Kent Williams is entering his 9th season as the Head Basketball Coach of the DeSmet Jesuit Spartans. DeSmet is coming off a 25-4 season where the Spartans won the MCC for the 3rd straight season. In 2024, Coach Williams stamped his print in school history by winning the programs 6th State Championship while being named MBCA Class 5 Missouri State Coach of the Year. Williams was named MCC Coach of the Year back to back seasons in 2024 & 25 and was named Class 6 District 3 Coach of the Year in 2025.

Coach Williams has completely turned the program around in his first 8 seasons at the helm. Over his 8 seasons, the Spartans are 159-65 with a winning percentage of .709 while playing some of the toughest competition in the region. Coach Williams’ Spartans are 152-54 in the last 7 seasons with a .747 winning percentage and 52-9 overall the last 2 seasons, .845 winning percentage. Williams and the Spartans set a school record with the biggest turnaround in school history from year 1 to year 2, going from 7 wins to 23 wins.

Over his 8 years, Coach Williams has helped 15 players go on to play college basketball and coached 8 more players who went on to play collegiately in another sport. During this time, the Spartans have had 5 All-State Award Winners, 18 All-District Players, and 4 1,000-point scorers. Justin Duff became the school’s All-Time Leader in 3 Point Field Goals. Riley Massey was a back-to-back All-Stater who tied Matt Baniak’s record for most wins with 93.

Coach Williams compiled an impressive profile over his playing and coaching career before arriving at DeSmet. As Southern Illinois University 2nd All-Time Leading Scorer with 2,012 points, Coach Williams helped lead the Salukis to back-to-back MVC Championships in 2002 and 2003, including back-to-back BCAA Tournaments. In 2002, the Salukis reached the Sweet 16. Coach Williams is the only player in SIU history to lead the team in scoring all 4 years. He set a school record while starting all 130 games and complied the most minutes played in school history. He’s 2nd in 3-pointers made, 2nd in Free Throws made, and 8th in Assists. Over his career, Coach Williams earned 1st Team ALL-MVC in 2002 & 2003, 2nd Team All-MVC in 2001 and was named Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in 2000. He also was the first ever 2-time MVC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2002 and 2003.

Coach Williams' coaching career began at Purdue University as the Supervisor of Basketball Operations under 2019 National Coach of the Year and 4-Time Big Ten Coach of the Year Matt Painter. During Coach Williams’ time at Purdue, the Boilermakers went from worst to 2nd in just 3 seasons while setting a record for the largest turnaround in school history. Kent coached 4 NBA Draft Picks: Carl Landry, E’Twuan Moore, JaJuan Johnson, and Robbie Hummel.

In 2008, Coach Williams became an Assistant Coach at Missouri State University under Cuonzo Martin. While at Missouri State, the Bears went from worst to 1st in 3 seasons and won the school's first and only MVC Regular Season Championship. Once again, setting a school record for the largest turnaround, the Bears went from 8 wins to 24 wins while setting school records for points per game and 3s made in a season. Coach Williams was instrumental in developing MVC Player of the Year Kyle Weems and MVC Newcomer of the Year Adam Leonard.

In 2011, Coach Williams became an Assistant Coach at the University of Tennessee. While at Tennessee, the Vols averaged 21 wins a season including a run to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2014. Coach Williams coached 3 NBA Draft Picks: Jarnell Stokes, Jordan McRae, and Josh Richardson.