The George Brown Huskies Women's Basketball program is pleased to announce the hiring of Omari Wiltshire as the interim head coach for the 2020-2021 season.
"It's a dream come true. I have been working towards this for a long time. Just getting different opportunities to test my skills, my knowledge on the game of basketball and how to translate from teaching it to the floor," Wiltshire said. "I have put in a lot of effort working with the Toronto Raptors and numerous basketball programs within Ontario. To be recommended by head coach Warren [Williams], Melanie [Gerin-Lajoie, Manager of Athletics and Recreation], and Mark [Couch, Athletics and Recreation Coordinator], means a lot and it's a great honour to be given this opportunity."
Warren Williams (2016-2020) will be taking a one-year leave of absence from the program. During his tenure, Williams led his team to a 48-19 record, making two provincial championship appearances. He will stay on with the Huskies as a Basketball Consultant for 2020-21.
"Warren has been an outstanding spark plug for this program since taking over the Huskies in 2016, building us into a contender, and we are fully supportive of his request to take some time off to focus on his family," said Gerin-Lajoie. "I have no doubt that Omari Wiltshire will follow closely in his footsteps, having worked with Warren for a number of years. He also brings a tremendous amount of energy to the floor, and has as a very strong coaching background both from the individual and systems standpoints."
Wiltshire has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the Huskies program. In those three seasons, the team has posted an overall 42-8 (.840) regular-season record. During that span, the team was OCAA East Division Champions in the 2017-2018 season and finished second in the East Division the other two seasons. He believes his familiarity with the team and the lessons he learned from Williams will only help his transition.
"The last three seasons of being with the team, I got to know the culture here. Coach Williams did a great job rebuilding the culture and brought back fun and excitement to George Brown. I want to continue to build on that and the team's previous successes," Wiltshire stated. "The women are ready to go and want to get back to work as soon as possible."
Wiltshire takes over the program with an extensive and varied coaching resume. He has been coaching basketball since 1997, including with Point Guard College Basketball Program and the Toronto Raptors Basketball Development Community program. Last season he was also the head coach for the Mumba (Markham Elite) Basketball program and an assistant coach for the Scarborough Blues. Since 2013 with the Blues, he has been a part of three U19 Division championships and nine silver medal teams. At the varsity level, he was also an assistant coach for Centennial College from 2009 to 2012.
"My goal this season is to use what we learned from Coach Williams, such as the family aspect, respecting each other, competing, and the chaos to our defence. This, while being disciplined and precise," Wiltshire explained.
For more information on George Brown Women's Basketball and upcoming tryouts for the 2020-21 season, contact Athletics and Recreation Coordinator Mark Couch at mark.couch@georgebrown.ca