Monty Williams will be the highest paid high school basketball coach in America this upcoming season.
Williams, who was fired by the Detroit Pistons after the team went 14-68 in his lone season, will coach his sons at TMI Episcopal in San Antonio. The Pistons will pay him $65 million over the remaining five years of his contract, fully guaranteed.
The prep school announced the hire Sunday on Instagram.
“We are excited to announce that Monty Williams will be our new head coach of the boys basketball team,” the school said on Instagram. “Coach Williams brings extensive coaching experience, including his most recent roles in the NBA as head coach of the Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns (where he was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2022).
“He and his wife, Lisa, recently moved to San Antonio and are also the TMI parents of Elijah, Class 26, and Micah, Class 29.”
Elijah Williams, 6-foot-6, is listed as the 11th best high school prospect in the country and No. 4 small forward by Rivals.
With one of his sons set to graduate in 2029, Williams could potentially coach him through his high school career. He will continue to be paid handsomely for not taking another NBA coaching job.
Williams played three seasons for the San Antonio Spurs from 1995 to 1998 and later worked for the team as a coaching intern and then vice president of basketball operations from 2016 to 2017 before returning to coaching with the team. Philadelphia 76ers.
He planned to take a year off from coaching in the NBA after the Phoenix Suns fired him after the 2022-23 season. But Pistons owner Tom Gores persisted in attempting to hire Williams after Duane Casey has decided to progress in the team’s front office. He finally made Williams an offer that couldn’t be refused: a guaranteed amount of $75.5 million with a six-year contract.
Gores fired Williams shortly after hires Trajan Langdon as the Pistons’ new president of basketball operations. Besides the 14-68 record, the team tied an NBA record with a 28-game losing streak. Young players including Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson And Jalen Duren saw their development suffer as Williams often seemed disinterested. Langdon finally hired JB Bickerstaff as Detroit’s new head coach.
As an NBA head coach, Williams is 381-404 over 10 seasons with the New Orleans PelicansSuns and Pistons. He was named NBA Coach of the Year for the 2021-22 season after Phoenix finished with the league’s best record at 64-18.
