MAC ON SPORTS: MacARTHUR’S DUBS WILLIAMS DIED WEDNESDAY MORNING
J. Thomas McNamara
The MacArthur community is grieving today (Wednesday, July 29) after the death earlier of girls basketball head coach Mike (Dubbs) Williams.
“Very sad day, my girls and I are crushed,” wrote MacArthur Athletics Director Jason Crutcher on the passing of his girls basketball coach.
“The girls are just,” Crutcher wrote.”I don’t even know how to put it into words what he meant to them. He was a father figure to them, he was a coach to them, he was a teacher to them, he was a friend to them, somebody to always go to ask for help … He was a good-hearted guy.”
Williams died early Wednesday morning, responded Crutcher to the Decatur Tribune inquiries. I learned about his passing in Paneras this morning where each Wednesday I meet up with some of my old Illinois Power retiree buddies. I immediately reached out to Crutcher to confirm the sad news that Dubbs had passed.
Williams coached the MacArthur lady Generals for three seasons, including winning two regional championships and fell one game short of playing last March in the supersectional.
“He was out there for the kids,” Crutcher said. “He wanted to see the kids succeed, he wanted to get them in college. He taught them life lessons. He taught them the game of basketball and discipline. A lot of people kind of looked at him and say he was too hard on the girls and he needed to ease up on them and all that, but he was a father figure to all these girls. They looked up to him. He changed the culture of basketball around here at MacArthur.”
I will have more on this obviously developing story in a future print edition of the Decatur Tribune.
