Williams Named Head Coach at the University of South Dakota

Head Women's Basketball Coach Amy Williams is leaving the Hill to accept the head coaching job at the University of South Dakota.

CLAREMORE, Okla. - Rogers State Head Women’s Basketball Coach Amy Williams announced her resignation Monday morning.

Williams, who has served at the helm of the RSU women’s basketball program since its inception in 2007, is leaving the Hill to accept the head coaching job at the University of South Dakota.

"It has been a privilege to lead the RSU women's basketball program for the past five years,” Williams said. “I would like to thank the past and present administrators, the coaches I have worked alongside, and each of the Hillcat players for making this such an unbelievable experience. I will be forever grateful for my time here and will remain a Hillcat fan for life."

The University of South Dakota is a NCAA Division I school located in Vermillion, South Dakota and is a member of The Summit League. The Coyotes made consecutive postseason tournament appearances in 2011 and 2012.

“We appreciate everything Amy Williams has given to the RSU basketball program over the past five years,” RSU Director of Athletics Ryan Bradley said. “She did an incredible job building a championship caliber program from the ground up. Although we are sad to see her go, this is a great opportunity for her and her family and we wish them nothing but the best.”

Williams replaces Ryun Williams who left USD to accept the same position at Colorado State University of the Mountain West Conference. Amy Williams was named the first head women’s basketball coach at Rogers State University in March of 2007. In just five seasons she has built a winning program at RSU. She led the Hillcats to a 13-18 record and a seventh place finish in the Sooner Athletic Conference in its first year of competition. A year later, RSU posted 18 victories and finished sixth in the league, narrowly missing out on its first national tournament appearance. In 2009-10, she led the Hillcats to a record of 21-11 and their first postseason victory. RSU knocked off four national ranked opponents and appeared in the Top 25 for the first time in 2009-10. Williams led the Hillcats to the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship game and their first ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament in 2010-11.

Last season, she guided the Hillcats to the Round of Eight at the NAIA National Tournament for the first time and tallied a 22-12 overall record.

In only five years at RSU, Williams has coached four All-Americans and holds a home winning percentage of .675 at the Claremore Expo. She has produced 17 All-Sooner Athletic Conference winners, one NAIA Scholar Athlete and eight Academic All-SAC players.

Before joining the Hillcats Williams enjoyed three stops as an assistant coach on the NCAA Division I circuit. She had successful coaching stints as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at The University of Tulsa and Oklahoma State University. She previously worked as an assistant at the University of Texas-San Antonio and was a graduate assistant at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Assistant Coach Bobby Cope has been named Interim Head Coach and will continue RSU’s recruiting efforts until a successor is named. The search for Williams’ replacement will begin immediately.