Bob Williams will resign as Schaumburg basketball coach

Bob Williams, one of the state's most successful boys basketball coaches, confirmed Saturday night he will resign from his position at Schaumburg on Monday.

Williams compiled a 347-155 record in 18 seasons with the Saxons and his only losing seasons were his first two. His 2000-01 team led by Mark Pancratz, Tony Young and Scott Zoellick pulled one of the biggest title-game upsets in IHSA history when it beat Thornwood and Eddy Curry 66-54 in Class AA final.

The Saxons also finished fourth in the state in 1999 and reached the Elite Eight in 2006.

"We've kind of done everything we wanted to do in our basketball program," Williams said. "There has kind of been a change of philosophy administratively at our end regarding discipline and intensity.

"Mutually we thought it would be in the best interest for me to go a different direction and Schaumburg as well.

"When you do something and you've done it at a certain level for so long it's hard to maintain that. Now is the time to look for some other challenges and I'm very excited about that possibility."

The North Dakota native came to District 211 nearly 30 years ago and was an assistant to Ed Molitor at Palatine before taking over at Schaumburg for the 1991-92 season.

The Saxons won three straight Mid-Suburban League titles under Wiliams (1999-2001). This year's team finished 20-7 and lost this year's championship in overtime to Prospect.

"We've had incredible success and I've been blessed to work in a great community with great kids," Williams said. "We've had a ton of outstanding assistants over the years and I've worked with two great principals (Jack Gaza and Sharon Cross) and a Hall of Fame athletic director (John Selke).

"I'm very appreciative of all of that and very proud of what we've accomplished. Obviously we're the most successful basketball program in the history of the MSL with two state trophies and getting downstate three times.

"Those are all great things but it pales in compares to what we've accomplished with kids and the things that have happened there."

Williams said he received a text message from Pancratz, who is now an assistant coach at Tennessee, thanking him for what he's done for kids beyond basketball.

"I'm more proud of what we've accomplished character-wise with kids off the court," Williams said.

Williams said he's hoping to land a coaching job elsewhere as soon as possible.

"I'm looking forward and I'm energized as far as new challenges," Williams said.