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CHARLOTTESVILLE—Ron Sanchez and Jason Williford have been named assistant coaches and Brad Soucie has been named the director of basketball operations with the Virginia men’s basketball program. UVa men’s head basketball coach Tony Bennett announced the appointments on Wednesday (April 15).
“One of the priorities for me was to fill my staff as soon as possible, but also make sure we got the right individuals,” Bennett said. “I feel good about the people we’ve assembled for this staff. Ritchie McKay is our associate head coach and has lots of head coaching experience at the Division I level. Ron Sanchez and Jason Williford are young go-getters who are hands on guys in developing players and really have a passion for recruiting. In Brad Soucie, we have someone in the basketball operations position with significant collegiate basketball experience.
“I feel good about the individuals on this staff and think the young men in our program will enjoy working with them. I believe we can really hit the ground running.”
Sanchez was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Washington State University the last three years. During that period the Cougars participated in the NCAA Tournament twice and in the National Invitation Tournament once. Washington State reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2008. The Cougars tied the school record with 26 victories in both 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Prior to serving as an assistant coach at Washington State, Sanchez was the coordinator of men’s basketball operations for the Cougars for three years. He joined the staff at Washington State after spending two years as a volunteer assistant in the men’s basketball program at Indiana. While at Indiana, he earned his master’s degree in athletic administration/sports management. Indiana finished as runner-up for the NCAA Championship in 2002.
Sanchez is a 1997 graduate of the State University of New York College at Oneonta where he played basketball. He was named the State University of New York Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 1996. He also earned the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship Most Valuable Player award that season.
Sanchez was an assistant coach at SUNY-Oneonta in 1998-99 and served as associate head coach at Delhi College (N.Y.) for two years. Delhi posted a 31-2 record for the 2000-01 season, won the Region III championship and finished fourth at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Championship Tournament.
“I’m excited to bring Ron to Virginia,” Bennett said. “I was with him for six years at Washington State, so he’s familiar with me. Ron is one of the most loyal, hard-working individuals I know and he has ties in the New York area that should benefit our program.”
Williford has been a men’s assistant basketball coach at the collegiate level for the last nine years and is a former Virginia player. He was an assistant coach at American University the last four years and prior to that was an assistant coach at Boston University for five years. American won the Patriot League Championship and participated in the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons. During Williford’s final four years at Boston University, the Terriers earned an NCAA Tournament berth in 2002 and then participated in the National Invitation Tournament for three consecutive years.
A native of Richmond, Va., Williford is a 1995 graduate of Virginia. During his four years as a member of the UVa men’s basketball team, the Cavaliers won the NIT in 1992 and participated in the NCAA Tournament three times. Virginia reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 in 1993, the second round in 1994 and the Elite Eight in 1995 when he was a team captain.
After graduation, Williford played four years in the Icelandic Professional League and the Korean Basketball League. In 1995-96, he was named the Foreign MVP for the Haukar Club Team in the Icelandic Professional League. He also began his coaching career that season by heading up the Under-20 Haukar Club Team. From 1996-99, Williford played for two teams in the Korean Basketball League and earned All-Star honors.
Williford was an assistant coach with the boys’ varsity basketball team at his alma mater, John Marshall High School, in 1999-2000.
“Jason comes highly recommended,” Bennett said. “In talking to Jeff Jones and Dennis Wolff, coaches Jason worked with at American University and Boston University, and other people about him, they talked first about his character and his ties to the area. We felt that was very important. When we went through the interview process, the passion and loyalty Jason has for the University of Virginia and this program was evident. He played at Virginia and this program is important to him.
“Jason also has a relationship with Ron Sanchez. They’ve gotten to know each other over the last three or four years, and that’s a plus too.”
Soucie has 15 years of experience as a collegiate men’s assistant basketball coach. All but two years of his coaching experience came as an assistant to former Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay, who is now the associate head coach at Virginia. Soucie was an assistant to McKay at Portland State, Colorado State, Oregon State, New Mexico and Liberty.
He played college basketball at Eastern Michigan University for two years before transferring to Christian Heritage College (now San Diego Christian). He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Christian Heritage in 1990 and later served as an assistant basketball coach there for two years.
Soucie played in the National Basketball Association Summer League with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks. He was also a member of the Athletes-in-Action traveling team.
“Brad has been with Coach McKay for many years,” Bennett said. “He played the game in college and has excellent experience. We’re fortunate to have him on the staff.”