Anthony Willis began as an Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at The University of Texas Permian Basin in 2026-27.
Coach Willis has worked for two of the top junior colleges in the country in addition to being on staff at a high-level Division I university to start his career.
Willis came to UTPB from University of North Carolina at Pembroke (Pembroke, N.C.), where he was an assistant coach during the 2025-26 season and was a member of the coaching staff that captured the Conference Carolina Regular-Season Championship. During the season, UNCP achieved a 21-8 overall record while Willis helped coach and develop three all-conference student-athletes.
Willis came to Pembroke following a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Keller High School (Keller, Texas) during the 2024-25 season. At Keller, Willis helped coach the team to an 18-14 overall record and a District 4 6A Championship.
Willis was an assistant coach at Tallahassee Community College (Tallahassee, Fla.) during the 2023-24 season, where he was a key contributor to a 20-13 season and a Region 8 Semifinal appearance. At TCC, Willis helped develop high-level talent, producing four All-Panhandle Conference selections.
Willis also made a stop at Ranger College (Ranger, Texas) for two seasons (2021-23). Willis helped guide the program to the NJCAA National Championship Game and contributed to a Sweet 16 appearance at the NJCAA National Tournament. The team increased its wins by 40 percent in the regular season and 10 percent overall from the previous year. Willis helped develop three first-team all league players, including the Region 5 Player of the Year. Willis collaborated with the Region 5 North Coach of the Year on program strategy and development, and also served as Head Coach of the junior varsity team, creating and managing a 10-game schedule in his duties.
A 2019 graduate from the University of North Texas (Denton, Texas), Willis' coaching journey started as a graduate assistant coach at North Texas from 2019-21. At North Texas, Willis was part of the coaching staff that led the program to back-to-back Conference USA regular season championships, helped secure the 2021 Conference USA Tournament Championship, and contributed to the team’s run to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, highlighted by a first-round upset victory over Purdue. Willis contributed to an 18-10 (9-5 conference) season in 2020-2021, and supported a 20-11 (14-4 conference) season in 2019-2020. During his time in Denton, Willis helped direct player development for two All-Conference USA selections, including the Conference USA Player of the Year.
A native of Plano, texas, Willis graduated with both his Bachelor's (2019) and Master's (2021) degrees in Sports Management from North Texas. In his spare time, Coach Willis enjoys traveling and listening to music.
