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 only season, will coach his sons at TMI Episcopal in San Antonio. He will be paid $65 million over the remaining five years of his contract, which was fully guaranteed.
The prep school announced the hiring on Sunday through Instagram.
“We are excited to announce that Monty Williams will be our new Head Coach for the Boys’ Basketball Team,” said the school’s statement. “Coach Williams brings extensive coaching experience, including his most recent roles in the NBA as the 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 TMI parents to Elijah, Class of ‘26, and Micah, Class of ‘29.”
Williams played three seasons for the San Antonio Spurs from 1995-98 and later worked for the team as a coaching intern, then the vice president of basketball operations from 2016-17 before returning to coaching with the Philadelphia 76ers.
He intended to take a year off from coaching in the NBA after the Phoenix Suns fired him following the 2022-23 season. But Pistons owner Tom Gores persisted in attempting to hire Williams after Duane Casey decided to move up to the team’s front office. He finally gave Williams an offer that couldn’t be refused: a guaranteed $75.5 million with a six-year contract.
Gores dismissed Williams soon after hiring 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 appeared disinterested. Langdon eventually hired J.B. Bickerstaff as Detroit’s new head coach.
As an NBA head coach, Williams has a 381–404 record over 10 seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, Suns 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.
