After serving as an assistant on Jeff Jackson’s coaching staff at Furman this past season former North Carolina guard Shammond Williams has joined Ed Conroy’s staff at Tulane, the school announced Wednesday.
Williams, who played 13 seasons in the NBA and in Europe after completing his four-year career in Chapel Hill, replaces the departed Doug Novak on Conroy’s staff. Novak left the school to become the new head coach at Bethel College. The addition should help the Green Wave in the backcourt, as Williams was a key member of three Final Four teams as a player.
“He is a talented teacher of the game who is driven to help our student-athletes develop on and off the floor and will make a tremendous impact in our player development,” Conroy said of his new hire in the release. “I am eager to witness the relationships Shammond is able to cultivate within our program and on the recruiting trail while sharing all his basketball and life experiences.”
Tulane, which will join the American Athletic Conference in 2014, won 20 games for the first time in Conroy’s four seasons at the school last season but there’s plenty of work to be done to account for the departures of guard Ricky Tarrant (15.7 ppg, 3.6 apg) and forward Josh Davis (17.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg).
With Jordan Callahan and Kendall Timmons both having graduated, Tulane’s leading returning scorer is small forward Trevante Drye (4.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg). Tulane welcomes seven newcomers to the program this summer, and there should be ample opportunities for that group to earn minutes in their first season as members of the program.
Raphielle can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.