LOWELL, MA (July 12, 2007) – Devonna Williams, a native of Mattapan, MA, was named an assistant on the UMass Lowell women’s basketball coaching staff, Head Coach Kathy O’Neil announced Friday.

Williams, who brings 13 years of coaching experience and six years as a head coach, replaces former assistant Dennis Masi, who recently was named, along with former UML player and assistant Aliya Cox, to the Fairfield University staff.

“Devonna will work very well with our post players,” said O’Neil, who will open her 23rd year at UML. “She has a great personality and is very passionate about basketball. She has been around the game a long time and is a very good addition to our staff.”

Williams joins the River Hawks after serving as director of athletics at Roxbury Community College 2006-07 year. Previously, she was an assistant coach at Emmanuel College, which followed head coaching stints at SUNY Potsdam and Dickinson (PA), as well as assistant posts at the University of Pennsylvania, Springfield and Salem State.

“I am extremely excited to work at UMass Lowell because I’ve known Kathy for a long time, and it’s great to have an opportunity to work with her,” Williams said. “This program has done very well through the years and I think we are going to have a very good team this year. I’m very excited to be here.”

Williams entered the coaching ranks in 1992 at Salem State for coach Tim Shea, helping the Vikings to the 1993 and 1994 NCAA Tournaments as well as the 1993-94 Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) regular season and tournament championships.

UML returns 11 of 13 players from the 2006-07 squad, including four of five starters.

She moved on to Springfield as a graduate student, where she served under long-time head coach Naomi Graves for the 1995-96 season – Springfield’s first as a Division III school – while pursuing her master’s degree in education.

Williams then served as an assistant at UPenn from 1996-99 under coach Julie Sorriero, helping the Quakers from a 6-20 clip (2-12 in the Ivy League) in 1996-97 to a 13-13 record (8-6 Ivy) in 1997-98 and a 12-14 (8-6) showing in 1998-99. 

Williams was named the head coach at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, in 1999, where she remained until 2002-03. She guided the Red Devils to steady improvement each season. Though she left in 2003 to accept the head post at Potsdam, Dickinson’s team of 2003-04 advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

At Potsdam, Williams served as head coach from 2003-05, and returned to her native Boston where she was an assistant at her alma mater, Emmanuel College, for coach Andy Yosinoff for the 2005-06 season. She helped guide the Saints to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular season championship as well as the ECAC Division III Tournament final.

At Roxbury CC, Williams oversaw seven men and women’s athletic teams, which included the addition of men’s and women’s track and field and men’s soccer.

Williams earned her undergraduate degree in business management from Emmanuel in 1992 and stands as one of the best players in Saints history. A second team All-American as a senior, she compiled 1,135 points and currently ranks 10th on the all-time scoring list. She was inducted into the Emmanuel College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.

Williams’ college career followed an impressive career at Boston Latin H.S., where she was a three-time Dual County League all-star and helped the Dragons to state tournament appearances as a junior and a senior.

She was inducted into the Boston Latin Hall of Fame in 1998.

Williams resides in Woburn, MA