Jazz Williams named new athletic director at West Catholic

When Jazz Williams first walked the halls of West Catholic High School in the 1990s, his reputation on the basketball court preceded him.

Decades later, his reputation as a leader of young people helped him become his alma mater’s new athletic director, according to an announcement by the school this week.

“It’s special for me,” Williams said in a phone interview. “Obviously, the community is near and dear to my heart because it’s where I grew up. … So it’s special to me in terms of being in a place that I grew up and now somewhere that I’m leading.”

The position marks a return for Williams, 43, who coached the Burrs’ boys’ basketball team from 2014-16. He has also served in various roles within the school’s administration, including most recently as the assistant principal for student life from 2019-21.

The 1997 graduate of West Catholic said that one of his main goals as AD will be to expand the school’s athletic programming into new and perhaps unfamiliar sports such as rowing, golf, and soccer.

He also hopes his current students will learn from mistakes he made as a student.

“To sum it up,” Williams said with a laugh, “I was a bit of a knucklehead going in, and I quickly learned that you have to be a student-athlete first and then go from there.”

Williams explained that “ego” from being touted as one of the top incoming freshmen in the city may have made him a little “cocky” as a freshman. As a result, Williams says he paid less attention to his studies and failed a few classes during his first marking period.

“I tell kids this story all the time,” he said. Williams, however, says he never failed another class.

Since then, he has earned a psychology degree at Millersville University, where he also played basketball. Later, he earned a master’s degree from Rosemont College.

“So I kind of learned my lesson early about staying focused on academics, and one of the things I want to do at West Catholic [now] is make sure that every kid that comes to play sports here is academically and athletically ready for the next level,” he said.

In a statement on West Catholic’s website, school president Andrew Brady said that Williams stood out quickly “among a highly qualified applicant pool.”

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“We are thrilled to have Jazz lead our athletic department and warmly welcome him back to the West Catholic Prep community,” Brady said.

For the last two years, Williams worked at Penn’s Netter Center, where he was the director of after-school programming. He also founded Post and Pivot Sports, which started as a podcast and expanded into youth athletic events.

In effect, Williams has dedicated his career to working with kids.

He said growing up in what is often referred to as “the Bottom” near the 600 block of Preston Street along Lancaster Avenue made him want to positively influence others when he got older.

His father, Edward Williams, his older brother Edward Johnson, a West Catholic alum (1988), and longtime West Catholic basketball coach Bill Ludlow, who led the Burrs from 1994-2010, influenced Williams most when he was younger.

“It was something that I always wanted to do,” Williams said. “When you grow up where I grew up, which was in poverty … I just always knew I wanted to help kids. ... They really, especially in today’s times, need role models and people who can influence, mold, and lead them in the right direction, and I’ve always been interested in that.”

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