Marlon Williams has a plan in place for the Little Rock Central girls basketball program, and there's nothing complex about it.
Hard work, however, is required.
"I just want to help the girls improve and continue to develop their skills," said Williams, who was recently chosen as the Lady Tigers new head coach. "We want to improve the culture, but we also want to have fun. We're going to work and continue to build, but we want to enjoy ourselves while we do it.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to contend pretty soon."
Williams is taking over for Michael Green, who retired from the program in April after 26 years at the helm. Green went 397-297 and won four conference titles during his tenure at Central, but the past two seasons were down years by his standards.
The Lady Tigers went a combined 19-31 over that stretch, including 7-16 during 2019-20. Little Rock School District Athletic Director John Daniels believes better days are ahead under Williams.
"We had a lot of applicants for that job, and he really stood out," he said. "Just from his professionalism and his ability to communicate and understand parents and kids. That's what we need.
"I've seen him coach, and he understands the dynamics of the game and how to teach the fundamentals, which is so important. He's excellent at that, and at the end of the day, he was just a hard guy to pass over."
Williams was the head boys basketball coach at England in 2002 but has spent the past 18 years working in the Conway School District. Prior to taking over at Central, he was Conway Blue's junior high girls coach for nine years, where he won five conference titles.
The Brinkley native got a chance to meet several members of his new team Thursday and said he initial interaction with them went smoothly.
"We had a little workout, and everything went well," he noted. "I didn't have everybody there, but I had more than half probably. It was a nice-sized group where we were able to get some work down while keeping the social distancing in place.
"It was perfect to be honest. I'm just ecstatic to be getting the opportunity to do this with this program. It's really an exciting time for me."
Sports on 06/05/2020