Bio

Coach Willis enters his 2nd season as an Assistant Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team. Upon graduating from St. Joseph’s, the 2018 Alumnus immediately entered into coaching at Moore Catholic High School where he served on both the Varsity and Freshmen staffs. It was during his time at Moore Catholic where he coached directly alongside former Big East All-American, and, now, NBPA Certified Agent/Head of Player Development for Priority Sports & Entertainment, Kyle McAlarney. This relationship allowed Coach Willis to gain tremendous insight on coaching, specifically Player Development, and it was during this timeframe Willis was able to assist McAlarney in the training process of NBA All-Star, Gordon Hayward. As the relationship grew, so did Coach Willis’ involvement in player development, and in the Spring following his first year on staff at St. Joseph’s, Willis was allowed to join Priority Sports’ NBA PreDraft Program, a program that saw four of its players get drafted in the 2023 NBA Draft. 

During his time as a Student-Athlete for the Bears, Willis was a four-year starter (2014-2018) and was named as one of the teams’ Captains midway through his sophomore year. Amassing 915 career points, he finished his career third in the Bears’ record books for career three-point shooting percentage (37.1%) and fourth in three-pointers made (188). Off the Court, Willis was President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and was named a semifinalist for the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup Award — the first Bear student-athlete ever to be recognized for this national award that all three divisions. Willis, at the time of graduation, was also the fourth Bear in any sport to receive CoSIDA Academic All-District Team accolades. 

Coach Willis earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is currently the Head of Digital Marketing & Photography for Tom Crimmins Realty, as well as, a fully licensed Real Estate Salesperson where he resides in Staten Island. 

One additional role that means a great deal to Coach Willis is the role he plays in helping the Richard Willis Memorial Fund, his families 501(c) 3 charitable organization, which was created in memory of his Grandfather as a way of keeping the values he spent his whole life embodying alive; values of volunteerism and community service. The goal of the organization is to raise money that will be donated directly back to the youth of Staten Island in the form of various scholarships and donations to other local youth charities.