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There was a lot of drama surrounding the Maryland basketball program during their NCAA Tournament run as rumors swirled about head coach Kevin Willard leaving for Villanova. Sure enough, that became finalized shortly after Maryland was eliminated from the big dance. Now, the Terrapins have found a replacement as Buzz Williams is leaving Texas A&M to coach the Terrapins.
“Sources: Maryland will hire Texas A&M's Buzz Williams as its next head basketball coach,” Jon Rothstein said in a post.
Buzz Williams reportedly agreed to terms on a six-year deal.
“Per sources, the sides have now finalized a 6-year deal to make Buzz Williams the next Maryland coach,” Pete Thamel said in a post.
Maryland got its guy. Williams has been coaching college basketball for a long time as he got his career started back in 1994. He has spent time with Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Northwestern State, Colorado State, Texas A&M, New Orleans, Marquette, Virginia Tech, and now he is making the move to the Maryland basketball program.
Williams was in an assistant role with a lot of those programs, and he got his first head coaching gig at New Orleans. He has been a head coach at Marquette, Virginia Tech, and of course Texas A&M.
The Aggies had a good season this year as they ended up being one of the better teams in the loaded SEC. Texas A&M earned a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they lost in the second round against Michigan.
Maryland made it one round farther than the Aggies as the Terrapins went to the Sweet 16. Maryland knocked off 13-seed Grand Canyon and 12-seed Colorado State to set up a matchup with one-seed Florida. The Terrapins played the Gators tough for a while, but Florida pulled away to earn a comfortable win.
It's a bit surprising to see Buzz Williams leave his home state to coach Maryland as it seemed like he had a good thing going at Texas A&M. However, Williams sees potential with the Terrapins, and he is now the head coach of the program.
“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 press release. “I want to thank President Pines and Colleen Sorem for this opportunity to lead one of the most prestigious programs in the country. In leading this program, I promise to uphold the history of Maryland basketball and make Terp Nation proud with the men who represent this institution.”
Athletic director Colleen Sorem released a statement as well.
“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.”
The entire Maryland community is excited to welcome Williams as the next head coach of the Maryland basketball program.
“Maryland Athletics is an important part of the University of Maryland community,” President Darryll J. Pines said. “Finding the right person to lead Maryland Men's Basketball was critical to the continued success of our program, both on and off the court. 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. We could not be more thrilled to welcome him to College Park.”
