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Feb. 19, 2019 |  By: John Coffey

Detroit Pistons' Assistant Player Dev. Coach Williams credits Northwest for mentoring him

It's a hard road for Division 2 basketball players to reach the NBA, but one former Bearcat has reached the association through the coaching ranks.  Bryston Williams is in his first season as the assistant player development coach for the Detroit Pistons.

Williams, a 2014 graduate of Northwest, joined Ben McCollum's staff as a graduate assistant in 2016 before making his way to the Memphis Grizzlies "G" League team as an assistant.  Then he got the call to join the Pistons last off-season.

He credits McCollum and the Northwest staff for mentoring him and giving him a leg up.  Now he's focused on using that knowledge to game plan for the best basketball players in the world.

"These guys have been coached by the top coaches in the NBA.  If you don't know what you are talking about, you're going to stick out and they''ll know that and they will sense it, because they've been in the league - a lot of them are veterans for ten years.  They've seen a lot of these players and they know these players' tendencies.  So you have to make sure you do your homework.  I thought here prepared me for those opportunities like that. 

Williams is working under last year's NBA Coach of the Year, Dwane Casey, and the Pistons are currently sitting in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.

He says he's enjoyed his time in Detroit, and hopes to be there for years to come.

"The NBA is a tough situation.  They always say they hire you to fire you.  The Detroit Pistons have given me an opportunity and I'm always going to be grateful for that.  I would love to be in Detroit as long as I can.  But for me, I'm trying to grow and develop, be the best I can be, and to learn as much as I can."

Williams is currently enjoying some time off during the all-star break. The Pistons will be back in action Friday against the Atlanta Hawks.