THE COACHES =
Howard M<
By EDWARD HILL JR.
Staff Writer
When A.B. Williamson came to
Howard University in 1974, he brought
some impressive credentials with him.
As one of the most successful
coaches in the talent-rich Washington,
D.C., area, Williamson compiled a
107-26 mark in five seasons at Eastern
High School. In the process, he
developed such ail-Americans as James
"Turk" Tillman (University of
^Maryland and Eastern Kentucky),
Rodney Wright (Oral Roberts and later
HawardJ-and-iames-Ratif^fUnWefstty
of Tennessee and Howard).
So it was only natural to assume that
Williamson would attract his share of
the local talent and build Howard into
a basketball power.
But Williamson and his followers
a soon discovered that nothing can be
assumed when it, comes to coaching
college basketball. .
"Now that I look back on that first
year, I think I was very naive,"
Williamson admits. "I really believed
that I could do many of the same
things here at Howard that I did while I
was on the high school level. I didn't
think it would be that big a transition.
"Boy, how wrong I was. I didn't
take into consideration the many ancillary
and administrative responsibilities
a coach has to perform. In addition
to the basic difference you have
in the relationship between the coach
and the athletes, you have other things
like recruiting, budgets and assistant
coaches to worry about."
And, if Williamson needed any further
proof of the vast difference between
the two levels, the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill gave it
to him in the form of a 107-69 drubbing.
I nat was a very traumatic experience,*'
recalls Williamson. "My
first game as a college coach and we're
playing North Carolina on their court.
had never had that kind of experience
oefore. It definitely alerted me to the
realities of college coaching."
Following the shock at Carolina,
Williamson recovered nicely and led
the Bison to a respectable 15-11 record.
Since that maiden year, he has given
the program stability and clearly
established himself in his profession.
Now in his-W.il 1 i a mson,....
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games. He is the first coach to win
more than 100 games at Howard, compiling
a 132-89 mark.
During that span, the Bison have
won three MEAC championships
(1980-81-83), five tournament runnerup
finishes and the university's
first-ever appearance in the NCAA
playoffs.
Good coaches are judged by their
ability to teach, motivate and to make
the necessary adjustments. Williamson
has fulfilled all of those requirements.
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Practice Makes Perf
Williamson says he learned fast thai
When transfers Wright, Ratiff and
Larry Spriggs (now with the Los
Angeles Lakers) all came to Howard,
Williamson was expected to win, and
he did.
Last year, with only one proven
player in all-MEAC guard Bernard
Washington Bullets), Howard was not
expected to win; yet Williamson surprised
everyone by leading his team to
a 19-9 mark and an 11-1 record ip the
MEAC to capture the regular season title.
"I'm still trying to figure out how we
won as many games as we did last
season/' he says, downplaying the
significance of his coaching. "We had
a bunch of guys who were not great on
ability, but they showed a lot of
character and determination. As a
coach, I think it was my most gratify
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What made Williamson's accomplishment
even more remarkable
was the fact that he lost four players i
midway through the season due to <
academic difficulties.
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himself this season. Not only did he
start the year with no proven starters
and a freshman backcourt, but he had
to do it against such heavyweights as
UCLA, St. Peter's and Old Dominion,
all on the road.
It looked as if Williamson was flir- <
ting with disaster when the team got :
off to its worst start during his tenure <
as it lost six straight and compiled a
dismal 3-8 mark.
But Williamson knew what he was
doing as he proved later by knocking
off conference favorite North Carolina
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he college level than coachlno.
A&T handily and going on to win five
in a row and seven of eight.
"The tough early schedule was
designed to get the tefun ready for the
conference," explains Williamson.
"After playing in Pauley Pavilion and
some of the other places we've played,
our young-players have giowii some.
Now they are ready to play anywhere
and not be intimidated ."
During the streak, Williamson has
started three freshmen and, in many instances,
they have been instrumental in
the victories. One of them, Fred Hill, a
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of the year in Boston last year, has
emerged as a leader.
Hill is averaging 12 points per game
and also leads the team in assists and
steals. He has already been named
MEAC Rookie of the Week three times
Please see page 19
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