June 24, 2009

ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio University head men's basketball coach John Groce announced on Wednesday that Ramon Williams, a veteran of nearly two decades on the collegiate sidelines, has joined the Bobcats' staff as an assistant coach.

Williams (first name pronounced Ray-MAHN) replaces former Ohio assistant Jamaal Walker, who departed for a position on staff at the University of Arizona.

"We're very excited to announce the addition of Ramon Williams to our staff," Groce said. "Ramon's experience and success at the places he's been will be an extremely valuable asset to us as we continue to build our program. He has clearly demonstrated his ability to coach, recruit and connect with student-athletes. We're very fortunate to have him join the Bobcat family."

The Roanoke, Va., native comes to Ohio after a four-year stint at DePaul, where he helped guide the Blue Demons through the rugged BIG EAST Conference, widely regarded as the nation's top league. In Williams' second year on staff, DePaul posted nine BIG EAST wins and defeated three ranked teams en route to making its deepest postseason run in 17 years, a trip to the quarterfinals of the 2007 National Invitation Tournament.

While at DePaul, Williams was also instrumental in the development of guard Dar Tucker, who earned National All-Freshman Team honors from The Sporting News and BIG EAST All-Rookie Team accolades in 2008 and declared for early entry into the 2009 NBA Draft following his sophomore season. Two more Williams protégés, Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia, were selected in the first and second rounds, respectively, of the 2007 NBA Draft.

The 2007-08 season also saw Williams mentor DePaul point guard Cliff Clinkscales to a nation-leading 3.62 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Williams spent the three years prior to his term at DePaul as an assistant at Richmond under current Blue Demons' head coach Jerry Wainwright. The Spiders reached the postseason in two of Williams' three seasons on staff, qualifying for the NIT in 2003 and capturing the program's second-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2004.

A 1990 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Williams was a member of the men's basketball staff as both an assistant and associate head coach for nine years before heading to Richmond. During his playing days for the Keydets, Williams was a two-time All-Southern Conference and SoCon All-Tournament Team selection, and finished his career as the program's third-leading scorer with 1,630 points. He continues to hold the program records for three-point field goals in a game and single-season three-point field goal percentage, while his VMI standards for trifectas made and attempted in a season stood until the 2001-02 season.

Williams and his brother, Damon, who formed one of the most prolific scoring duos in NCAA history, were both inducted into the VMI Sports Hall of Fame in September of 2001.

"I appreciate the opportunity to become a part of Bobcat basketball, as well as the opportunity to help continue the strong tradition here at Ohio," Williams said. "Coach Groce and his staff have done a great job, and I look forward to helping them continue that success. I'm excited for the challenges that lie ahead and I look forward to working with everyone here at Ohio University."

Williams joins the staff of an Ohio team with a high-octane offense that ranked atop the Mid-American Conference in both three-point field goal percentage and assists per game in 2008-09, marking the first time in program history that it has paced the league in the latter category.