Joi Williams

University of Central Florida’s Joi Williams on March 17, 2011, was named as an assistant coach for the 2011 USA Basketball Women’s U19 World Championship Team. The appointment marks her second USA Basketball coaching assignment after having served as an assistant to the 2010 USA U18 National Team that finished with a perfect 5-0 record, captured the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA Americas Championship and earned the U.S. a berth in the 2011 FIBA U19 Worlds.

A 21-year (1990-91 to present) coaching veteran, Williams took over a Central Florida program in 2007-08 that had posted a combined 15 victories in the two years prior to her arrival, and in just four seasons, Williams already has made a positive impact on the Knights’ program.

Williams in 2010-11 led UCF to a 19-10 overall record in the regular season, including 12-4 in conference play. Her squad closed out regular season play on an 8-0 run to finish second in the Conference USA standings. UCF then captured the C-USA Tournament title, extending its winning streak to 11-0, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. The Knights are now 22-10 heading into the NCAAs.

After steering her first team to more wins in her first season than in each of the two years prior to her arrival, Williams in 2008-09 coached the Knights to a 17-17 overall record. Her UCF squad, which was picked to finish last in preseason conference polls, finished fifth with an 11-5 C-USA record. Entering the C-USA Tournament as the No. 5 seed, UCF won four games in four days to claim their first league tournament title and NCAA berth since 1999. For her accomplishments, Williams was rewarded as the 2009 Conference USA Coach of the Year.

Williams arrived at UCF after spending four years (2003-04 through 2006-07) at the helm of the Murray State University Racers. In her final season at Murray State Williams guided her team to a 21-9 record, the program’s first 20-win season in 18 years, and earned a bid to the 2007 WNIT, marking Murray State’s second postseason appearance in history.

Williams began her coaching career at the University of Florida, where she spent 12 seasons (1990-91 through 2001-02) as an assistant to Carol Ross, helping the Gators to nine NCAA Tournament appearances and one trip to the WNIT finals, while compiling a 247-121 overall record (.671 winning percentage).

As Florida’s recruiting coordinator, Williams helped attract five All-America selections to Florida, including eventual two-time Olympic and two-time FIBA World Championship gold medalist DeLisha Milton-Jones, who was the 1997 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.

Between her stints at Florida and Murray State, Williams spent one season (2002-03) on the sideline as an assistant at Clemson University as the Lady Tigers posted a 14-15 record.

A native of Jacksonville, Fla., Williams played for the University of South Florida, where she was a four-year (1984-85 through 1987-88) starting point guard.

Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from USF in 1988.

Joi Williams’ Coaching Synopsis