Monty Williams (center) stands with other World Basketball Festival Team USA assistant coaches in 2014. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / TonyTheTiger

Fired NBA coach and former Spur Monty Williams is heading back to the Alamo City to serve as head coach for boys’ basketball at private high school TMI Episcopal.

The former Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons coach will replace Spurs legend Bruce Bowen in the position, the school said in a Sunday Instagram post. Bowen won championships with the Silver and Black in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Williams to this position and look forward to the future of our basketball program under his leadership,” the Instagram post said.

Williams and his wife recently relocated to the San Antonio area, where his two sons, Elijah and Michael, are enrolled at TMI Episcopal. Williams played three seasons with the Spurs, ending his tenure with the team in 1998.

Elijah Williams is ranked as the nation’s 11th-best high school basketball prospect, according to high school athletics site Rivals.

Williams’ foray into coaching high school hoops comes after a disastrous season in Detroit, where the Pistons racked up an abysmal 14-68 record. Williams was sacked at the end of the season, and the team will pay out the remaining $65 million guaranteed under his contract over the next five years.

Even so, Williams was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2022 after leading the Phoenix Suns to a franchise-best 64-18 season. The Suns would later collapse in the playoffs after leading two games to none in the Western Conference semi-finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

The TMI Episcopal Panthers went 23-19 last season.

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This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...