Joe Williams was an American college basketball coach.
He was head coach of the Jacksonville University men’s basketball team from 1964 to 1970, Furman University from 1970 to 1978, and the Florida State University men’s team from 1978 to 1986.
William was an assistant coach at Furman when he took over the Jacksonville program in 1964, and the school played in the NAIA for one more season before moving to the NCAA.
He left Jacksonville after the title game appearance and returned to Furman, where he coached until 1978 before heading to Florida State.
Joe finished with a record of 336-231 over 22 seasons and was inducted into the Jacksonville University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.
Two years later, Furman University also inducted the former coach Williams into their Hall of Fame as well.
Joe Williams Cause Of Death: How Did Basketball Coach Joe Williams Die?
On Saturday, March 26, 2022, the famous coach passed away at age 88.
According to his son Williams Jr., coach Joe Williams, died at his home in Enterprise, Mississippi, while in hospice care after a long battle with cancer.
His son remembers him for his willingness to allow black players on his teams in the early 1960s, in spite of the ongoing racism in the area he found himself.
“He was one of the first coaches in the South to do that,” his son said, per ESPN.
“If Dad was traveling with the team and there was a restaurant where the whole team couldn’t eat together, Dad would just pack the whole team up and they’d go to a restaurant where they could.”
William is survived by his wife Wendy, children, Blake and Joe Williams Jr.