Hall of Fame Profile: Leaps of Faith for Kim (Hudson) Williams
By Matthew Goins, student intern
Former Gamecocks Volleyball Head Coach Kim (Hudson) Williams remembers the message she received from former Gamecock women’s golf standout Meredith Taylor regarding her selection as a member of the 2021 University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame class.
“As she gave those statistics and the years, it was humbling,” said Coach Williams. “It gave me the opportunity to think about each one of the teams and the leaders that were a part of those teams.”
Not only did the call bring back memories of coaching, but it also reminded her of a greater calling in her life, a call to ministry.
“I think athletics, in general, shows you great life skills, and when you compare it with our walk with Christ, you learn perseverance,” said Williams. “You learn that life has challenges, and your attitude and work ethic make an impact.”
For much of her career, Wilson believes that her teams were underdogs.
“For whatever reason in my life, I had been attracted to underdog situations to programs that struggled,” said Wilson.
Wilson began her coaching career in her hometown, Amarillo, Texas, where she coached middle school and high school volleyball while also teaching English.
“In my hometown, they wouldn’t hire me to teach unless I agreed to coach, so I coached at the middle school and high school level, and it’s where I learned that great athletes could make coaches look really good,” said Wilson.
Her collegiate coaching career began at West Texas State, where she coached for four years (1987-1990). In 1990, the team won the NCAA Division II Championship with a 38-1 record.
Despite the success, the school delivered her and other coaches some gut-wrenching news.
“The president at the time at West Texas State pulled us in as coaches and told us that there was a probability that all the athletics programs could be disbanded after that season,” said Williams.
The young coach left West Texas State and landed her first division-one job at Northern Arizona and led one of the biggest turnarounds in college volleyball history. In 1991, the team improved from 9-22 to 26-8.
“We had the biggest turnaround in two years,” said Williams.
“We had a great fan base because they loved our team, and we were out in the community a lot during those years.”
After her success out west, Williams received a call from former South Carolina Athletic Director Mike McGee, which sparked her journey to the southeast.
“I had multiple opportunities to go to other programs that were more established, but he was the one that sold me on the vision of where women’s athletics could go under his direction,” said Williams. “He painted a very good picture of where we could go in the SEC, the facilities that could come about, and his vision for women’s athletics,” said Williams. “It was quite a leap from the west to fate my career at the time on a vision.”
As she came to South Carolina, Williams immediately embraced the challenge of taking the program to the top.
“We were starting from a place where we had a lot of work to do in terms of facilities and recruiting,” said Williams. “Those were the memories that certainly built perseverance in terms of how you push through and how you recruit quality athletes with character when you don’t have much to offer in terms of bells and whistles that other SEC schools had to offer.”
The second round of the 2000 NCAA tournament is a game that will always stand out to Williams, though the team lost to Nebraska 3-2.
“It was a great match between two teams who were playing at their highest level,” said Williams. “We were peaking at that time. We played our best volleyball and were connected as a team. It was a very unselfish group of individuals, and while we didn’t win the match, we were swinging for match point a few times. Nebraska went on to win the national championship. It was a great season for us, though we ended on a loss.”
Another highlight match from her time at South Carolina was the win against Florida inside the Blatt PE Center, with the team she inherited in 1994.
“I only had one year of recruiting under my belt, but I had an inherited a great group of women,” said Williams. “The win over Florida is what ‘put us on the map.'”
The volleyball facility where the Gamecocks now play is a feather in the hat for Williams. She enjoyed how the new venue allowed fans to sit closer to the court and have a better view of the athleticism of the women.
“We wanted to see those seats close to the court and have a tight arena, so people could get a feel for the athletes that were on the floor and how athletic they were,” said Williams.
During her time, Williams coached all four players in the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame: Shonda Cole, Ashely Edlund-Heidtke, Heather Larkin, and Cally Plummer.
“They always went above and beyond what we asked them to do and were coachable in all areas of their lives,” said Williams. “Being athletic and coachable is what set them apart.”
What Williams remembers most about her time at South Carolina are the people, both on and off the court.
“We had some great people involved who did it for the purity of pouring into young athletes’ lives, helping them, and supporting them,” said Williams. “We had a great fan base because they loved our team, and we were out in the community a lot during those years.”
In her 11-year tenure, Williams had eight 20-win seasons and took six teams to the NCAA tournament.
“We created that culture. We recruited players that had postseason experience as high schoolers, and they expected the same thing,” said Williams. “It was just an expectation.”
The best victory for Williams, however, came off the court and was a victory of her own.
“Athletics and my time at USC took me to a place of real challenges and got me to a place where I was seeking something more. I wanted something more. I knew that there had to be joy and that this could not just be it. You’re going to win, and you’re going to lose, but that can’t be all there is to life,” said Williams.
The former Gamecock Volleyball coach now serves as the vice president of the Carolinas region for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“I had a great coaching career,” said Williams. “The Lord has been very gracious to me, and while I don’t coach, I get to be a part of an organization that pours into coaches and athletes to build their relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Since her time as a coach, Williams is proud to see how the program has evolved.
“People want to be around teams that are winning. What’s going on now with the volleyball program is that they are winning, they are fun to watch, athletic, have good team chemistry, and are coached by a great coaching staff,” said Williams.
Coach Williams still lives in the Columbia area with her husband, Glenn, and stepson, Ethan.
Induction ceremonies are on Thursday, October 14, and the inductees will also be recognized at Saturday’s football game against Vanderbilt at Williams-Brice Stadium.
