Williams winds Pitt’s wheels

Five years ago, the Pitt women’s basketball program was shattered – lying dormant at the… Five years ago, the Pitt women’s basketball program was shattered – lying dormant at the bottom of the Big East.

So when Agnus Berenato left Georgia Tech to revive Pitt, she knew there was considerable work to be done.

She said her goodbyes, packed her bags and headed to Pittsburgh.

But she was missing something big. Something she couldn’t pack into a carry-on bag or throw into her moving van.

That something was actually someone. That someone was Jeff Williams.

Williams, now heading into his second season as the Pitt women’s associate head coach and fifth as an assistant to Berenato, worked on Berenato’s coaching staff at Georgia Tech for two years when she asked him to follow her to Pittsburgh to help pick up the pieces of Pitt’s struggling program.

And if Williams hadn’t accepted, those pieces may still very well still be scattered along the floor of the Big East.

“He was the only coach that I wanted to bring with me to Pittsburgh,” Berenato said. “I didn’t have anyone else in mind.”

Entering his fifth year at Pitt, Williams has complemented Berenato’s coaching skill with a comparable vision of success, developing into an integral part of a program that’s rapidly on the rise.

A great recruiter, Williams has brought in some of the Big East’s best talent over the past few years, including Marcedes Walker and Shavonte Zellous (both pre-season All-Big East team selections).

Redshirt senior Mallorie Winn, who has received numerous awards and recognition, even followed him to Pitt from Georgia Tech.

Berenato said that as a coach and a recruiter, Williams is irreplaceable.

But it’s not just his knowledge of the game that puts him a notch above the rest, it’s his ability to relate to the players both on and off the court.

“He’s like a preacher,” Berenato said. “He has so much wisdom for the youth of today. He’s really a great educator.”

His players agree.

“Honestly, he’s a dad to all of us [players],” Zellous said. “We really believe in him, and he believes in us.”

Williams also works hard with the post players – something that really shows in the play of Walker, who has developed into one of Pitt’s essential weapons on both sides of the court.

“He was really hard on me as far as playing and getting in shape,” Walker said. “But he’s improved my whole career. He wants us to be the best we can be.”

Williams said that watching the players grow mentally and mature as people is just as important as their growth on the court.

“I like the interaction with the kids, seeing them grow into adults and productive citizens,” he said.

In order to build an effective program, Williams only recruits players who will grow both physically and mentally, and fit the mold Coach Berenato is looking for.

“It’s important to recruit kids that your head coach is comfortable with. That’s when you see the most growth,” Williams said.

Before coming to Pitt, Williams brought top-10 and top-15 recruiting classes at Georgia Tech, and a top-12 recruiting class at Howard.

He was also the head coach for the Atlanta Justice, winning the National Women’s Basketball League title in 2001.

Berenato is grateful that Williams has such an understanding of what the program needs, and what she personally is looking for.

“He’s one of the best recruiters in the country,” Berenato said.

“He understands what I want in a player, and if they don’t fit into my system, he knows I’m not interested. He only brings to me the total student-athlete.”

Because of the constant work and commitment, the Panthers went from just six wins in the 2003-2004 season to 24 wins and their first NCAA tournament win last year.

Then, just last weekend, they were picked to finish fourth in the very competitive Big East.

“In the Big East we have athletic teams and we have power teams,” Williams said.

“You never know what you’re going to get each night, you really have to prepare.”

Pitt gets help not only from Williams, but from his entire family as well.

“My wife is probably the loudest person in the arena,” Williams said.

His son, McCoy Zachary, already sports the Pitt jumpsuit to show his support at just six months old.

“He’ll be a big guard, he’s already got big hands,” Williams said. “He’ll be a linebacker, too.”

As a family man and a coach, Berenato can’t say enough about Williams’ importance to the program.

“I trust him literally with my entire program, with my soul, with my heart,” she said.

But even with all of the respect and admiration his players and coaches give to him as a coach and a mentor, they’re not ready to give it to him on the court.

Walker, Zellous and Berenato all said that in a game of one-on-one, they’d come out on top against the former Howard guard.

“I’d take him,” Walker said.

Williams was surprised.

“Take me where?” he said, laughing. “I don’t think all three of them together could take me.”

Either way, Williams will continue to teach and inspire his players on and off the court, and the program will reap the benefits.