Dennis Williams joined VCU in 2018 and boasts nearly 30 years of athletic training experience. Williams previously spent eight years at the Division I level, as well as 15 years in professional basketball, including 12 1/2 years as the assistant athletic trainer with the Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats of the NBA from 2006-18.
Prior to joining the Bobcats/Hornets, Williams spent four years as athletic trainer for men’s basketball and cheerleading squads at the University of South Carolina. He also previously served as head athletic trainer for the NBA G-League's Greenville Groove during its inaugural season in 2001-02. He also spent time at the collegiate and high school level as the head athletic trainer for North Greenville College, as associate athletic trainer at North Carolina A&T, and as an athletic trainer for Alfred Ely Beach High School in Savannah, Ga.
Williams is a Certified Athletic Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist and Applied Functional Science Specialist (3DMAPS). He holds membership with the National Athletic Trainers Association, the North Carolina Athletic Trainers Association, and The Virginia Athletic Training Association. In 2010, Williams received the NBA Athletic Trainers Association’s David Craig NBA Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year Award for successfully helping to resuscitate an athlete in cardiac arrest. In 2017, he was named Alumni Athletic Trainer of the Year, and was the first to be inducted to the Athletic Training Hall of Fame by his alma mater, South Carolina.
Williams received his bachelor of science in physical education from South Carolina in 1995, and spent a summer as an intern for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1993. He received his Master's in exercise science from Furman in 1997, and spent the next year as a seasonal intern with the Washington Wizards. He married his high school sweetheart and best friend Dana, and they have two sons, Robert Floyd Williams and Joshua Edward Williams.
