By JIMMIE TRAMEL Sports Writer on Feb 19, 2013, at 10:01 AM Updated on 2/19 at 10:03 AM
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Former University of Arkansas All-American and ex-NBA player Corliss “Big Nasty” Williamson is a third-year head coach at Central Arkansas, which is making a Tuesday night visit to the Mabee Center to face Oral Roberts.
A story about Williamson appeared in Tuesday editions of the Tulsa World. Here’s a Q and A transcript from an telephone interview with the 1994 Final Four MVP:
Are you someone who has always known that you wanted to be a coach or did you all of a sudden decided to pursue coaching when your playing career ended?
Williamson: “I’ve always wanted to be around the game of basketball. I remember as a kid trying to, in the neighborhood, coach my little brother and my cousins. We would always have two-on-two football or two-on-two basketball or something. We would try to coach the little kids. It was always something that I wanted to do. I didn’t know at what point I would take it that serious. I did a little AAU coaching while I was still playing with my oldest son (on the AAU team). As I got closer toward the end of my career, I started looking at life after being a player and coaching is something I always thought I wanted to get into.”
Knowing that you were going to get into the coaching profession, were you doing homework for your coaching career while you were playing?
Williamson: “I started taking notes and collecting all the information I could and keeping the old playbooks. I talked with some of the coaches that I was playing for at the time. I was picking their brains, trying to get a feel for coaching and what it took and their philosophy on it. Once you get a little older and your playing time decreases, you are looked upon as being more of a leader on the bench -- another coach. So I started taking time to talk to the younger guys who were coming into the league, trying to help them make that adjustment from college to the NBA. I just tried to prepare myself for the future.”
Is it fair to assume that Nolan Richardson provided the blueprint for how you want to coach?
Williamson: “Coach Richardson is pretty much the blueprint. I have played for some great coaches throughout my career -- high school, AAU, college, NBA. I’m coaching on the collegiate level, so the person that was the most successful that I have had experience with is coach Richardson. I’m definitely taking the blueprint that he had at Arkansas when he was there and trying to utilize it here at Central Arkansas and put my own spin on it.”
Does your team try to play like his teams played?
Williamson: We definitely run a similar system. We like to get up and down the court. We like to pressure in the fullcourt. It’s a fun way to play and a fun way to coach. Not everyone likes that style, but we definitely enjoy it here.”
Did you enjoy playing that style?
”I loved it as a player. We had a lot of success with it. The tempo of the game was fun. You got the fans into it. The thing I love the most is watching those other teams, once that pressure really hit and got to them, it was just like an old movie. You can see those turnovers getting ready to come. It’s just exciting.”
Who are some of the coaches you talked to about coaching while you were playing in the NBA?
Williamson: “Larry Brown in Detroit. Pete Carril (a former Kings assistant). I would meet with him on a regular basis on airplanes and everywhere in Sacramento. And not necessarily talking, but watching from being a player with them, Rick Adelman and Rick Carlisle, who, to me are two of the greatest offensive minds in the game. They were pretty much magic in the huddle when you are drawing up a play for somebody or you want to get somebody going. I really learned a lot there. And then Kevin O’Neill who was a defensive specialist in Detroit when I was there, utilizing some of the things that he taught us there as well. I have been blessed to play for so many great coaches and just their approach to the game has really helped.”
You can prepare yourself to be a coach and get a job, but what did you learn once you got a coaching job that you couldn’t have learned until you actually did it?
Williamson: “There is nothing like first-hand experience. You can sit here and have it all written out on paper. You can write up a script. But once you hit that floor and you get the guys out there and you start competing, you realize the game is a little bit faster as a coach than it as a player. You have to make those adjustments on the fly. You have to adapt to your personnel. Not everyone takes coaching the same way. You have people who respond differently. So I had to learn that. I had to learn to adjust as a coach. As a player, you could just make things happen as your own, but as a coach you recognize that there is a lot more teaching to it and it takes time for guys to understand what you want.”
Do you absolutely know in your heart of hearts that you are doing what you want to be doing?
Williamson: “Oh yes. I couldn’t do anything else. I looked at doing some real estate soon after I retired and while I was doing some coaching and it just wasn’t for me. My heart has always been set on basketball and, growing up around it, it’s really all I know and ever wanted to know. This is where I want to be.”
Tell me we’re not so old that some kids don’t know who Corliss Williamson is?
Williamson: “Some of the kids don’t. And that’s funny. People will ask me and they say’ I know you get a recruiting advantage when you go in a home and the kids know who you are.’ And I’m like, no, not exactly. The parents know me, but the kids, they may have caught a glimpse while I was still playing in the NBA. The parents really have an understanding and know the history of where I come from as far as college basketball and professional ball. To me, the thing I try to get recruits to take a look at so they can have an understanding of what we are trying to do here and where I come from is watching that ‘40 Minutes of Hell’ special that ESPN did.”
