Georgia State names Travis Williams as interim head men’s basketball coach

Travis Williams, a former Georgia State basketball standout, was named the interim head coach of the Panthers’ men’s basketball program Tuesday by director of athletics Charlie Cobb.

Williams, a native of Tifton, was an assistant for the Panthers under outgoing head coach Ron Hunter, who was hired as Tulane’s head coach.

“Travis Williams is everything of what it means to be a Panther,” Cobb said. “He knows what it means to be a student-athlete at Georgia State because he played here and has succeeded in every season he has been seated on our bench. I look forward to working with him during this time.”

Williams scored more than 1,000 career points at Georgia State, where he graduated in 1995 and earned a master’s in sports administration in 1999. He became a member of legendary coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell’s staff, then returned to the program last season as an assistant coach, guiding the Panthers to a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

In five total seasons as an assistant coach at Georgia State, Williams has been a part of four regular season conference championships, two conference tournament championships, two NCAA Tournaments and one NIT.

“I’m extremely thankful to director of athletics Charlie Cobb for allowing me this opportunity during this time of transition,” Williams said. “Georgia State has meant the world to me throughout my career and I look forward to working with our young men during this time.”

Williams first served as assistant coach at Georgia State from 1999-2003. During that tenure with the Panthers, the program produced three conference regular season championships and one conference tournament championship. While at GSU, the Panthers defeated two top-25 teams (No. 15 St. Josephs and No. 23 Georgia) and produced an upset over No. 6 seed Wisconsin in the 2001 NCAA Tournament — that team posted the first 20-win season in school history, finishing 29-5.

In 2001-02, the Panthers had another 20-win season and advanced to the championship game, bowing out by a single point in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament before receiving a bid to the NIT.

This past season, Georgia State went 24-10 winning both the Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament titles before advancing to the NCAA Tournament last week.