GREENE COUNTY
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Derrick Williams/File Photo
Over the past couple years, Greene County athletics have seen an uptick in production, and Derrick Williams played a big role in that.
Williams has been the girls’ basketball head coach for the past two seasons and was promoted to athletic director by Greene’s principal Eddie Hood at the beginning of this school year.
After the basketball season ended, Williams decided it was best for him and his family to leave the program for a job at Strom Thurmond High School in Johnston, South Carolina.
Williams currently resides about 20 minutes outside Johnston and told the Lake Oconee News that at the end of the day, it just made more sense for him.
“I signed my contract [Tuesday], and I’m going to Strom Thurmond High School in South Carolina. It’s actually where my wife went to high school, so we have some connections there,” Williams said. “Most people know I live in Aiken, SC, so now I’ll only be 20 minutes away from work, and I’ll get to work with a familiar face in middle Georgia, Dr. Allen Gray, who used to be the principal at Washington County, is now the principal of the school I’m going to.”
Williams’ overall experience coming in helped prepare him to try and bolster all Greene County sports programs.
Before becoming a Tiger, Williams coached at multiple different locations all across the state such as Lincoln County and Rock Springs Christian Academy, and he’s even spent a couple of years as a basketball coach in Wyoming.
Williams also came in with a little experience as an athletic director for Nathanael Greene Academy years ago.
Even with all of the knowledge he brought to the position, Williams believed that Greene County helped him progress as a person and in his occupation.
“I learned a lot about myself as a coach and that you can’t do everything yourself. I was pretty fortunate to have good staff members by my side the past couple of years,” Williams said. “At previous programs, I had to try and do it all by myself, but I had a great administration that helped get me the things I needed to help Greene County sports excel.”
When he took over as the Tigers’ athletic director last May, one of Williams’ goals was to build the foundations for winning sports programs at Greene County, and he can say he’s contributed to that.
To start, Williams took a girls' basketball program that finished the 2020-21 season with a 6-14 record to new heights over the last two years.
The Lady Tigers won six more games the following season going 11-12 in his first year as head coach. In 2022-23, the program progressed even more by finishing the season with a winning record, and the Lady Tigers won their first state playoff game since 2009.
As his main sport, Williams will miss the squad he leaves behind but acknowledged that he enjoyed coaching them and that they will continue to do great things.
“I can’t say enough about the girls. For two years, we basically had the same team, and I don’t know how often that happens at a Class 1A school,” Williams said. “They’re going to be a good group regardless of who steps in, and I think this is a good opportunity for them to make that next step.”
Girls’ basketball wasn’t the only sport Williams has helped develop recently.
The Tigers’ football team also finished with its first winning record in a couple of years this past season. Williams worked well with head coach Terrance Banks to get the atmosphere at Tiger Stadium more suitable for winning football.
With the help of home-field advantage, Greene County’s young team ended as the second-place team in the region before losing in the first round of the state playoffs.
Not only did he help facilitate football’s success, but Williams also helped bring about a more successful men’s basketball program at Greene County as well. Even though the Tigers didn’t have the results they would have liked, the program still won a handful more games than it did the year before, even after battling through injuries.
Even the less popular sports at Greene County have recently been on the rise.
The Tigers’ baseball program just won its first game in recent memory not too long ago, and both soccer programs have made progress compared to where they used to be.
Overall, Williams believes sports at Greene County High School are trending upward and that he’s glad to have played a role in that.
“I definitely think sports are on the upswing. If you go back and look to start the year, our volleyball team won its first-ever match, and you can tell how Greene County is growing by looking at the growth of that program,” Williams said. “Both track teams were able to send girls and boys to state this past year, and most other sports have started to see improvement also. As a whole, I can’t complain about the trajectory of Greene County athletics.”
Even though he’s taking a step back into an assistant role at his new school, Williams is excited for his future closer to home and acknowledged that he’ll be able to learn a lot under his new mentor.
“Dr. Gray is actually the head girls' basketball coach, and a lot of people will know him because his daughter is Allisha Gray, who is a great WNBA player that just won a gold medal with the 3-on-3,” Williams added. “For me, it means a lot that I’m going to be able to learn under him, because we’ve had some great talks and good conversations about basketball, and now I’ll be able to take a step back and enjoy everything a little more.”