SENATOBIA – Northwest has announced the hiring of former Alabama High School Player of the Year and Ole Miss Rebel Nick Williams as an assistant on Shane Oakley's men's basketball coaching staff, the school confirmed on Wednesday.

"I'm extremely excited to have Nick and his wife Sugarius join the Northwest family," Oakley said. "Nick came highly recommended to join our staff. His connections will enhance our program in recruiting and on-court development. Most importantly, he is a high character guy that will be able to relate to and mentor our student-athletes." 

Williams spent the past two seasons as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss under head coaches Andy Kennedy and Kermit Davis.

Prior to that, he played two years professionally overseas in Brazil and Canada and coached high school basketball in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., at Mattie T. Blount and LeFlore High School.   

A former standout 6-foot-4, 210 pound shooting guard, Williams started his college basketball career at Indiana (2008-09) before closing out his final three seasons at Ole Miss (2010-13).

Williams averaged 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and led Indiana in free throw percentage in 29 starts as a freshman. He'd go on to help the Rebels to 70 combined wins, three straight postseason berths and, as a senior, he was instrumental in helping Ole Miss reach the NCAA Tournament, claim an SEC Tournament title and win the most games in a single season in school history.

Williams is a graduate of LeFlore Prep Academy, where he was named the 2008 Alabama High School Player of the Year and was rated the No. 30 shooting guard in the nation by ESPN.com. He led LeFlore to a state championship, three state finals and a combined 126-8 record.

A member of the Alabama Challenge AAU team, Williams participated in the LeBron James Skills Academy and was invited to the NBA Top-100 Camp as a prep standout.