s nothing you can do about it. Like, I love that, like back and forth comradery and competition that you have, you can only get in sports, you know what I’m saying?

So like that’s what gets me going every morning. That’s what gets me. Ready. Just when I lay my head down and I just thinking about the next day of just man, we get to go at it tomorrow. You know what I’m saying? So yeah, man. Competition dog, competition man, and just bumping every day.

[00:09:23] Mike Klinzing: What’s the best way in your mind when you think about like, designing a practice or the types of drills or things that you like to do? Practice. What’s key to making sure your team competitive?

With the kind of camaraderie that you have to have in order to put together a team that competes together on the floor. So obviously they have to get after each other in practice in order to improve and get better and create that. But then you also need everybody still together when it comes time for the game.

So what’s your, what’s your thought on, how do you, how do you do that?

[00:09:55] Nick Williams: What does that look like? I think number one, I think number one, you just have to start with every, everything being a competition, whether every drill being a competition, every sprint being a competition. And the only way that can be a standard is you have to have, I don’t necessarily say, well, you have to have consequences for not winning.

 you have to have repercussions for not doing your best. And the only way you’re going to be able to reach that mark or push yourself is, Hey, dog, if you don’t win or if you don’t. Reach this threshold, then you, it is, there’s something behind that. And I think that’s, that’s number one when you setting the standard, just letting guys know that there’s a, a consequence to not being the best.

And then number two, I think the mark of being able to have competition but also have comradery and good teamwork and, you know what I’m saying, stuff like that. It is just having a great. Head coach, having a great coaching staff that, you know what I’m saying, sets the tone like, Hey, we’re going to get after it, but look, when it’s time for us to come together and do those type of things, we have to be together.

And I think that’s a direct reflection of your head coach and coach Armstrong is that he’s a guy who’s, who’s, who’s. Super intellectual has no problem with explaining itself, and I don’t mean you just have to be a a, a-hole and try to  show up to coach or just need an answer for everything.

That’s not that, but he’s somebody that he has no problem with. Hey, do you have to answer? I mean, you got a, a question to ask. I, I have no problem with answering it on the court, or you coming up and let’s talk and stuff like that. Or explaining myself, I. So I think that starts with your head coach man, being able to set the tone competitively, but also set the tone as far as we’re going to be a team and we’re going, the only way we’ll be able to reach our goal, we have to do it together.

[00:11:45] Mike Klinzing: Alright. Build on that answer in terms of what attracted you to the job at McNees and then here in the first whatever, 90 days that you’ve been there, how’s it going? What’s the role? Just how’s it been unique to some of your other spots?

[00:12:00] Nick Williams: What attracted me obviously was like I said, coach Armstrong.

He was assistant coach at Ole Miss when I played. And him built a good bond. You know how it is, man players are more connected to the assistant coaches, especially at this level.  I heard something back in the day that said assistant coach the players, while the head coach coaches the team.

And I firmly believe that like I had a, a really, really good relationship, mentor, mentee relationship with Coach Armstrong. And we’ve definitely stayed in touch and connected, built our relationship over the years. We’ve had, we got a 15 year relationship. Now. And it’s always, I’ve leaned on him in the toughest times.

He’s somebody that I can always call and that makes recruiting so much easier because I’m just not, I’m not when I speak to these kids about the type of person and coach, he is, it’s coming from experience. It’s nothing that, it is nothing that, it is not cookie cutter. It’s nothing that I just had to make up in my mind.

These are real life experiences that I get to, that I get to speak from, you know? So it’s, it’s, it’s so easy to be able to talk to parents and, and kids and, and all, and coaches about him because I’m speaking from a place of when I was at my lowest point, when I wasn’t playing anymore, when I had deaths in the family, when people were sick and when I didn’t have.

Have any money. And when I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life I was able to call him and just say, man, hey, what do I do? Like, what can you tell me? How can you help me? Like, or he’s just somebody that just listened to me, man, and  was there for me in the toughest time with my mom got sick, or  when people left me and stuff like that.

So. And that transition now to being an assistant coach here under him  whether that’s day to day, whether that’s operation stuff or going out and meeting people in the community or just recruiting working guys out. It makes it so much easier because he’s built a.

A atmosphere to where you can be yourself, man. He know he’s not standing over you, but he’s, he’s, he expects you to do your job and it makes it so much easier to come in and give your all, each and every day. For a guy who you know is going to have your back, who’s not going to berate you, he’s going to hold you accountable, but he’s not one of those guys who going to curse you out and try to embarrass you and stuff like that.

So, man, it just makes it everything so much sweeter.  you working for a guy whose team really cares about you.

[00:14:32] Mike Klinzing: Yeah, absolutely. Alright, final question before I have to wrap it up. When you think about the next year or two, and obviously you’re in a new position, what do you see as being your biggest challenge?

And then the second part of the question is, when you think about what you get to do every day based on our conversation, right? You didn’t know for your entire life. You weren’t one of those kids that was drawing up plays on a napkin at age eight thinking, Hey, someday I’m going to be a coach. So what brings you the most joy about coaching?

So your biggest challenge and then your biggest joy,

[00:15:04] Nick Williams: Biggest challenge man is complacency. I think you know. Just being able to get up every day and just try to be better than you were a previous day. It gets hard man. It gets hard, man. Your body starts to hurt, especially when you get older and challenges of winning and losing each and every day.

But man, that, that love for it, that love for it makes it makes it, makes it easier to get up. And I think the, that kind of leads into my other answer. Like just seeing these young men grow just seeing these young men grow, man, especially from some of the backgrounds that they come from similar to mine grew up single parent household.

Kind of village raised me with my aunts and my grandmother. So I understand it man, and I think that’s what drew me closer to it because I understand what the game of basketball can do for you. I understand firsthand what basketball can take you away from. So man, it’s a beautiful game and man, if you’re good to the game, man, the game will be good to you.  Most definitely.

[00:16:10] Mike Klinzing: That is really well said. I could not echo that anymore. I feel like what everything that I have in my life somehow traces back to basketball. I mean, there’s no question about that. Before we get out, Nick, I want to give you a chance, share how people can connect with you email, social media, whatever you feel comfortable with.

And then after you do that, I’ll jump back in and wrap things up.

[00:16:30] Nick Williams: Oh man. Anybody man, want to reach out to me. You can reach out to me on Twitter, man, @Nick_Williams20, You’ll see me pop right up, man. And anytime anybody have questions, you can reach out whenever, man.  I’ll try my best to get back with you.

[00:16:48] Mike Klinzing: Perfect. Nick, can I thank you enough for taking the time out of your schedule this morning to jump on and join us? Really appreciate it. And to everyone out there. Thanks for listening and we will catch you on our next episode. Thanks.