Drew Williamson - Men's Basketball Coach - University of Michigan Athletics

Drew Williamson

Title:
Assistant Coach / Director of Player Development

With nearly a decade and a half of coaching experience, including the last three under Dusty May at Florida Atlantic, Drew Williamson joins the University of Michigan basketball team as an assistant coach and the Director of Player Development.

After a successful collegiate playing career at Old Dominion (2003-07) as well as a professional career in Germany, Williamson entered the coaching ranks and brings 14 years of experience including stops at his alma mater ODU for two seasons, eight seasons with Division II's Virginia State and three with Florida Atlantic.

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In his first year at U-M, Williamson helped Michigan more than triple its win total from the previous season. The Wolverines posted a 27-10 overall record and finished tied for second in the Big Ten with a 14-6 record, earning the three seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

After a dominant 86-68 win over Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, U-M defeated Maryland on a last second coast-to-coast layup from Tre Donaldson, sending Michigan to the championship game. Michigan came away with the Big Ten Tournament title after a gritty 59-53 win over Maryland, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan was selected as the No. 5 seed in the south region and earned a narrow 68-65 victory over UC San Diego in the first round. Michigan advanced to its sixth Sweet 16 in its last six tournament appearances after defeating No. 4 Texas A&M, 91-79, in the second round. Michigan ultimately fell to No. 1 seed Auburn in the Sweet 16.

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In his three seasons at Florida Atlantic, Williamson helped develop the Owl post players and recorded three straight winning seasons. Overall FAU compiled a 79-27 record with a 43-13 conference record, including the 2023 Conference USA title and runner-up finishes in 2022 (CUSA) and 2024 (AAC).

With a 19-15 record in his first season in Boca Raton, the Owls closed the season with a trip to the CBI's first round, the fourth postseason tournament appearance in program history. At the time, the Owls' 19 wins tied the program record for most in a single season. FAU recorded a program-record 10-game home winning streak during the season, one of just 23 teams in Division I to do so.

The following season, Williamson helped FAU record one of the greatest seasons in program history. He helped lead the Owls to a program-record and Division I-leading 35 wins, including a Conference USA and school-record 18 conference wins. Highlighting the season was the Owls' 20-game winning streak (Nov. 14 to Jan. 28), which doubled the longest in program history and marked the third longest in CUSA play.

After securing their first regular-season title (18-2) by two games, the Owls went on to win the conference tournament after a 78-56 win over UAB to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and the program's first-ever bid.

In the NCAA Tournament, Williamson helped bring the ninth-seeded Owls to the Final Four behind a magical Cinderella run. Florida Atlantic defeated No. 8-seed Memphis 66-65 on a last-second buzzer beater and followed with a 78-70 win over No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, who knocked off No. 1 seed Purdue.

Reaching the second weekend, the Owls continued their run with a 62-55 victory over No. 4 seed Tennessee and defeated No. 3 seed Kansas State 79-76 in a regional thriller in Madison Square Garden to reach the program’s first Final Four. In Houston, No. 5 seed San Diego State used a buzzer-beater to end the Owls run with a 72-71 victory. FAU finished the season ranked fifth in the USA Today Coaches poll.

In 2023-24, Williamson helped lead the Owls through a conference transition from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference (AAC). After a 25-9 regular season mark, the Owls recorded a 14-4 record in conference play to earn a runner-up finish to South Florida.

Reaching the semifinal of the AAC Tournament, FAU earned its second straight bid to the NCAA Tournament as the eighth seed. Despite a furious comeback against ninth-seeded Northwestern, the Owls fell 77-65 in overtime, ending their season.

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Before his time in Boca Raton, Williamson spent eight seasons at Virginia State (D-II) as an assistant coach for six seasons before being elevated to the associate head coach in his final two seasons. Throughout his tenure, Williamson assisted VSU legendary coach Lonnie Blow, Jr. Together, they had a near 75 winning percentage after recording 150 wins in 202 games. The Trojans had a run of four straight 20-wins seasons recording a program record 28 in the 2018-19 campaign.

With an 87-26 record in CIAA play, Williamson helped VSU win six straight CIAA Northern Division titles, capture two CIAA Tournament crowns (2016 & 2019) and make four appearances in the NCAA DII Tournament and advancing to three regional semifinal games. It should be noted that VSU's fourth NCAA appearance in 2020 and the entire 2020-21 season was canceled due to COVID-19.

With the Trojans Williamson helped guide nine players to the All-CIAA postseason team -- Tyrece Little (2015), Lamar Kearse (2015), Elijah Moore (2016, 2017), Richard Granberry (2017, 2018), Kevin Williams (2017), Jahmere Howze (2019) and Andrew Corum (2020). Little would go on to earn the CIAA Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015, while Tyler Peterson was named to the CIAA Rookie Team that same year.

In the CIAA championship runs, VSU players Williams (MVP), Elijah Moore, Javon Moore earned All-Tournament Team honors in 2016, while Howze (MVP), Jalen Jackson, Cyonte Melvin were on the 2019 team.

Williamson was named one of the top NCAA Division II assistant coaches in the country by the Minority Coaches Association in 2020 and was one of 12 finalists for the "Next Up" Head Coaches Training Initiative.

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Williamson transitioned into his coaching career returning to his alma mater, spending two seasons as the Director of Basketball Operations under his former coach Blaine Taylor. During his time on the staff, ODU recorded 27 wins with 16 in conference play. During his first year on the staff, Old Dominion closed 22-14 and reached the CIT quarterfinal.

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During his prep career, Williamson attended Hugh M. Cummings High School in Burlington, N.C. He was named the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2003. As a star player, he scored 2,000 points and was even named the MVP of the 2002 Class 2A championship game as a junior.

As a collegiate guard, Williamson played four seasons at Old Dominion (2003-07) under Taylor. He guided ODU to 93 career wins as well as 54 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) wins. Champions of the 2005 CAA regular season (15-3) and the CAA Tournament, Williamson propelled the Monarchs to the first of two NCAA berths. Falling to Michigan State, 89-81, ODU fell in the first round.

The following season, Old Dominion advanced to the 2006 NIT Final Four, where the Monarchs fell to Michigan, 66-43, at Madison Square Garden. With a runner-up finish (15-3) in the CAA, ODU earned a second trip to the NCAA Tournament in2 007, falling to Butler, 57-46, in the first round.

As a Monarch, Williamson set the program record for not missing a game his entire career, playing in 130 consecutive games, an accolade he still holds to this day. He tallied 937 (7.2 ppg) and 397 rebounds (3.1 rpg). He ranks third all-time in steals (215) and seventh in assists (555).

After graduating with a degree in Sport and Fitness Administration/Management, Williamson played professionally in Germany Pro A League for three years. Signing with Syntainics MBC in 2007-08, he averaged 13.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. The following season he headed to Medipolis SC Jena, where he posted 12.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 30 games. In his final season, he won his League Championship in 2010 with Medi Bayreuth, averaging 8.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 27 games.

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Williamson, along with his wife Lauren, have two children together -- son, Jaden, and daughter, Avery.

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The Drew Williamson File
Born: November 11, 1984
Hometown: Burlington, North Carolina
High School: Hugh M. Cummings High School
College: Old Dominion (2007)
Degrees: Sport and Fitness Administration/Management
Wife: Lauren
Children: son, Jaden, and daughter, Avery

Career Resume

Seasons	Program	Position
2011-13	Old Dominion University	Director of Basketball Operations
2013-19	Virginia State University (DII)	Assistant Coach
2019-21	Virginia State University (DII)	Associate Head Coach
2021-24	Florida Atlantic University	Assistant Coach
2024-present	University of Michigan	Assistant Coach

Career Breakdown

Season	Program	Overall	Conf.	Finish	Tournament	Postseason
2011-12	Old Dominion	22-14	13-5	4th	CAA: Semifinal	CIT: Quarterfinal
2012-13	Old Dominion	5-25	3-15	11th	--	--
2013-14	Virginia State	14-13	7-9	4th (North)	CIAA: Opening Round	--
2014-15	Virginia State	18-8	12-4	1st (North)	CIAA: Quarterfinal	--
2015-16	Virginia State	24-6	14-2	1st (North)	CIAA: Champions	NCAA DII: Regional Semifinal
2016-17	Virginia State	22-6	13-4	1st (North)	CIAA: Semifinal	--
2017-18	Virginia State	25-5	13-3	1st (North)	CIAA: Semifinal	NCAA DII: Regional Semifinal
2018-19	Virginia State	28-5	16-1	1st (North)	CIAA: Champions	NCAA DII: Regional Semifinal
2019-20	Virginia State	19-9	12-3	1st (North)	CIAA: Quarterfinal	NCAA DII: canceled (C19)
2020-21	Virginia State	-	-	-	-	season canceled (C19)
2021-22	Florida Atlantic	19-15	11-7	t-2nd (East)	CUSA: Quarterfinal	CBI: First Round
2022-23	Florida Atlantic	35-4	18-2	1st	CUSA: Champions	NCAA: Final Four
2023-24	Florida Atlantic	25-8	14-4	2nd	AAC: Semifinal	NCAA: First Round
2024-25	Michigan	27-10	14-6	t-2nd	Big Ten: Champions	NCAA: Sweet 16
	Career Totals	283-128	160-65

Career Seasons

School	Year	Games	Overall	Conf.
Old Dominion	2	66	27-39	16-20
Virginia State	8	202	150-52	87-26
Florida Atlantic	3	106	79-27	43-13
Michigan	1	37	283-128	160-65
Career	14	411	283-128	160-65