PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL TRAFECANTY OF CSUN ATHLETICS
Jackson native and former NBA All-Star Mo Williams has recently been named the head coach at Alabama State University.
The Murrah High School legend announced that he will be the Hornets’ new head coach via Twitter.
It’s a great day to be a Hornet. Go Hornets!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/HhQSo8VpOh
— Mo Williams (@mowilliams) May 12, 2020
Williams, 37, played 13 years in the NBA for seven different teams. He was named an All-Star during the 2008-2009 season while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He then returned to Cleveland for the 2015-2016 season where he was a member of the team’s first-ever NBA Championship.
Prior to the NBA, Williams was named Mississippi’s Mr. Basketball at Murrah before heading off to Tuscaloosa to play under Mark Gottfried. At the University of Alabama, Williams was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Year in 2002. In 2003, he earned third-team All-SEC honors.
Williams spent the last two seasons working under Gottfried as an assistant coach at California State University at Northridge, helping the Matadors finish second in the Big West Conference this past season.
While Alabama State’s schedule for the 2020-2021 season has not yet been released, Williams and his new team will definitely play at least one game in Jackson as Jackson State and Alabama State both compete in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.