Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the new boys basketball coach at Martinsville High School — Coach Jackson Williams.
I asked athletic director Kip Staggs for a comment on Coach Williams:
“Jackson Williams is off to a great start as boys basketball coach at Martinsville High School. He has a bright mind for the game and the future is bright in his hands.”
Before coming to Martinsville, if you don’t know any of his past coaching stops, Coach Williams spent the last four years as the head boys basketball coach at Greenwood Christian Academy (GCA) where he was a Cougar and finished with an overall record of 64-39.
“We had a good run,” he said, “lots of good kids, lots of good families. It was a fun ride”
He found some success in the post-season tournament and hopes to bring that to Martinsville.
He had three-of-four winning seasons, and his first year, the Cougars went 17-10 and made it to the sectional championship game. The next, his team went 19-7 and returned to the sectional championship.
In his third year at GCA, his team finished up 18-8, with the school’s first regional championship. And year four saw the Cougars go 10-14 (their first losing season in seven years), but overall, Coach Williams said he had a really good run there for four years.
“We built a really good schedule — built one of the best in small school basketball in Indiana,” he said. “We were really proud of that.
“Our kids did a great job competing against big 2, 3 and 4A schools. We really thought that helped us at tournament time getting ready to make a run.”
Speaking of tough schedules; GCA played the fifth-toughest schedule in class 1A last year out of 120 schools in the class.
“We had a lot of buy-in there — a lot of kids excited to play some really good competition,” he said. “And we are seeing the same thing here at Martinsville. We have a great conference and a great schedule lined up, and I believe our kids are excited about this challenge.
Coach Williams followed coach Jonny Marlin at GCA, and Marlin did a great job establishing the culture, players showing up for things in the summer and fall.
“When I came in, that was already the norm, so we really didn’t have to fight any of that,” Williams said. “The style of every coach is different, but his teams played so hard. So when we came in and demanded a high level of play — hard-nose play — that was something that was not new to the kids and their families.”
Coaching wise, Williams had also spent two years at Center Grove and a year at Shelbyville, before spending two years at GCA as an assistant and transitioning to head coach for the next four years.
As a high school player, Williams graduated from Center Grove in 2016 where he was the team captain his senior year. He played for two coaches in that time, Zach Hahn and Cliff Hawkins.
“Awesome playing for both guys and being part of the program,” Williams said. “Each guy is very different, and each guy is very good at what they do — Coach Hawkins with his motion offense and Coach Hahn just defensively and all the different offenses he knows and has experiences with. He was awesome in a scouting perspective, I really learned a lot as a player and then going back and coaching for him.”
Williams was also a multi-sport athlete in high school and furthered his education at Franklin College.
“Yes, played golf and basketball in high school and had a good four years at Franklin College playing golf,” Williams said. “It was a fun way to go through college. I ended up having some success there individually — ended up going into teaching. Golf wasn’t for forever — but a fun way to go through school.”
As for how his playing days in basketball and golf prepared him as a coach?
“I think it’s important that I get to see all the different aspects as an athlete,” Williams said. “As a basketball player, I wasn’t the best player on my team, so I’m able to teach and relate to a lot of our kids who are those role kids who don’t always feel super valued. But I’m also able to relate to the kids who can really put it in the hole and spend a lot of time on the floor. It’s nice to be prepared to be able to handle different variety of kids on the team.”
Williams also spoke about his mentors and role models in life and in coaching.
“My dad would be my first,” he said. “Dad was a college coach and then a high school coach. He’s been with me every step of the way, helping me handpick jobs — where I wanted to go, where I wanted to be. He had a big hand on helping me decide on Martinsville.
“George Grubbs is another guy with me, kinda in a volunteer capacity. He was a coach in Illinois for a long time under Ron Felling. He moved to Indiana, and we met at CG.
“And the last one is definitely Coach Hahn — learning from him as a player and then awesome to coach for. I really appreciate my time with him. Lots of hours picking his brain and talking to him about different aspects of his program and kinda taking everything of the coaches I’ve been around and making it my own.”
So why did Williams want to be a coach in the first place?
“The biggest reason I want to coach is to help kids,” he said. “Whether that’s a basketball perspective or a life perspective — the skills we get from playing high school sports is something that can’t be replaced. Learning to be part of a team, learning to value a role, learning to value others, just working extremely hard — I think those are all things that we are trying to teach our players everyday that carryover to the classroom and after high school.”
As for his transition from 1A to 4A ball, Williams is excited by the opportunity.
“I think it’s a fun challenge. It’s nice to be back in the 4A game,” he said. “As a player, being an assistant, now I’m back coaching — a great opportunity for our staff, for our kids. We have a fun schedule, a challenging schedule, that we are looking forward to play this year.”
What’s this year’s edition of Martinsville boys basketball going to look like?
“I hope that people come out and watch us and see a team that plays extremely hard and cares about one another,” Williams said. “I think offensively, we want to share the basketball and take great shots. And defensively, we want to get after it and hopefully start laying the foundation to have one of the top defensive teams in all of high school basketball.”
Borrowing a line from the beloved movie, “Hoosiers” — Coach, what defense are you going to use? Man to man or zone defense?
“A little bit of everything,” he chuckled. “So hopefully, we are a little dynamic on that side of the ball.
He’s also excited about this year’s schedule.
“Non-conference hopefully gets us ready to play the tournament,” he said. “We are playing in the Wabash Valley Tournament in Terre Haute. We will see great teams, great atmosphere, sold-out gyms. It will get rowdy, a fun environment. Gets us ready for March!”
And the Mid-State Conference offers plenty of challenges.
“Great conference, great level of basketball, great coaches, great players — a fun challenge night in and night out, every single night!
After a long season, the joys, the thrills and excitement of the tournament await.
“There’s nothing like it!” William said. “Tournament time in Indiana, high school basketball — anything can happen. You gotta be playing your best ball at the end of the year. Hopefully, you build a schedule tough enough for your kids for what’s coming and you reap the benefits.”
As for his family, Williams is getting married in the spring to Colleen, who teaches in Shelbyville.
“This is her third season with me,” he joked. “My mom and sister are both teachers in the Center Grove corporation and dad teaches at Hauser. We are kinda all over the place!
Spare time coach, any hobbies, fun things he likes to do?
“Love to read, love to fish. If I’m outside, you’ll definitely find me fishing or playing golf. If I’m inside, watching basketball, watching baseball, watching college football on a Saturday.
As for his golf game?
“Not what it used to be, but it’s OK!” he said.
Martinsville fans: Let’s get behind the Artesians. I think it’s going to be a fun season!
“It’s Great to be an Artesian!”
Dave Rinehart is a Martinsville native who’s been involved in sports for most of his life, including coaching, refereeing and 29 years as the sports broadcaster on the local radio station.
