TIGERS
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2012-13 Memphis Basketball
Coaches/Staff Sweet Sixteen in Chicago, where they dropped a heart-breaking 79-78 loss to Lute Olson’s Arizona team. Josh Pastner (assistant coach) served on Olson’s staff that season. Williams’ first “go-round” in Stillwater, Okla., was in the 1999-2000 campaign. That season, Oklahoma State posted a 27-7 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. The Cowboys were ranked sixth in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches poll that season. Before he returned to Oklahoma State in 2004, Williams spent one season as an assistant coach at LouisianaLafayette. The 2003-04 Ragin’ Cajuns swept the Sun Belt Conference regularseason and tournament titles and earned the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid. In between his collegiate coaching days at Oklahoma State in 1999-2000 and Louisiana-Lafayette, Williams jumped to the NBA and took an assistant position on Flip Saunders’ staff in Minnesota. He was with the Timberwolves from June of 2000 until September of 2002 and helped the organization to back-to-back NBA Playoff appearances (2001, 2002). During his time with the Timberwolves, Williams worked with Garnett, a 14-time NBA All-Star. In the fall of 2002, Williams moved to the Golden State Warriors as an advance scout for the 2002-03 season. Prior to his first stint at Oklahoma State, Williams served on Danny Nee’s staff at Nebraska from 1993-99, including the last three seasons as associate head coach. The Huskers earned sixconsecutive postseason tournament
berths during Williams’ time in Lincoln. Nebraska won the 1994 Big Eight Conference Tournament and claimed the 1996 NIT crown. After a two-year coaching hiatus in the mid-1980s, Williams returned to the collegiate ranks as an assistant for J.D. Barnett at Tulsa in 1988. He spent two seasons with the Golden Hurricane program, before moving on to San Diego State where he was an assistant for three seasons with the Aztecs (199093).
The Williams File
Birthdate.......................................March 28 Hometown...............................Havana, Fla. High School................... Havana Northside College.................................Ashland, 1970 (Bachelor’s) Family............... Daughter, Christina Marie
Coaching History
2011-present................................. Memphis Assistant Coach 2004-07............................. Oklahoma State Assistant Coach 2003-04.......................Louisiana-Lafayette Assistant Coach 2002-03...................... Golden State (NBA) Advance Scout 2000-02.......................... Minnesota (NBA) Assistant Coach 1999-2000......................... Oklahoma State Assistant Coach 1993-99........................................ Nebraska Assistant Coach/ Associate Head Coach 1990-93............................. San Diego State Assistant Coach 1988-90.............................................. Tulsa Assistant Coach 1986........................................... Minnesota Head Coach (interim) 1971-86...................................... Minnesota Assistant Coach
ERIC SEBASTIAN DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS FOURTH SEASON • SMU, 1994
E
ric Sebastian is in his fourth season as Memphis basketball’s director of operations in 2012-13. He came to the Bluff City in the summer of 2009 from his media relations director post with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. In his role with the Tigers, Sebastian deals with all of the program’s external and internal operations. In addition, Sebastian taught a class, Chronology of Sport, in the University’s Sport and Leisure Department in the fall of 2011. Sebastian continues his work on staff during exciting times for the Tigers program. Memphis is coming off back-to-back 25-win campaigns (25-10 in 2010-
Before his leave of absence from college coaching, Williams served on the Minnesota Golden Gophers staff under both Bill Musselman and Jim Dutcher for 15 seasons from 1971-86. While in the Twin Cities, Williams helped lead the Golden Gophers to Big Ten Conference championships in 1972 and 1982. Minnesota advanced to the postseason six of the 15 seasons and finished in the Big Ten’s upper division nine times during his tenure with the Gophers.
Postseason History
2011-12........................................ Memphis NCAA Second Round 2006-07............................. Oklahoma State NIT First Round 2005-06............................. Oklahoma State NIT First Round 2004-05............................. Oklahoma State NCAA Sweet Sixteen 2003-04.......................Louisiana-Lafayette NCAA First Round 2001-02.......................... Minnesota (NBA) Western Conference First Round 2000-01.......................... Minnesota (NBA) Western Conference First Round 1999-2000......................... Oklahoma State NCAA Elite Eight 1998-99........................................ Nebraska NIT First Round 1997-98........................................ Nebraska NCAA First Round 1996-97........................................ Nebraska NIT Third Round 1995-96........................................ Nebraska NIT Champion 1994-95........................................ Nebraska NIT First Round 1993-94........................................ Nebraska NCAA First Round 1989-90.............................................. Tulsa NIT First Round 1982-83...................................... Minnesota NIT First Round
11; 26-9 in 2011-12) and consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (2011, 2012). In addition, Memphis announced in February of 2012 that it is moving to the BIG EAST Conference for the 2013-14 season. In his first three years, Sebastian was part of Pastner’s staff that guided the Tigers to three-consecutive 20-win campaigns, three-straight postseason berths (2010 NIT, 2011, 2012 NCAA), two Conference USA Tournament titles (2011, 2012) and a C-USA regularseason crown (2012). Memphis posted 75 total wins (75-29 record) from 2010-12, making Sebastian a member of the winningest staff under a head coach (Josh Pastner) in his first three seasons in school history. Last year, Memphis, with Sebastian on board, recorded a Tigers’ trifecta, winning both the Conference USA regular season (13-3 league mark) and tournament championships and earning an NCAA Tournament berth. In fact, the Tigers made a strong surge in the final stretch to claim the league’s regular-season crown, overcoming a one-game deficit to win the title by two games in the last two weeks of the season. The C-USA title sweep was the program’s fifth in the last seven years.
University of Memphis
2012 • 13
Williams began his coaching career at his alma mater, Ashland University, as the junior varsity head coach. He accumulated a 12-3 record during the 1969-70 season. A native of Havana, Fla., Williams graduated from Ashland University in 1970, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Education. He was a college division All-American for the Eagles and helped the school to the college division national championship in 1969. 1981-82...................................... Minnesota NCAA Second Round 1980-81...................................... Minnesota NIT Quarterfinal 1979-80...................................... Minnesota NIT Runner-up 1972-73...................................... Minnesota NIT Quarterfinal 1971-72...................................... Minnesota NCAA First Round
Conference Titles
2011-12........................................ Memphis Conference USA (regular season/tournament) 2004-05............................. Oklahoma State Big 12 Conference (tournament) 2003-04.......................Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt Conference (regular season/tournament) 1993-94........................................ Nebraska Big 8 Conference (tournament) 1981-82...................................... Minnesota Big Ten Conference (regular season) 1971-72...................................... Minnesota Big Ten Conference (regular season)
In 2010-11, Memphis recorded a 25-10 record and won the C-USA Tournament held in El Paso, the program’s first league tournament crown outside the Bluff City since 1987. The Tigers put together a magical ride in the conference tournament, winning the title with a thrilling 67-66 victory over UTEP on the Miners’ homecourt. In Sebastian’s first season in 2009-10, the Tigers posted a 24-10 overall record and received a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) berth. Sebastian came to Memphis after working in the Denver Nuggets media relations department from 1994-2009, including a six-year stint (2003-09) as the department’s director. In his tenure as Denver’s media relations director, he worked with Nuggets head coach George Karl and NBA All-Stars Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. A Columbus, Ohio, native, Sebastian directed several successful campaigns for players receiving NBA All-Star and All-NBA honors, including Marcus Camby who earned the 2006-07 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. He also worked on statistical projects for the Nuggets coaches and management and assisted in the process of free agent recruiting. Sebastian was a part of the Nuggets’ resurgence from 2003-04 through 2008-09. Denver won 40 or
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