Illinois Basketball: The Case for Monty Williams as Next Illini Head Coach
The Illinois basketball coaching search will be interesting if there is a change at the helm.
John Groce is still leading this team despite having a 14-12 record overall and a 4-9 record in the Big Ten. This is unacceptable five years into the job.
With a fourth straight missed NCAA Tournament on the horizon, it might be time for a coaching change. This is why there are so many things being written about his possible replacements.
One name that continues to get thrown around is Monty Williams.
Williams has been around the game of basketball for quite some time and I could see why Illini fans would want him. There are a lot of benefits to bringing him to Champaign.
You can start with Williams’ playing career. High school athletes want to know they are getting coached by someone who has been through the ringer and knows what it takes to win at the college level. He was a standout at Notre Dame for three years and in his final season averaged 22.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball
Williams parlayed that great career with the Irish and was drafted in the first round by the New York Knicks in 1994. He spent nine years in the NBA before hanging up the sneakers and moving on to the coaching game.
Having a coach who has played in the NBA and knows how to get to the next level is huge for recruiting. Players want to know what it takes to get to the NBA because that is what these high school athletes dream about. This is a huge benefit to hiring Williams.
For the 2005-06 season, Williams signed on to be an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was in this role for five seasons before getting the head coaching job with the New Orleans Hornets. This was a big break for Williams and he didn’t do terrible.
In the five seasons with the Hornets, and Pelicans after they changed the team name, Williams made the playoffs twice and was bounced both years. Despite making the postseason in 2014-15 he was let go and then signed on as an associate head coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder the following season.
Williams has plenty of coaching experience so he knows how to connect with players. He did a solid job with the Hornets/Pelicans when he was in New Orleans and I think he has enough experience to be the Illini head coach.
I don’t see a ton of downfalls with hiring Williams as the next head coach of the Illini and I think Josh Whitman should exhaust all possibilities. But, right now, Williams has a nice front office Vice President of Basketball Operations job with the San Antonio Spurs. I can’t imagine it will be easy to pull him away from the NBA to come to a college program, especially one that is struggling.
There is also not a sign to me he wants to come to the college game either. He had the taste of being a head coach in the NBA and I assume he would want another crack at that again before settling in college.
People keep bringing up that Williams could be like a Lovie Smith situation where he was a former professional head coach and the Illini could snag him. But the main difference is Lovie actually coached 14 years in college. Williams hasn’t coached at all at the college level and hasn’t given a sign that he would.
Next: Five Head Coach Candidates to Replace John Groce
While I would love to hire an NBA coach for the Illini, I am not going to hold my breath on Williams. Although, this would be a great get for Whitman and it would prove he has some staying power.