Jamaal Williams, in his second year as an assistant basketball coach for the Vikings, has a knack for developing big-time basketball talent.
           
Williams helped develop six current NBA players (seven overall) during his time assisting former Portland Trailblazer Brandon Roy (with whom he played at the University of Washington) at basketball powerhouses Garfield and Nathan High Schools in Seattle and as coach for the Seattle Rotary Nike EYBL Team. Three of those players – Paolo Banchero of Duke, Tari Eason of LSU, and MarJon Beauchamp from the G League – were drafted in the first round of this summer's NBA Draft.
           
Not all developed at the same rate and that's one of the major draws to coaching for Williams.
           
"Sometimes, I could see from the beginning that they had a chance to be special.  It all just depended on things working out the right way for them," he said.
           
Paolo Banchero, formerly of Duke, became a number one draft pick for the Orlando Magic. He was one who showed his possibilities  to Williams early.
           
"You could tell from day one, he could be special.  He had the size and tools and just needed to build his confidence in competing at the high school level," he said.  When Banchero was a high school freshman, Williams convinced his parents that he could play at the 17u level with his AAU team.  "We went to the first EBYL stop in Dallas where he drove down the lane early in the game and dunked it.  Things took off from there," he said.
           
And Banchero appreciated Williams' contribution to his development.  "Coach Maal will forever be one of my favorite coaches.  He was one of the first coaches who truly believed in my ability and allowed me to be me on the basketball court, while still coaching me hard and holding everyone accountable.  He is a great basketball mind who can relate to players on and off the court with the experience he's had as a player," he once told an interviewer.
             
He also coached the Minnesota Timberwolves' Jaden McDaniels on his AAU team.
           
"You could see the talent and the work he put into being a great player.  He just needed to be showcased and given the confidence to lead.  Our Seattle Rotary staff did that and in one summer we saw him go from the 82^nd-ranked player in the country to the fourth-ranked player, Williams said. "He also finished the summer as the number one draft pick next year."
           
Tari Eason, #17 draft pick with the Houston Rockets, was another of his players at Garfield High School.
           
"He developed through his high school career and his senior year, we saw him make that jump into that elite category," Williams recalled.
           
Eason led Garfield to a 25-point win in the 3A championship over Banchero's O'Dea team.  "Tari is proof that it doesn't matter how you start out.  As long as you keep working, you'll have a chance to make your dreams come true," he said.
           
Of his other three current NBA players, Williams said:
           
Jaylin Nowell (Minnesota Timberwolves)— "Jaylin was always a gifted scorer, from the moment I met him when he was 13-years-old.  We won two state titles together and he was the team leader during his sophomore championship season.  He was able to build upon that gift and that made him really good."
           
Michael Porter Jr. (Denver Nuggets)— "Getting the chance to coach MPJ his senior season, it was amazing to see a kid so polished and developed as a high school player.  His understanding of how to play and when he needed to take over and do certain things made him a man amongst boys.  There was no doubt that he would do everything he has done and will continue doing as his career progresses."
 
MarJon Beauchamp (Milwaukee Bucks)— "I was only able to coach him for two years.  He was injured most of his freshman season, but he made huge strides as a sophomore.  He had some big games for the 2017-18 3A state championship team.  Watching him grow up and mature through his journey you could see this growth both physically and mentally.  I'm not surprised he's where he is now."
           
With players like those, it's not surprising he has a long list of highlights already in his relatively young coaching career.  Besides helping develop the NBA players, they include five Washington State Championships, the 2017 National High School Championships, 24 Division I basketball scholarship players and four McDonald's All-Americans.
           
It was those statistics and a long-term relationship that convinced Viking Head Coach Jase Coburn to offer Williams his first college coaching job.
           
"I first met Coach Williams when he was coaching the Seattle Rotary AAU program.  He had a great reputation as a player.  We stayed in touch over the years and when I had an opening I offered him the job right away," said Coburn.
           
What makes Williams a great coach?  "I don't know how else to say this, but he just 'gets it'.  He understands how to have genuine relationships with our team, not just by being a friend, but by being a good coach.   Players need to hear the truth and he can deliver those messages in the right way to get the point across…and the players listen to it.  He also is a great floor coach and can make adjustments on the fly," Coburn said.
           
Williams works with the Viking big men and is responsible for recruiting and scouting.  "He has a great work ethic and brings fresh new ideas, whether it's on the floor or recruiting.  He's a tremendous player development coach," Coburn said.  He credited Williams with the continued improvement of junior Jacob Eyman and sophomore Hayden Curtiss last season (both 6'10" big men).  "Without him, we wouldn't have made that late season run," Coburn said.

And Williams was important enough in the development of one of his former Garfield high and AAU players that he transferred to PSU from Pepperdine to be with him. Sophomore Guard Kendall Munson credits Williams with "impacting my game in a tremendous way and he has a special ability to relate to his players.  He has taught me multiple lessons on and off the court."
           
Coaching has been a goal for Williams since high school.
             
"When my playing days were over, I wanted to transition into coaching on some level," he said.  A communications major, his other options were writing or commenting about basketball on TV for a magazine.
           
His favorite part of the job is "teaching and watching the players apply to the game what we have worked on and seeing their success.  I love the journey of working as a group with one common goal to win and seeing how we fare at the end of the season."
             
Williams enjoys "being able to pass down the life lessons and skills I've learned through my basketball travels to kids as they chase their dreams in basketball and life."
           
And those life lessons are diverse.  After college, Williams played professionally in Italy, France, Iceland, Argentina, Israel and the Philippines.  Rather than just show up to practices and games, he tried to embrace each country's culture "with the willingness to learn and adapt to the lifestyle that they lived.  It allowed me to make friends and, now with social media, be able to maintain those friendships."
             
At this point, Coburn is quite pleased with his hire. "Williams has a great work ethic and he's a great communicator. He is great when a player or the team are going through a tough time.  He can get everyone back on track.  I think all our players would tell you how valuable that is to our team."