Williams builds a rich Spartan Tradition

Josh Julius

Published 12:00 p.m., December 17, 2009

In 1977, Ann Williams was named the second head women’s basketball coach in M-State school history, replacing Gloria Peters who coached the program in its inaugural year of existence back when the school was known as Fergus Falls Community College.

The hiring of Williams has turned out to be the right one indeed as she has gone on to build one of the most respected NJCAA Division III woman’s basketball programs in the state of Minnesota.

Of the over 500 career coaching wins in Williams’ tenure at M-State, none was bigger than a 61-58 victory over Manhattan College (New York) in the 2001 NJCAA Division III National Championship Game.

Since Williams’ arrival the Lady Spartans’ tradition has become rich in winning with 16 Northwest Northern Division titles as well as a 12 year stretch from 1979-1990 without dropping a single conference game. Perhaps one of the more impressive stats on William’ resume is the fact that M-State has qualified for the state tournament more than any other team in the state, 25 times in 29 years.

M-State’s success both on and off the court can be linked directly to Williams’ ability to recruit local area talent and put together a feasible roster year in and year out.

Currently there are five active members on the M-State roster that played out their high school careers at local area schools including Ashby, Underwood, Pelican Rapids, Perham, and Fergus Falls.

Freshman guard Emily Johnson from Ashby, who has began her college career averaging 13 points per game and hitting on 45 percent of her three point attempts, admits that she has been committed to M-State and Williams’ program ever since she started walking.

“I have been signed with the Spartans since I was three years old because my mom (assistant coach Brenda Johnson) has been coaching here for almost 20 years,” Johnson said.

One could say that Williams’ recruiting techniques have become a real family affair as over 15 pairs off sisters have suited up in Spartan Blue over the years.

“I think that coming here has been such a positive experience for some players that they want their siblings to share in the same kind of experience,” Williams said.

The recruiting help of former players is a major key to Williams’ recruiting equation as she often uses the advantages of a former player giving a potential recruit another voice to listen to and help gather an opinion on the program.

“When I first make contact with a potential recruit I talk to them about our program, how we run things, the importance of academics, and getting along as a team,” Williams said. “And I’m honest with them, I tell them what positions we’re looking for and their chances of stepping into a major role immediately.”

Now, don’t let Williams’ stance on academic importance fool you like so many other college coach’s claims from around the nation have—it’s has genuine as they come.

“I’m always interested in what kind of an academic student a player is and what they might be interested in as far as their studies go,” Williams said. “I’ve been at this school for 33 years and I think our most important attribute is academics. The big thing is you’ve got to get these players on campus to talk to the academic people as well. If we don’t get them on campus, we’re probably not going to get them to come here.”

During the 2007-2008 season M-State was named to the Woman’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Honor Roll, ranking 11th in the nation among two year colleges with a 3.13 GPA.

Guard Steph Torkildson from Pelican Rapids couldn’t agree more with the outstanding learning environment that M-State provides its students after returning to attend the school after spending last year at the University of North Dakota.

“I think I needed to start at a smaller school like M-State because there’s just a better education available with the smaller classes and one on one attention that the instructors provide,” Torklidson said.

Sophomore guard Abby Wolden from Underwood decided against starting her college career at Jamestown, who had gained interest in her after seeing her perform in AAU, to become a Spartan.

“It was a nice transition from a smaller school (Underwood) to a little bigger school (M-State) rather than being overwhelmed by a huge school like Jamestown,” Wolden said.

Fergus Falls graduate Whitney Moore followed in both her mother and sister’s footsteps in coming to play for Williams. Through the first eight games of her freshman season, Moore is averaging 12 points per game for the Spartans.

“Since I was local I always knew I wanted to come here,” Moore said. “It’s fun because my old teammates and coaches from high school all come and watch me play.”

The toughest thing about Williams’ program is that in some circumstances players have got to learn how to forgive former high school enemies and accept them as a teammate.

“Whenever we played Ashby I usually had to guard Emily (Johnson),” said Wolden about her days at Underwood. “It’s nice to have her on the same team because she used to hit a lot of threes in my face back in high school.”

Another, and probably the most important reason Williams attracts so many area players to her program is her wide spread reputation as a true player’s coach.

“Coach is very understanding when you talk to her and cares about you has a person,” Perham graduate Maria Lindberg said. “She always strives to make you a better person on and off the court.”

Added Moore: “She’s serious about her basketball and pushes you because she wants you to be a better player.”

Williams’ recruiting range doesn’t stretch far beyond Southern Minnesota, nor does she feel it needs to.

“I’m looking for players that can fit into the college game that generally like to play up-tempo as well as good defense, but most importantly I want team players,” Williams said. “A player could be the best basketball player in the world, but if they’re going to focus on themselves and not the team then I don’t want them. It’s just not going to work that way. Those kinds of players aren’t going to make the people around them any better.”

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