One big reason Auburn basketball's Bruce Pearl hired Corey Williams? His Texas ties
AUBURN — New Auburn basketball assistant Corey Williams has quite the resume.
He played four seasons at Oklahoma State from 1988-92 before getting drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the No. 33 overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He appeared in 35 games as a rookie and won a championship in 1993, though he didn't exactly have the same impact as his teammates Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Williams was also selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 12th round of the 1992 NFL Draft, but he never played in the league. He comes to Auburn with over two decades of coaching experience, including stops as an assistant at his alma mater, Oral Roberts, Florida State, Arkansas and, most recently, Texas Tech.
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He's a Macon, Georgia, native and is replacing Wes Flanigan, who left Pearl's bench this offseason to join Chris Beard at Ole Miss. With the pipeline Auburn has built from Georgia to the Plains in recent years − Sharife Cooper, Walker Kessler and Jabari Smith Jr. come to mind − one may think Pearl brought Williams in to continue that trend.
But he's actually interested in a different state.
"The fact that he was most recently from Texas Tech, had spent a lot of time down there (was important)," Pearl said at an AMBUSH event in Huntsville on Thursday. "With Texas, Oklahoma (joining the conference soon), and A&M already in the league, I think Texas could be the next place that we might want to go and start to recruit."
The Tigers haven't gone into the Lone Star state and pulled out a high school recruit in Pearl's nine-year tenure at Auburn. The closest they came was in 2018 with the addition of J'Von McCormick, who signed to play for Pearl after spending two seasons at Lee College in Baytown, Texas.
Before junior college, McCormick played at Mayde Creek High School in Houston.
Pearl also pointed to the coaches Williams has been around throughout his career; he played for hall of fame coach Eddie Sutton in college. Kansas coach Bill Self was an assistant on Sutton's staff at that time, as was Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, who later hired Williams as an assistant at FSU in 2007.
"Just the people he worked for," Pearl said in Atlanta on Tuesday. "When you've got ... that family tree on your resume, it speaks volumes. ... It just checks a lot of boxes for us."
Williams has head coaching experience, too. He led Stetson to a 58-133 record from 2013-19 and stepped in as the interim coach for the Red Raiders last season at the Big 12 Tournament after coach Mark Adams was suspended by the university.
As an assistant, Williams has landed two four-star recruits as a primary recruiter, according to 247Sports. He helped the Seminoles gain a commitment from Jarquez Smith in the Class of 2013 and assisted the Razorbacks in inking Chance Moore, a shooting guard in the Class of 2021.
"Just an incredible pedigree, and he's a really good man," Pearl said of Williams. "Of course, he played in the NBA with Michael Jordan (and) won a ring. He can help our guys know what are the things they need to do to get there. He's got God in his life, and he's excited about being at Auburn."
Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Corey Williams' ties to Texas lead to spot on Auburn basketball staff
