Fort
Valley State names head men's basketball coach
June 16, 2004
Fort Valley State University has hired Travis L. Williams as its new men’s basketball coach. Williams, a native of Tifton, Georgia, will be the 14th coach in the history of the program.
Travis L. Williams
Travis comes to Fort Valley State from Chicago State University where he was an assistant coach last season.
Prior to working at Chicago State, Williams was an assistant coach at
Georgia State University for four years under legendary head coach Lefty
Drissell. At Georgia State, Williams played a very instrumental role in
the Panthers putting together four winning seasons, two of which were
20 win campaigns and a berth into the NCAA Division I tournament during
the 2000-01 season. That particular team won 29 games, and as a #11 seed,
knocked off #6 seed Wisconsin in the opening round at Boise, Idaho. Ironically
though, the team lost the next round game against Lefty’s old squad, the Maryland Terrapins.
The next season, Georgia State again tasted post-season play, this time
in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) against Tennessee Tech before
bowing out in the first round.
Williams has had a very successful career in basketball both as a player and a coach. As a senior in high school, he led the Tift County Blue Devils to a 19-9 record and a berth in the AAAA Final Four. He also excelled in track where participated in the high jump.
From there he went on to Georgia State University where he became one
of only 12 players to score 1,000 points in school history. He also holds
several other records for the Panthers, and earned TAAC Academic All-Conference
honors.
Travis completed work on his Bachelor of Arts degree in business
management while still playing for Georgia State. He also earned his
Master of Science degree in sports administration at Georgia State.
After
a brief stint as the Athletics Program Supervisor with Fulton County
Parks and Recreation, Williams resigned to begin a career in coaching.
His work with Georgia State’s guards and big men reaped huge benefits for the program as several players All-Conference honors.
In addition to his duties on the basketball court, Williams is also very active in his community. An outstanding motivational speaker, he takes part in several community outreach programs such as the Boys and Girls Club of America and the YMCA. Travis also works as a volunteer in the Parks and Recreation area in several camps and clinics while mentoring at-risk youths.
“I am very excited to get this opportunity, and I want to build on Dr. Lomotey’s and Ms. Reeves’ slogan of ‘Straight to the Top’”, says Fort Valley’s latest hoops czar. “I’m looking forward to coaching and working with the players and producing a program that is balanced both academically and athletically. The team and myself will be very active in the community and we will be taking part in several outreach programs.” Williams will be taking over a team that went 14-15 and advanced to the second round of last season’s SIAC Tournament.
Williams is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Black Coaches Association (BCA). Travis is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.
