Mike Williams finished his 10th season as the head coach of the Grand Valley State women’s basketball team after the 2024-25 season. In his 10 years at the helm of the Laker program, he has amassed a 278-49 (.850) overall record and a 169-27 (.862) record in the GLIAC. He has led the Lakers to five GLIAC regular season titles, three GLIAC Tournament titles, three Midwest Regional titles, and the 2024-25 National Championship.
GVSU has won at least one game in the NCAA Division II National Tournament in nine out of 10 seasons since Williams took the reins of the program, posting a record of 22-8 in the NCAA Tournament. In 2023-24, Williams became the program's all-time winningest coach and won the 400th game of his collegiate coaching career.
In his time in Allendale, Williams has coached Laker athletes to 49 All-GLIAC selections – including 20 First Team All-GLIAC choices and 27 All-GLIAC Defensive Team honorees. Additionally, Williams coached forward Rylie Bisballe to the 2023-24 GLIAC player of the year, becoming the first Laker to earn the honor since center Cassidy Boensch went back-to-back during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns. Boensch became the first Laker since Niki Reams in 2006 to bring the award to Allendale. Williams has earned GLIAC Coach of the Year on five occasions, winning in 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25.
At the national level, Rylie Bisballe was named All-American by the WBCA and D2CCA in both 2023-24 and 2024-25, becoming the third player under Williams to earn that distinction. Emily Spitzley became the second player to earn All-American honors in 2022-23, as she was named WBCA Honorable Mention All-American. Boensch was the first Laker under Williams to be named to an all-American team, earning D2CCA Second Team All-American honors during the 2019-20 season and honorable mention status with both the WBCA and the D2CCA at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.
The 2024-25 season was a historic season for the Lakers. They posted a 38-2 overall record and went 19-1 in the GLIAC. They swept both the GLIAC regular season and Tournament Championships, earning the number one seed and the right to host the Midwest Regional Championship. For the third time under Williams, the Lakers claimed the regional title, advancing to the Elite Eight in Pittsburgh. There they Lakers beat Gannon, Pittsburg State, and CSUDH to claim the second National Championship in program history. GVSU led the country in bench points per game and scoring margin, while ranking in the top-10 in scoring offense, field goal percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio, assists per game, turnover margin, rebound margin, scoring defense, steals per game, and three-pointers per game. Five Lakers earned All-Conference honors, with Rylie Bisballe being named the league's Player and Defensive Player of the Year. MacKenzie Bisballe was the league's Freshman of the Year, with Abrie Cabana, Nicole Kamin, and Ellie Droste also earning honors. In addition to being named the GLIAC Coach of the Year, Williams was recognized by the WBCA as the Division II National Coach of the Year.
In the 2023-24 season, the Lakers went 31-3 overall and 17-1 in league play to take the regular season and conference championships. Earning the top seed in the Midwest Regional, the Lakers advanced to the regional championship game. Four Lakers earned All-GLIAC honors, with Rylie Bisballe named GLIAC Player of the Year. Nicole Kamin, Paige Vanstee, and Hadley Miller also earned distinctions. The Lakers were as high as number one in the WBCA poll, finishing the year at number nine.
Williams again led the Lakers to a 31-3 record in 2022-23, winning the GLIAC regular season and conference tournament and making a run to the Midwest Regional Championship game. During the season, he became just the second coach in program history to surpass 200 wins at the helm of the Lakers.
The Lakers made their second NCAA DII Final Four Appearance in 2021-22, as Williams led them to a 31-3 record and a regular season GLIAC championship, and a run through the tournament all the way to the Final Four.
The 2020-21 season was a shortened GLIAC-only schedule, but the Lakers finished 14-4 in the regular season and won the GLIAC South Division crown. GVSU earned a sixth straight NCAA Tournament bid despite beginning the season with no players who had started a game in a Laker uniform. Emily Spitzley and Hannah Kulas emerged from a reserve role to All-GLIAC First Team players under the guidance of Coach Williams.
Williams fifth season as head coach ended abruptly due to COVID-19. The team was the #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament (Midwest Regional), but after busing all the way to Springfield, Missouri, the team got the news that the tournament was canceled. The Lakers finished the season 28-3 overall and 18-2 in GLIAC play, while ranking as high as #3 in the WBCA Top-25. The NCAA Tournament berth would mark the fifth straight season the Lakers earned the right to compete in the Big Dance. The four-year seniors on the team (Jenai LaPorte, Jenn DeBoer, Megan Belke, Cassidy Boensch, Victoria Hedemark, and Maddie Dailey) boasted a record of 107-22.
In 2018-19, the season came to a close with yet another deep run into the postseason as they finished the year with a 29-4 overall record and a 19-1 mark in conference play. After taking home the GLIAC Regular Season title, the Lakers fell in the second round of the conference tournament to Northern Michigan. Despite the early exit from the GLIAC Tournament, the Lakers earned their fourth straight bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament where they took down Truman State (89-64) and #20 Lewis (72-55) before falling to No. 1-nationally ranked Drury (51-44). It was the second NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship game the Lakers have played in under Williams.
The 2017-18 season saw GVSU post a 26-7 overall record – which is tied for the third most wins in program history – and a 16-4 mark in conference play. The Lakers made their third straight trip to the GLIAC Tournament Final and the NCAA DII Midwest Region Tournament under Williams, while putting five players on the All-GLIAC Team. It was the fourth straight 20+ win season for the Lakers – and third under Williams – which sets a new program record for 20+ win seasons in a row.
The Lakers posted a 24-8 overall record and a 16-5 conference record in 2016-17, making their second straight and 13th overall NCAA Tournament appearance. The Lakers also made their second straight GLIAC Tournament final game, beating Northwood and Saginaw Valley State in the first two rounds before falling to #1 Ashland. At the end of the regular season, five Lakers were named to All-GLIAC teams.
GVSU closed out its 2015-16 season with a 26-10 overall record and a 15-7 mark in conference play, capped off with its first trip to the NCAA DII Final Four since they won the National Championship in 2005-06. After falling in the GLIAC Tournament final, the Lakers made an improbable run to the Final Four starting with an NCAA Midwest Region Championship as the seven seed. The Lakers took down #6-nationally ranked Lewis, Saginaw Valley State, and #14-nationally ranked Drury to punch their ticket to the Elite Eight. GVSU was one of just four teams left in the tournament after beating #19 Pittsburg State before finally falling to #4 Alaska Anchorage.
Mike Williams was named the seventh Grand Valley State women's basketball head coach on June 29, 2015. This is the second stint for Williams at GVSU, as he was an assistant coach with the Lakers from the 2002-03 to 2006-07 seasons, which included winning the 2005-06 Division II National Championship.
Williams spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Davenport, where he compiled an outstanding 130-11 (.922) overall record. During each of his final three seasons at the helm of the Panther program, Williams was named the WHAC (Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference) Coach of the Year. In 2014-15, when Davenport owned a 32-1 record, he also earned WBCA Region Coach of the Year honors.
The Panthers advanced to the NAIA National Tournament in each of Williams' four seasons, including a pair of NAIA Final Four berths and a national championship game appearance. The 2014-15 team led the country in fewest points per game allowed (48.3) and scoring margin (+31.5), while ranking second in opponents field goal percentage (.324).
In 2013-14, Williams guided Davenport to a 34-2 record and a national semifinal appearance, one season after the Panthers finished 34-3 and advanced to the national championship game. DU also earned an NAIA Sweet Sixteen appearance in Williams' first season of 2011-12, when the team went 30-5.
Before becoming the head coach at Davenport, Williams spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan under then-head coach Kevin Borseth. The Wolverines tallied a 66-61 (.520) overall record in those four seasons, including a third place finish in 2010-11.
During his first stint in Allendale on the GVSU coaching staff, Williams was the top assistant under then-head coach Dawn Plitzuweit for five years. In four of those five seasons, the Lakers advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The 2005-06 Lakers finished the year with a school-best 33-3 record and won the Division II National Championship with a 58-52 championship game victory over American International. That championship win was the 22nd in a school-record 26-game winning streak, which carried into the early portion of the 2006-07 season.
The 2004-05 team finished the year with a 28-6 mark and the first-ever NCAA Elite Eight berth in program history. In Williams' five years on the Laker bench, Grand Valley State won three GLIAC regular season titles, a pair of conference tournament championships, and two Midwest Region crowns. The Lakers went 117-39 (.750) in those five seasons, with a 68-22 (.756) mark in GLIAC action.
He was responsible for starting the women's basketball program at Finlandia (NCAA Division III) in Hancock, Mich. In his three seasons as head coach (1999-2000 to 2001-02), the team owned a 44-33 (.571) record.
Williams coached for a number of years at the high school level, where he was head coach of the girls varsity team at Hancock High School from 1989 to 2000. Those teams recorded a 207-51 (.802) mark, winning eight district championships and four regional titles. For five seasons, he was also the head coach of the varsity boys team at Hancock, owning a 72-36 (.667) record.
He began his coaching career at Ironwood High School, as head coach of the girls varsity team in 1986. A few years later, Williams moved to the collegiate ranks, serving as an assistant coach during the 1988-89 season with Borseth at Michigan Tech. The Huskies went 16-11 in Williams' only season in Houghton.
Originally from Antigo, Wis., Williams graduated from Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and a minor in health education.
Mike and his wife, Amanda, have four children – sons Isaiah, Bobby, and Titus and daughter Jacoba.
The Mike Williams File:
| SEASON |
RECORD |
GLIAC |
NOTES |
2024-25
|
38-2 |
19-1 |
- NCAA National Champions
- Midwest Region Champions
- GLIAC Regular Season Champion
- GLIAC Tournament Champions
- GLIAC Coach of the Year
- WBCA National Coach of the Year |
| 2023-24 |
31-3 |
17-1 |
-Midwest Regional Championship Game Appearance
-GLIAC Regular Season Champions
-GLIAC Tournament Champions
-GLIAC Coach of the Year |
| 2022-23 |
31-3 |
17-1 |
-Midwest Regional Championship Game Appearance
-GLIAC Regular Season Champions
-GLIAC Tournament Champions
-GLIAC Coach of the Year |
| 2021-22 |
31-3 |
18-1 |
-NCAA Final Four Appearance
- Midwest Region Champion
- GLIAC Regular Season Champion
-GLIAC Coach of the Year |
| 2020-21 |
14-6 |
14-4 |
- GLIAC South Division Champions
- 6th Straight NCAA Tournament Appearance |
| 2019-20 |
28-3 |
18-2 |
-Earned #4 seed in Midwest Region, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19
- GLIAC Tournament Finalist
-GLIAC Coach of the Year |
| 2018-19 |
29-4 |
19-1 |
- Midwest Region Finalist (Runner-up)
- GLIAC Regular Season Champion |
| 2017-18 |
26-7 |
16-4 |
- Midwest Region Semifinalist
- GLIAC Tournament Finalist |
| 2016-17 |
24-8 |
16-5 |
- Midwest Region Semifinalist
- GLIAC Tournament Finalist |
| 2015-16 |
26-10 |
15-7 |
- Midwest Region Champion
- NCAA Final Four Appearance
- GLIAC Tournament Finalist |
| TOTAL |
278-49
(.850) |
169-27
(.862) |
- 1x National Champion
- 7x GLIAC Tournament Finalist
- 3x GLIAC Tournament Championship
- 5x Midwest Region Finalist
- 3x Midwest Region Championship
- 3x NCAA Final Four Appearance
- 5x GLIAC Regular Season Championship
- 5x GLIAC Coach of the Year
- 1x WBCA National Coach of the Year |
