Jim Williams

Jim Williams (1915-2007)

Teams coached: Colorado State Rams
Colorado State record: 352-293 (.546)
Overall record^: 352-293 (.546)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  4  (1963, 1965, 1966, 1969)
  • NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  1  (1969)
  • NCAA Tournament Final Four:  0
  • NIT Championships:  0
  • NIT Appearances:  2  (1961, 1962)
  • Skyline Regular Season Champion:  1  (1961)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1954-1980 Colorado State
1946-1954 Snow College

Jim Williams Facts

  • Jim Williams
  • Born March 19, 1915
  • Died May 31, 2007
  • Hometown: Malad, Idaho
  • Alma Mater: Utah State University (BA, 1947 & MA, 1954)
  • Williams started his coaching career at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he spent eight years as the head basketball coach
  • Hired by Colorado State (then Colorado A&M) in 1954 and led the Rams for the next 26 seasons
    • Went 352-293 overall, going to four NCAA Tournaments (including a trip to the Elite Eight in 1969) and two NITs
    • Finished above .500 sixteen times and is the winningest coach in program history by a wide margin
    • Also served as athletic director at CSU from 1965 to 1968, a short but impactful tenure that saw him oversee the construction of Moby Arena (still the home court of the basketball program) and Hughes Stadium (home of the football team until 2017)
    • Inducted into the Colorado State Athletics Hall of Fame (c/o 1988) and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (c/o 1990)
  • Stayed around the CSU program for many years after his coaching career ended there in 1980
  • Passed away in 2007 at the age of 92; preceded in death by wife, Mary, and their son, Bobby, survived by daughters, Joan and Carol

Jim Williams Coaching Tree

  • Clarence Blackmon (Alabama A&M)
  • Jim Brandenburg (San Diego State, Wyoming, Montana)
  • Boyd Grant (Colorado State, Fresno State, Southern Idaho)
  • Mike Montgomery (California, Golden State Warriors, Stanford, Montana)

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level