Cape native returns home to fill final assistant role

Kevin Williams feels like he's coming back home as he joins Southeast Missouri State University's basketball coaching staff.

Williams, a Cape Girardeau native and a former student assistant coach at Southeast, will fill the No. 3 assistant position with the Indians, head coach Gary Garner announced Thursday.

"I am so psyched to be back at Southeast," Williams said.

Williams, head coach at Caruthersville High School the past two seasons, fills the position vacated by John Daniel, who resigned at the end of last season. Garner said Williams was chosen from more than 150 applicants.

"It was clear that Kevin was the best person to fill the vacancy," Garner said. "He knows our system and has a great rapport with the players. He will be involved in al aspects of our basketball program, including recruiting."

Williams, 38, was a student assistant during Garner's first three years at Southeast, including the 2000 season when the Indians advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time.

"I'm excited to have the opportunity to work with coach Garner again," Williams said. "He's one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the country and is widely respected. I just want to help Southeast win any way I can."

Williams is particularly excited by the recent change that allows all coaches to actively recruit. In years past, the No. 3 staff position was not allowed to recruit off campus.

"I'm really looking forward to recruiting," he said. "Hopefully I can relate to the young players and land us some talented athletes."

A 1982 Central High School graduate, Williams was an all-stater for the Tigers and he played on their 1980 state championship team.

Williams then played for Saint Louis University under coach Rich Grawer, starting at both guard positions for much of his four-year career with the Billikens.

After leaving Saint Louis, Williams was head coach at Whitfield High School in St. Louis for two years before entering private business. He returned to Southeast in 1997 to pursue a graduate degree and began his association with Garner.

At Caruthersville the past two seasons, Williams went 36-18. His first Tigers' squad went 22-7, won the school's first-ever district championship and reached the state quarterfinals.

Williams' father, Carroll, is a longtime Southeast employee who was the school's head basketball coach from 1976-81 and is currently the school's golf coach.

"I've been playing basketball in the gyms at Southeast since I was old enough to dribble," Williams said. "I'm happy to be coming back home."

mmishow@semissourian.com

(573) 335-6611, extension 132