William Faulkner begins his third season as an assistant coach for the Dolphins after years of teaching and coaching at the high school level and a year at the Division II level.

With his background and experience working with young athletes, he has helped lead the basketball program's study hall efforts, seeing seven players earn academic all-conference honors.

"William has relentless energy and enthusiasm. He also has great people skills and is an excellent communicator. His extensive background in the field of education will help in recruiting new student-athletes." Cliff Warren

"William has relentless energy and enthusiasm," said coach Cliff Warren. "He also has great people skills and is an excellent communicator. He relates well with today's student-athletes, which will not only pay huge dividends here at JU with our current players, but also when recruiting new student-athletes."

Faulkner came to JU after spending one season as a graduate assistant at East Stroudsburg University under the tutelage of head coach Jeff Wilson and assistant coach Justin Potts. Faulkner assisted in player development, strength and conditioning, recruiting, academics, scouting and all aspects of game preparation.

Faulkner started his coaching career at Decatur High School in Decatur, Ga. in 1995 when he began teaching Special Education at the neighboring Renfroe Middle School. He took his love for teaching from the traditional classroom to the hardwood, as an assistant under head coach Bobby Reinhart, Jr. He was instrumental in the Bulldogs recording four consecutive state playoff berths with one final four appearance. He was also the head junior varsity boys coach during this period, in charge of developing players for the varsity level.

In 1998, Faulkner became the Athletic Director and Head Varsity Boys coach at Decatur. From 1998-2000, he worked to continue the greatness of the basketball program by implementing an intense player regimen. This hard work paid off during the 2000-2004 seasons when, as the associate head coach under head coach Carter Wilson and assistant Greg Stephens, the Bulldogs made three state playoff appearances with two culminating as Class AA state runner-ups in 2002 and 2003.

A graduate of Morehouse College in 1991, he received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. He went on to earn his masters degree in special education from Clark-Atlanta University in 1995. He is currently preparing to defend his thesis to earn his second master's degree in exercise science from East Stroudsburg University.

Born and raised in Beaufort, S.C., Faulkner got the coaching bug after playing point guard for legendary coach Arnold Mitchell at Beaufort High School.

"Coach Mitchell was inspirational in me going into coaching once I became a teacher," said Faulkner.

Raised in a family of educators, Faulkner is the son of Willie and Ervena Faulkner who are retired teachers living in Port Royal, S.C. He has two sisters Tonya Smith, a science teacher at Southeast Middle School in Columbia, S.C., and Tracey Stormer, a computer technology instructor at Robert Smalls middle school in Beaufort. Faulkner also has one brother, Chad, who is a retired international basketball player living in Boston, Mass. Faulkner proudly gets support from three nephews: Bradley, Nelson and Stephen, and two nieces: Makayla and Destinye as well as countless other family and friends.