The flagship program for Rogers State athletics will have a new leader at the helm this fall.

The Hillcat athletic department announced former associate head men's basketball coach Lloyd Williams has been elevated to head coach for the 2008-09 season. The announcement coincides with former head coach and current athletic director Wren Baker's move to fulltime athletic administration. 

"This is an exciting day for RSU athletics and Hillcat basketball," Baker said. "Lloyd Williams is an outstanding coach and will be a terrific leader for our men's basketball program."
 

Baker added that the personnel moves were in the best interests of the athletic department as a whole.
 

"The rapid growth and success of RSU athletics brings with it an intensified level of demands and expectations," Baker said. "It's our desire to approach each season with a level of excellence that will put our teams in position to win championships. I believe that the men's basketball team deserves the full attention of their head coach and the other student- athletes deserve the full attention of their athletic director."
 

Williams joined the RSU staff in 2006 as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He helped assemble the school's first ever men's basketball team in 2007-08 and was promoted to associate head coach prior to start of the Hillcats inaugural season. The Cats posted a 20-11 record and finished fifth in the prestigious Sooner Athletic Conference in their first year of competition.
 

"I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to be the head coach at Rogers State," Williams said. "I have worked hard my whole life for this moment and I can't think of a better place to begin my career as a head coach."
 

Williams is a former assistant coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio, an NCAA Division I-A member school. He served on the Roadrunners staff for three seasons after completing a standout career as a player for UTSA. The Dallas native was a four-year starter and finished his career as the school's all-time leader in assists and steals. He was named to the All-Southland Conference team and was honored as UTSA's most valuable player as a senior.
 

Before joining RSU, Williams worked as the head freshmen boys' basketball coach at Jenks High School in 2005-06. He led the Trojans to a 19-5 record and a Frontier Conference Tournament Championship in his lone season with the club. Williams also served a one-year stint as the assistant varsity and head junior varsity girls basketball coach at Stillwater High School in 2003-04.

"I'm excited to have the opportunity to coach a talented group of young men who I'm very comfortable with," Williams said. "I look forward to building on the winning foundation that has already been laid here."
 

Williams' wife Amy serves as the head women's basketball coach at RSU. The couple has a two-year-old daughter named Kennadi and live in the Claremore area.

"My wife and I love this university and the community and we're very excited to have the chance to coach alongside each other in such a great environment."
 

Baker was hired as RSU's first athletic director and head men's basketball coach in Feb. 2006. In addition to his coaching duties he has overseen fundraising initiatives, the implementation of four new athletic programs, and numerous facility upgrades over the past two years. The university currently fields six NAIA programs (men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, baseball and softball) plus rodeo and cheerleading programs. The Hillcats plan to implement a number of new athletic programs in the near future.
 

"We are very proud of what's been accomplished by all of our athletics programs in a short period of time," Baker said. "This is another step in the right direction as we aim to build a proud tradition of Hillcat athletics."
 

For more information on Hillcat athletics visit www.rsuhillcats.com.