Hall of Fame
An inaugural member of the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007, Sam Williams was also inducted in the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame. Known as the “Father of Broncs Basketball,” Williams served the university as an educator for more than three decades, and coached the Broncs to 11 winning seasons, including four of at least 20 wins, in 15 years (1959-73), as well as the 1963 NAIA National Championship. He remains the men's basketball team's all-time winningest coach with 244 victories.
After winning the 1963 NAIA National Championship, Williams earned the NAIA National Coach of the Year award. The very next season, he coached the Broncs right back to the title game in what was their third-straight post-season appearance.
Williams oversaw the Broncs’ transition into an NCAA Division I program. In their first season after the move, the Broncs won 21 games and reached the 1968 NCAA Division II Southwest Regional, where they won their first round game. Shortly after the transition, Williams became a member of the NCAA Basketball Officials Committee.
Williams was a pioneer in collegiate athletics in the late 1950s, as he was one of the first coaches to integrate his basketball program.
One of the black players Williams recruited and coached was Hall of Famer Luke Jackson, who was the MVP of the 1963 NAIA National Tournament and went on to play in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers for eight seasons (1964-72) while making the 1964-65 NBA All-Rookie Team and NBA All-Star Teams. He also won an Olympic Gold Medal.
Jackson was one of 10 players to be drafted by the NBA while Williams was the head coach. Four of those 10 played in NBA regular season games, including Howard Montgomery (San Francisco Warriors, 1962-63), Otto Moore (Detroit Pistons, 1969-71 and 1974-75, Phoenix Suns, 1971-72, Houston Rockets, 1972-73, Kansas City King, 1973-74, New Orleans Jazz, 1975-77) and Fred Taylor (Suns, 1970-71 and Cincinnati Royals, 1971-72).
The university rededicated the fieldhouse center court in Williams' honor on Nov. 20, 2010. UTPA President Robert S. Nelsen also surprised Williams by naming him head coach emeritus. Several members of the 1962-63 Broncs then presented Williams with the original NAIA National Championship banner, which had been hanging in the fieldhouse since it was built in 1969.
Williams is one of only two coaches in school history to earn emeritus status, with the other being baseball head coach emeritus and Hall of Famer Al Ogletree.
