Debbie Williamson – one of the nation's foremost authorities on basketball rules and officiating – was named as coordinator of women's basketball officiating at the American Conference in August of 2013.
Williamson joined the American after serving as the national coordinator of women's basketball officiating for the NCAA. She joined the NCAA in 2006 as secretary-rules editor and added her most recent title in 2011.
In her time with the NCAA, Williamson assisted with the formation of a national officials working group, was instrumental in the development of the online NCAA Women's Basketball Officiating Center Court, and led efforts that included enhanced consistency during the regular season and postseason. As a result of additional emphasis on consistent rules enforcement and freedom of movement during the 2013-14 season, scoring increased by 5.62 points per game in the regular season.
Before joining the NCAA staff, Williamson served on the officiating staffs for several conferences, including the Big South Conference, the Colonial Athletic Association, the Peach Belt Conference, the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference, USA South, and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
Williamson served as an assistant basketball coach at Southeastern Louisiana from 1986-87 and at Georgia Southern from 1987-91. She was the head coach of women's volleyball at Louisiana Tech from 1985-86 and was the head softball coach at Georgia Southern from 1993-94.
Williamson was an instructor for health and kinesiology at North Harris Montgomery County Community College from 1995-98. She served as an instructor in exercise science at Campbell University from 2001-04 before serving as a teaching assistant professor at North Carolina State University.
Williamson is a 1985 graduate of Louisiana Tech University, where she led the Lady Techsters to four Women's Final Four appearances, including the 1982 NCAA title. She added a master's degree in health and physical education from Louisiana Tech in 1986 and added a doctorate of education degree from the University of Houston in 2000.