Arkansas's new head coach Eric Musselman has hired former Stetson head coach Corey Williams as an assistant in Fayetteville. The news was first reported Tuesday night and confirmed by the University Wednesday afternoon.

Williams is the first "official" hire Musselman has made but the former Nevada head coach also brought his director of operations, Anthony Ruta, with him and he's kept on former Razorback and long-time assistant Scotty Thurman. It's not clear what role Ruta has been assigned here at Arkansas and it is not likely Thurman will be retained.

The new hire is a former NBA player, he played for the Chicago Bulls, winning the 1993 NBA Championship, and then two CBA teams, the Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Cavalry.

Williams got into coaching while he was still playing and took his first assistant coaching job at Oral Roberts in 2000. After six seasons, he was hired by Leonard Hamilton at Florida State.

Williams took his first head coaching job at Stetson University in Florida where he cumulated a 58-133 record overall. He was let go by the school last month.

The 49-year-old coach was born in Macon, Georgia. He went on to earn a scholarship at Oklahoma State as a point guard and he became the Pokes eighth all-time leading scorer with a 44.7 shooting percentage and 1,320 points.

"We are excited and fortunate to have a coach of Corey’s caliber," Musselman said. "His experience as a head coach will be invaluable on our staff and he was widely respected as an assistant coach for building winning programs. Also, his knowledge gained playing at the highest level will benefit our players’ development. Corey will help Arkansas compete at a championship level."

In his time as a player and coach, Williams has learned from some of the finest minds in the game, including Phil Jackson, Eddie Sutton, Bill Self and Leonard Hamilton during his career as a player and assistant coach.

“I am looking forward to working with Coach Musselman,” Williams said. “He is an unbelievable coach. He has a passion for Arkansas and is passionate about student-athlete success. This is a great time to be a part of Razorback basketball and I can’t wait to get started.”

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