With a couple of seasons under her belt at UNF, Paula Williams enters her third year as an assistant coach for the UNF women’s basketball team after a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Wichita State.

“The UNF women’s basketball program has a reputation of excellence both academically and athletically,” Williams said. “I’m excited to be part of the transition process to Division I that is taking place here and to be working with a head coach who has the type of influence and success that coach Tappmeyer has had.”

Williams’ duties at UNF include recruiting and working with the guards as well as scouting and fundraising. Tappmeyer said Williams’ knowledge of the Atlanta area and the Midwest will prove invaluable with the team’s recruiting efforts.

“Paula has had the opportunity to learn a lot under the tutelage of Wichita State coach Jane Albright and North Carolina State coach Kay Yow,” Tappmeyer said. “She knows how to win, gives us a wealth of coaching experience and brings great knowledge of the game to our program.”

While at Wichita State, coaching both the guards and post players, Williams watched as Shockers guard Lexee McDonnell hit 48 shots beyond the arc in 2005-06, a mark that ranks fifth all-time on the single season list for made 3-pointers at Wichita State. During that season, Williams helped lead the Shockers to a 12-3 record at home and the third-best turnaround in the nation after the team won 10 more games than the previous year, turning a 5-22 mark into a 15-13 record.

Other responsibilities at Wichita State included recruiting, coordinating camps, scouting opponents and serving as the team’s academic liaison. Members of the Wichita State women’s basketball team combined for a 3.30 team GPA in the spring of 2007, which marked the team’s highest grade point average in 10 years.

Prior to her time at Wichita State, William worked at North Carolina State as a graduate assistant under Yow, a Naismith Hall of Fame coach. Along with scouting and statistical duties at N.C. State, where Williams earned her masters degree in education, she worked the team’s summer camps and also worked camps at Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Furman.

An all-conference and all-region selection as well as an academic All-American, Williams played collegiate basketball at Brevard (N.C.) College. She served as the team’s captain her final two years and was also named team MVP those years. Williams graduated from Brevard in 2001 with bachelor’s degrees in both math and exercise science.

While attending Brevard, she spent a month in Cape Town, South Africa, during the summer of 2000, as a missionary for the International Sports Federation. Williams was involved in coordinating clinics at schools and community centers while also competing in exhibition games against local universities and club teams. She also started the first Youth Basketball of America team for girls age 15-and-up in Transylvania County while at Brevard.

Originally from Atlanta, Williams said she is enjoying being closer to family and living near the beach. Williams and husband Ryan welcomed their first child, Paige, on June 12, 2008.