New basketball coach excited to join ‘tight knit community’

Jimmie Williams led Division II Anderson University to conference championship, top 10 ranking

Jimmie Williams was introduced as the new head coach of Campbell University's men's basketball program in front of a spirited crowd at the Pope Convocation Center on Friday. The press conference wrapped up a weeklong search that landed this year's South Athletic Conference Coach of the Year who led Anderson University to a 29-3 record and the program's first conference championship and a top 10 NCAA Division II ranking.

Joined by his wife, Stephanie, and their four children, Williams shared details of the 10-hour interview that led to his hiring as Campbell's seventh head coach in the program's Division I era (since 1977).

"[The interview] went from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., and it was nonstop, chalked with wonderful people," Williams said. "Everything is about fit for me … can I be who God has called me to be in this environment? Every person I met - from the academic support team to the coaches to all the wonderful people in strength conditioning and athletic training - every person was saying the same thing. It's special here. It's a tight-knit community here. It's family here."

Williams initially took the helm at Anderson in 2022 and guided the program to a 69-49, 48-26 record across four seasons. The 2025-26 Trojans boasted a scoring offense (83.4) and scoring defense (68.2) ranked in the nation's top 40. In addition to his own Coach of the Year honors, Williams coached this year's conference Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and three first-team all-conference players.

Before Anderson, Williams spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Furman. He helped the Paladins to 89 wins in four seasons, averaging 22.5 per year, making an NIT appearance in 2018-19. He helped guide the Paladins to school records for victories in back-to-back seasons from 2018 to 2020. Previous coaching stops included Jewell College (Liberty, Mo.) as associate head coach, and an assistant coaching position at North Greenville.

As a player, Williams was a two-time all-conference selection at MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas.

Williams said he has big expectations taking over a Campbell program that last had a winning season in 2022. He said he will recruit unselfish players who are committed to playing hard on defense and have high basketball IQs.

"We're going to turn people over. We're going to punish teams for what they're not good at. We're going to dive deep into scouting reports, but a lot of our defense is going to be done with the heart," he said. "We're going to recruit and get people here that are committed to playing hard on the defensive end. [At Anderson], we started four guards out there and an undersized five man, but they all had a huge, huge heart. Everybody was flying around on defense. Everybody hated to get scored on, and everybody competed. They didn't want to get scored on or get beat back door or give up an open three because of their love for the guy next to them. That's special."

He said the "process" for his players will be more important than the end result. He also said in addition to his players becoming better basketball players, they will become better men.

"We want to have people who are motivated to be the best versions of themselves," he said. "I am a much better leader, I'm a much better coach, and I'm a much better investor in the relationships with my players because of my family. For me, family will always be first, and we want to build a family environment here at Campbell. I want my players to see my assistant coaches being good husbands and good fathers, and not absentee husbands and fathers. I want my players to see how powerful it is to have a strong and healthy marriage.

"The two things that I want for all my players is for them to know the Lord and for them to marry well. If you do those two things, you are going to be a happy man."

President Dr. William M. Downs called Williams' hiring "a great day for Campbell University." In Williams, Downs said he wants his coach to build a program that is "fun, up-tempo and high octane" and a program that will draw more fans, young and old.

"We are here to start the process of building a program that will contend each and every year for a banner and for a championship ring. Make no mistake about it, we're here to win. We're here to win the right way, the right guy," Downs said. "And I am very excited that we have found the right guy."

Downs said he had three "non-negotiable qualities" he wanted in Campbell's next basketball coach. He wanted a leader with experience as a championship-winning head coach. He wanted a coach with high character with a commitment to building a quality culture in the program. And he wanted a coach who wants to be in Buies Creek and who "embraces our values, engages our community as a servant leader and who understands that college athletics can, should and will contribute in positive and meaningful ways to the overall student experience here at Campbell University."

"We found a coach who checks all those boxes and more," Downs said.