Kilgore's Williams to be inducted into Okla. hall
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

File photo by Lester Murray HE'S SEEN QUITE A FEW IMPORTANT SHOTS IN HIS DAY - Kilgore High School head basketball coach Jimmy Williams (seated, third from left, in blue) looks on as senior Michael Hardeman attempts a shot against Jacksonville. Williams has only been at Kilgore a short time, but made a big impact coaching high school ball in Oklahoma. He'll be inducted into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Friday night. Williams guided six teams to the state tournament while coaching at Oklahoma, and coached eight different All-State players.

Later this week, Kilgore High School head boys basketball coach Jimmy Williams is going back to Oklahoma, and he's going to collect a bit of impressive hardware.

Williams is being inducted into the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Friday at Oklahoma Baptist University. The leader of the Bulldogs' boys basketball program led six teams to the Oklahoma state basketball tournament. He coached at Achille (1973-75), Oktaha ('75-79), Plainview ('79-83), Wynnewood ('83- 90) and McAlester ('90-02).

"This was a surprise to me," Williams said, in an e-mail to the News Herald on Friday. "It is a great honor to be selected by the committee. It means a lot to have your peers select you for such an honor."

He's a former president, vice president and district representative of the OBCA, and rolled up lots of honors as his team rolled up wins. He was the regional coach of the year on four occasions, the district coach of the year once, the Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State coach, Faith 7 All-Star coach, and along the way, won several newspaper and conference coaching awards.

In addition to getting six teams to the state tournament, Williams also won eight district titles, 11 regional titles and six area titles. His greatest success came at McAlester, where he coached eight players that achieved All-State status: Malcolm Patterson, Quinn Woolridge, Brad Peterson, Casey Clayborn, William Holiman, Jason Fazzio and Jeremy Case. Williams once played for hall-of-famer Bob Brumley at McAlester.

"I would have never had this opportunity if it had not been for the influence that Bob Brumley had on me as a coach, friend and mentor," Williams said. "Next to my parents, he had more to do with the success I have achieved than anyone else. I just hope I have influenced some young men who played for me as much as he has (influenced) me."

Williams was an accomplished basketball player, as well, picking up most valuable player and honorable mention allconference honors in his senior season at Southeastern State College. Prior to that, he was all-conference as a sophomore at Connors State College.

Prior to coming to Kilgore, Williams coached briefly at Eustace and Marshall.

Williams and his wife Patty have two daughters, Stephanie Barnett and Jennifer Bass. The coach is hoping to be the man to guide Kilgore's boys basketball team back to the Class 4A playoffs after a lengthy absence. The Bulldogs will play in a different district this season that doesn't include the Longview-area schools - Kilgore's district will include Whitehouse, Jacksonville, Lindale, Henderson, and Nacogdoches. The top four teams in the district make the playoffs.

Williams is also the head golf coach at KHS.