Coaching Career of Jason Williams (CH 2K8)

[KingFiz]

Decided to start up a new dynasty after being away from it so long, so here goes with CH 2K8.

System: XBox 360
Half Length: 20 minutes
Sliders: rspencer86's All-Conference sliders

Any other background info you want to know, post it here.

[KingFiz]

Hatters tap Williams as men's basketball coach

Matt Johnson | Sports Editor
The Stetson Reporter
April 9, 2007

DeLAND -- Stetson University named Jason Williams head men's basketball coach at a news conference today.

Williams, 31, becomes the 20th head coach in the program's history, replacing Derek Waugh, who was dismissed after compiling a 76-114 record over seven seasons.

Williams comes from Division II Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where he led the Tars to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006 and 2007. In three years with Rollins, Williams went 63-29.

Under Williams, the Tars were one of the best 3-point shooting teams in Division II, as they made over eight 3s per game in 2005-06, and over 10 3-pointers in 2006-07, good for fourth-best in the country.

During the news conference, Williams was very excited about the challenges awaiting him at Stetson.

"This is a great opportunity for my staff and me," Williams said. "We're very fortunate to be getting a chance at the highest level of college basketball, and we're definitely ready to show the administration that they made the right choice."

Athletic director Jeff Altier elaborated on what made Williams stand out from the other candidates.

"He knows the state from his days with Rollins, so that was a definite point in his favor," Altier said. "But most of all, he's young, he's hungry and he knows how to win, and I think our team will feed off of that."

Williams takes over a Hatters squad that went 11-20 last season. Stetson has never won a conference championship nor has it earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Williams thinks he has the pieces in place to change those facts soon.

"When I looked over the roster and these guys' strengths, it was clear to me that we may be able to have some success a lot earlier than anyone would expect," Williams said. "Once the staff and I get the guys accustomed to what we want to do, we're not only going to get results, but we're also going to have fun doing it."

Williams also announced that his assistants at Rollins, Dana Lekavicius and Andres Ramlow, will be joining him at Stetson.

The Hatters' 2007-08 schedule will be released sometime within the next two months.

[KingFiz]

2007-2008 SEASON PREVIEW
New small ball approach has Hatters thinking big

Nick Moss | Staff Writer
The Stetson Reporter
October 23, 2007

DeLAND -- Imagine Garfield Blair's surprise when practice started just a couple of weeks ago.

Blair, standing at 6-foot-5, was slated to play center.

"I had to rub my eyes, pinch myself, you know, because I didn't believe it," a smiling Blair said about his reaction to the news. "I'm going to be playing against guys half a foot taller than me at the worst."

So why the smile in the face of such a daunting task?

"Our opponents won't be able to keep up with the other guys shooting 3s all over the place," Blair replied.

Since Jason Williams took over the reins of the Stetson program in April, he wasted no time in installing his quick-fire, perimeter-oriented offense. Williams is banking on Blair to draw defenses into the paint enough that kick-outs to the perimeter will result in open looks for his shooters.

"Garfield is too talented an all-around player to keep off the floor," Williams said. "We expect him to be the guy to open things up for our offense."

Although Blair will be the tallest player on the court for the Hatters, Williams feels his team's shooting will be enough to overcome any height disadvantages.

"Let's face it -- we're not going to beat many teams playing at their levels and tempos," Williams said. "We need to be faster and have to shoot well. Those can help us equalize things a bit."

The Hatters will need all the equalizing they can get, with 13 of their first 15 games being road contests. Included in that stretch are games against Florida State, Miami and two-time defending national champion Florida.

"There's no doubt that it's going to be a very tough start to the season," Williams said. "Our guys need to be up for every game, and that's on myself and the staff to make sure that happens."

Stetson kicks off the season November 13 at Alabama-Birmingham.

STETSON 2007-2008 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Nov. 13   at Alabama-Birmingham
Nov. 16   at Florida Atlantic
Nov. 17   at Rhode Island
Nov. 18   at Georgia Southern
Nov. 21   BETHUNE-COOKMAN
Nov. 27   at Florida
Nov. 30   at Florida State
Dec. 3    at Bethune-Cookman
Dec. 17   at Miami
Dec. 20   at Savannah State
Dec. 29   at Longwood
Dec. 31   CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
Jan. 3    at Jacksonville
Jan. 5    at North Florida
Jan. 11   at Florida Gulf Coast
Jan. 17   KENNESAW STATE
Jan. 19   MERCER
Jan. 21   LONGWOOD
Jan. 24   at Gardner-Webb
Jan. 26   at Campbell
Jan. 31   BELMONT
Feb. 2    at Lipscomb
Feb. 8    SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE
Feb. 10   EAST TENNESSEE STATE
Feb. 14   at Kennesaw State
Feb. 16   at Mercer
Feb. 19   SAVANNAH STATE
Feb. 23   FLORIDA GULF COAST
Feb. 28   NORTH FLORIDA
March 1   JACKSONVILLE

[KingFiz]

Stetson comes up short in season opener

Nick Moss | Staff Writer
The Stetson Reporter
November 14, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- One minute into last night's game with Alabama-Birmingham, Stetson coach Jason Williams could not have been happier.

Kris Thomas had drained consecutive 3-point attempts and A.J. Smith hit a long jumper to give the Hatters an 8-0 lead just 1:04 into the contest.

However, the final 39 minutes left Williams to realize things were not going to come that easy.

The Blazers responded with a 13-1 run and never looked back, defeating Stetson 84-69 last night in the Hatters' season opener.

"On the one hand, I was happy with the way we came out in that first minute and dominated on both ends of the floor," Williams said. "But the wheels fell off immediately after that."

The long-range shooting that propelled Stetson to the early lead was what fell off. After Thomas' back-to-back makes, the Hatters converted on only six of 30 3-pont attempts for the rest of the game.

"We got a lot of open looks out there tonight," said Smith, who finished with a team-high 17 points. "For some reason, they just didn't fall."

Alabama-Birmingham was able to force some turnovers, get some missed shots on the defensive end and convert those into points. During Stetson's dry spell midway through the first half, the Blazers stretched their lead to double-digits, where it stayed for the remainder of the game.

"I think we gave them a few too many good shots at the basket," Alabama-Birmingham coach Mike Davis said. "But our guys did a great job of converting their missteps into points."

The Blazers (2-0) were led by Reggie Huffman, who recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Huffman was one of four Blazer starters that reached double figures in scoring.

Garfield Blair had a double-double as well, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 boards in the loss for Stetson (0-1).

ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM 84, STETSON 69
Bartow Arena, Birmingham, Ala.
 
Stetson               29     40       69
Alabama-Birmingham    41     43       84
 
SCORING LEADERS:
(STET) A.J. Smith -- 17 points
(UAB) Reggie Huffman -- 18 points
 
REBOUNDING LEADERS:
(STET) Garfield Blair -- 10
(UAB) Reggie Huffman -- 12
 
ASSIST LEADERS:
(STET) Kris Thomas -- 3
(UAB) Paul Delaney -- 9

[Iceman5315]

Following, good luck.

[KingFiz]

Hatters unable to close out game, drop second straight

Nick Moss | Staff Writer
The Stetson Reporter
Saturday, November 17, 2007

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- With 1:34 remaining in last night's game, Stetson guard A.J. Smith silenced the Florida Atlantic faithful with a thunderous two-handed dunk.

Just 28 seconds later, Florida Atlantic guard Carderro Nwoji got the crowd back on its feet for the rest of the night.

Nwoji's 3-pointer from the elbow with 1:06 left gave Florida Atlantic a lead it would not relinquish, and the Owls dropped the Hatters, 80-72.

"It looked good as soon as it left my hand," Nwoji said about his game-winning shot, which put Florida Atlantic up 71-69. His shot gave the lead back to the Owls (2-1), who had fallen behind 69-68 on Smith's dunk seconds earlier.

Garfield Blair missed a shot under the hoop with just over 40 seconds left, and the Owls were able to fend off the Hatters (0-2).

"We performed terribly at the end of the game," Stetson coach Jason Williams said. "There's no reason for us to be missing shots from short range, and we didn't knock down the open looks that we got near the end.

"If we want to be a winning team, those are the shots we have to make."
Owls guard Paul Graham III seemed to have no problem making shots, as he hit five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 27 points. His three 3-pointers in the first half allowed Florida Atlantic to take a 38-35 lead into halftime.

"Paul had a great game for us tonight," Florida Atlantic coach Rex Walters said. "He was making some big shots, hit some 3s, and really kept us in the game."

Smith led Stetson with 17 points and had five 3-point makes on his own. J.J. Hirst and Eric Diaz combined for 19 points off the bench for the Hatters.

"Kris Thomas got into very early foul trouble, so it forced us to do some things differently than we would've in a normal game setting," Williams said. "J.J. and Eric played very well for the minutes they got tonight -- we needed the points in a game like this."

The Hatters' struggles from 3-point range continued, as they went 8-of-32 from long range for the second consecutive game.

"It's early in the season, so I'm not too worried yet," Williams said. "Once these guys get some more practice time and know what we want them to do, the shots will start falling."

FLORIDA ATLANTIC 80, STETSON 72
The Burrow, Boca Raton, Fla.
 
Stetson             35     37       72
Florida Atlantic    38     42       80
 
SCORING LEADERS:
(STET) A.J. Smith -- 17 points
(FAU) Paul Graham III -- 27 points
 
REBOUNDING LEADERS:
(STET) Garfield Blair -- 13
(FAU) Sammy Hernandez -- 10
 
ASSISTS LEADERS:
(STET) Mark Lohuis -- 4
(FAU) James Staten -- 6