Maryland strikes quickly, hires Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams after Kevin Willard’s exit
Maryland moved on quickly after Kevin Willard’s departure, hiring another coach with plenty of experience at a high level.
Buzz Williams is changing jobs again.
Maryland hired Williams as its men’s basketball coach Tuesday, bringing in an accomplished candidate following Willard’s exit to take the Villanova job. Williams arrives after six seasons at Texas A&M. He has also coached at Virginia Tech, Marquette and New Orleans.
He’ll be the first to coach in the Big East, ACC, Southeastern Conference and Big Ten, according to Sportradar.
“It is an honor and privilege to be named the head coach of the University of Maryland men’s basketball team,” Williams said in a statement. “I promise to uphold the history of Maryland basketball and make Terp Nation proud with the men who represent this institution.”
Maryland said it would introduce Williams at a news conference Wednesday. Willard left for Villanova last weekend after leading the Terrapins to the Sweet 16.
Williams took the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons.
“We would like to thank Buzz for his years of service heading up our men’s basketball program,” Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts said. “We are excited about the future of Aggie basketball, and we will find the right leader for our program.”
Williams’ first task is to bring some stability to Maryland after a couple of tumultuous weeks. Around the same time the Terps were beginning their NCAA Tournament run, Willard complained about a lack of support for the program at the school — and athletic director Damon Evans left for SMU.
Colleen Sorem is now the interim AD, and she was able to land Williams, who took Marquette to three Sweet 16s and Virginia Tech to one.
“We are thrilled to bring a coach of the caliber of Buzz Williams to the University of Maryland,” Sorem said. “His incredible record of success at three prominent basketball programs speaks for itself, but we were equally impressed with his tireless work ethic and his dedication to building a program the right way. He embraces the high expectations here at Maryland and we are all excited to get started on this new era in Maryland basketball.”
Darryll Pines, the school’s president, said finding the right coach was critical to the continued success of the program.
“With an exemplary record of competitive success and a demonstrated commitment to providing leadership and development to our student-athletes, coach Buzz Williams is the ideal coach to lead us forward,” Pines said. “We could not be more thrilled to welcome him.”
The 52-year-old Williams, who is from Greenville, Texas, is one of 12 active Division I head coaches to win at least one NCAA Tournament game at three different programs. His deepest run was in 2013 when he took Marquette to the Elite Eight.
Willard spent three seasons at Maryland, taking it to the NCAAs twice. This season’s team — with a starting unit nicknamed the “Crab Five” — came on strong toward the end of the season. But the school confirmed Monday that two starters were in the transfer portal, and star big man Derik Queen was noncommital about his future after throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles’ home opener.
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