Alvin "Pooh" Williamson is in his fourth year as assistant men's basketball coach at Texas A&M and his sixth as an assistant to head coach Mark Turgeon.
Williamson followed Turgeon to A&M after two years at Wichita State, where he helped the Shockers to an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2006.
"I first met Pooh when he was first getting out of college as a player," Turgeon said. "I think he has a chance to be pretty special in this business. He has great relationships with the players. Kids are drawn to him and he's also a tremendous teacher. He likes to work individually with players and does a great job. He has the potential to be an excellent head coach some day."
Prior to that, he was an assistant coach at Tulsa for four years (2001-05) and became the Hurricanes' interim head coach midway through 2004-05 season. Williamson posted his first career victory with an 83-63 victory vs. New Mexico State on Jan. 10, 2005. He finished the season with a 7-15 record.
Williamson served as an assistant at Tulane in 2000-01. Before that, he spent two seasons as an assistant at Illinois State (1998-00), where he tutored guards Victor Williams and Tarise Bryson, the Missouri Valley Conference's Freshman and Newcomer of the Year, respectively.
Williamson spent two years (1996-98) as an assistant coach at Washington State and was instrumental in the development of starting point guard Blake Pengally, who posted 120 assists as a freshman.
A four-year letterwinner at Tulsa, Williamson played in 118 career games and was instrumental in Tulsa's back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994 and 1995. As Tulsa's point guard, Williamson averaged 38 minutes per game in six career NCAA Tournament contests. He started 63 games for the Hurricane in his final two seasons and earned first-team All-MVC and all-defensive team honors after averaging 12.8 points as a senior in 1995. Williamson completed his collegiate career ranked seventh on the school's career assists chart and 10th on the career steals list.
A native of Beggs, Okla., Williamson led Class 2A Beggs High School to two state championships. He earned his bachelor's degree in business management from Tulsa in 1995.
He and his wife, the former Rosemary Tran, have a three-year-old son, Jamal, and a one-year-old son, Joshua.
THE WILLIAMSON FILE
* Hometown: Beggs, Oklahoma
* Wife: the former Rosemary Tran
* Children: Jamal, Joshua
* Education: University of Tulsa (B.A. in Business Management, 1995)
COACHING CAREER
* 2007-: Texas A&M (assistant coach)
* 2005-07: Wichita State (assistant coach)
* Dec. 2004-05: Tulsa (interim head coach)
* 2001-05: Tulsa (assistant coach)
* 2000-01: Tulane (assistant coach)
* 1998-00: Illinois State (assistant coach)
* 1996-98: Washington State (assistant coach)
