Aug. 29, 2012

AMHERST, Mass. - Massachusetts men's basketball coach Derek Kellogg officially announced the hiring of Marlon "Smoke" Williamson as assistant coach on the Minutemen staff.

Williamson has spent the past nine years working with The Family, an AAU program in Detroit, Mich. where he served as President of Youth Operations and Head Coach.

"I am excited to have Marlon on our staff," Kellogg said. "He has strong recruiting ties and a great knowledge of the game. His ability to relate to student-athletes and teach will be an asset to the program."

Williamson's duties with The Family included opponent scouting, practice scheduling, monitoring of the athletes' academic progress and counseling them on educational programs.

Some of the top players to emerge from The Family include Joe Crawford (Kentucky), Jordan Crawford (Indiana & Xavier), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis), Draymond Green (Michigan State) and Malik Hairston (Oregon).

He was a four-year letterman at Youngstown State from 1999-2003, serving as team captain during his senior season. As a starting point guard, he averaged 8.1 points, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game en route to being named to the Horizon League's All-Defensive Team and Youngstown's team MVP.

Kellogg was an assistant coach for the Penguins during Williamson's freshman campaign in 1999-2000.

"He was a young man I watched go from a player to a man with a family," Kellogg added. "He never backed down from a challenge and always gave 100 percent."

Williamson received a bachelor's degree in Global Studies from Youngstown State in 2012. He and his wife Angela have a 3-year-old daughter, Marli.

Along with his coaching duties, Williamson spent four years as Corporate Trainer with Associated Community Services, two years as Director of Purchasing and Sales with Charter Schools Administrative Services and two years as Transportation Manager with ABC Transportation.