Miami Norland basketball coach Williams is ‘blessed’ to be back
LAKELAND
Sometimes things happen when they’re meant to happen.
Miami Norland boys basketball coach Lawton Williams has a very good reason to believe that.
Williams is back in a place this week with which he’s been quite familiar over the years — the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
It’s the place where he has guided his Vikings to six state championships and has a shot at adding a seventh on Friday night when Norland takes on Tampa Blake at 8 p.m. in the Class 5A state final.
But had the Vikings advanced to state a year ago, they would’ve had to make the trip to Lakeland without their leader, who was facing a life-threatening situation.
A week after the Vikings lost in the regional final to eventual state champion Belen Jesuit, Williams was in the hospital and was later diagnosed with congenital heart failure.
“I hadn’t been feeling well for about a month,” Williams said. “I woke up sweating profusely one morning. My wife told me, ‘You need to go to the doctor.’ My blood pressure was 210 over 120. I couldn’t walk.
“Things happen for a reason. If we would’ve won last year, I wouldn’t have been here. I would’ve kept pushing and kept pushing and not gone to the doctor and who knows what would’ve happened.”
Williams, 56, spent 10 days in the hospital being treated for his condition. He needed three stents placed in his heart. He was then sidelined from coaching or any strenuous activities from March until June of last year.
But as soon as the summer officially hit, Williams was back doing what he loves and preparing for the current season in the hopes of leading a seniorheavy group of Vikings back to state.
“I’m blessed. I’m much better now,” said Williams, who lost 50 pounds while recovering and is still taking eight pills a day and following stricter dietary guidelines. “I’m working out every day again … maybe not like before … but I feel good. I have a great coaching staff and they took care of things while I was out.”
Williams’ 21st season coaching Norland is turning out as well as he hoped and continues one of the most successful careers of any coach in state history.
Williams is the only coach in state history to win six state titles at the same school with Norland ranking second among Miami-Dade County schools for state titles behind only Miami High. Norland’s four consecutive seasons winning a state championship from 2012 to 2015 is tied for the state’s second-longest streak of consecutive state championships.
A seventh championship would tie Williams with former Blanche Ely and current Northwestern coach Melvin Randall for the most in state history.
He has compiled a record of 462-148 and is a future Hall of Famer whenever he decides to call it a career.
Williams will be the first to admit he isn’t the easiest coach to play for. His tough, disciplined style of coaching isn’t for everyone, but his players will tell you it brings out the best in them.
“I feel like he’s a great coach because he gets everything out of you, and every day he pushes you to the limit to be better,” said Norland guard Marcus Allen, a Missouri commit. “That makes a great coach and he’s also someone you could talk to as well.”
Added senior guard Triston Wilson, a Presbyterian College signee: “It’s not just on the basketball side, but on the life side. He teaches us life skills and things like that, which go beyond basketball.”
Allen and Wilson are part of a group that stayed loyal to Williams and Norland in his absence and chose not to transfer to another school.
It’s something that has made Williams’ return to the sideline that much more rewarding.
“Some did leave [our program], but I feel like the ones that left weren’t supposed to be here and that’s something I prayed on a lot,” Williams said. “When I was sick those days, I prayed that God would keep only the people that were supposed to be here, and he did it.
“It all worked out. That’s why we’re successful, because these kids believe in what we’re doing.”