Buzz Williams expresses commitment and gratitude to Maryland men’s basketball
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Williams was hired as the Terps’ next head coach Tuesday.
After a turbulent two weeks for Maryland basketball, Buzz Williams was officially introduced as the new Maryland men’s basketball coach Wednesday at Xfinity Center.
“To have the opportunity to be on this team means the world to me,” Williams said. “But I also understand the magnitude and the mantle that it is to be the steward of that team, and I do not take any portion of it on the floor [or] off the floor, in any sort of arrogant way.”
Williams agreed to a six-year contract with the Terps Tuesday, just two days after former head coach Kevin Willard left for Villanova.
He met with the team Wednesday morning and, when asked about roster construction, joked that he first needed to assess who was still on the roster.
“I just wanted to give [the team] a platform to give me advice,” Williams said. “They’ve been through a lot of success, and the last few days, it’s very unsettling. It’s unstable. And so I gave them the commitment that I’ve just mentioned, ‘If I can help you, I’ll help you.’ And if that means it’s here, we’ll figure that out.”
While he hasn’t yet started recruiting, Williams, who spent the last six years at Texas A&M, acknowledged that the process would soon begin. He highlighted the 110 years of coaching experience on his previous staff and expressed a desire to bring as many of them to College Park as quickly as possible.
On stage with Williams were interim athletic director Colleen Sorem and university president Darryll Pines. Pines noted that Sorem led the search process for the new coach without the use of a search firm, instead consulting people in the basketball world.
Sorem outlined the key qualities Maryland sought in a head coach: “Demonstrated success at the head coach level, postseason experience, familiarity with the East Coast and the rich DMV recruiting area and experience dealing with NIL and revenue sharing landscape,” she said. “We also wanted someone with great character, a leader of young men and we wanted someone with passion for Maryland basketball.”
Pines emphasized that extensive film study played a role in the hiring process.
“We watched Buzz as he coached, as he did interviews, like the one you just saw,” Pines said. “We watched him deliver speeches on leadership ... he teaches courses at his past institution on leadership.”
One of Williams’ most striking moments, Pines said, came without words. A video clip played on the arena’s big screen, showing Manny Obaseki, one of Williams’ former players at Texas A&M, emotionally illustrating the deep connections Williams builds with his teams in a postgame press conference.
Maryland’s coaching transition has been anything but conventional, with the departure of athletic director Damon Evans and the drama surrounding Willard.
In juxtaposition to some of Willard’s concerns about NIL and revenue sharing, he outlined his contentment with what the university has laid out for both him and his prospective staff.
“There was never any question from [the program] on their commitment for us, me, the staff, NIL, the players, the resources,” Williams said.
Williams went on to speak about the soon-to-be-opened Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center, pointing out that very few programs have that type of resource at their disposal and that the facility will be one of the best in the country.
Despite the time-sensitive nature of the situation, both sides made it work.
“It was a very unique and tight process,” Williams said. “I thought Dr. Pines was very direct from the get-go, and that was very attractive to my family.”
Now, all eyes turn to the court. Williams’ impact remains to be seen, but his words set the tone for what’s ahead.
“All I can tell you is I’ll try real hard, and the intent of my heart will not be selfish,” Williams said.
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