STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball assistant coach Jake Williams was tabbed to the Silver Waves Media Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistant Coaches list on Monday.

Williams earns the honor for the second-consecutive season after being named to last year's edition as well. Earlier this year, he was chosen to be one of 50 rising coaches to attend the 2026 TopConnect Basketball Symposium presented by Just Play Sports Solutions in Las Vegas, Nev. 

The 8th annual Mid Major Coaches list features the top mid-major assistant coaches determined by a panel of industry professionals. The Silver Waves Media list has become the industry standard for excellence. Our 2026 Men's list features some of the most outstanding and impactful assistants in Mid-Major Men's basketball. This list in the past has featured numerous coaches that have gone on to be future head coaches.

Tarleton State head coach Eric Haut is one of the list's many success stories. Haut was named to the Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistant Coaches list last year during his time at Utah State along with Williams who was at Milwaukee. 

Williams is entering his first season on the bench for the Texans ahead of the 2025-26 season. Williams has spent time at six different programs prior to heading to Stephenville. He has served as a video coordinator, director of operations, assistant coach, associate head coach and head coach during his 14 seasons of collegiate coaching. During his time, he has spent seven years on the bench at Division I programs with them owning a 152-81 overall record with six of his seven seasons being 20-win campaigns. In his first year, he reached the NCAA Tournament with Middle Tennessee. He also served as a head coach at the junior college level for five seasons holding a 112-38 record with a .746 winning percentage.
 
Williams most recently served as an associate head coach at Milwaukee for two seasons where he also spent the prior two years as an assistant coach. Williams and Haut coached against each other in the Horizon League for two years while Haut was at Northern Kentucky. Their relationship first started during Williams' two seasons at Northwest Florida State from 2015-17. Williams was noted as an up-and-coming coach after earning a spot on Silver Waves Media seventh annual compilation of the "100 Most Impactful Mid-Major Assistant Coaches and GMs" for 2026.

Tarleton State will be back in action on Saturday with their only home exhibition against Houston Christian at the EECU Center at 4:15 p.m. The men will then open the season at home on Nov. 2 against Cameron for the first time since 2021.