Buzz Williams "buzz" growing on campus as students react to Maryland men's basketball's new head coach hire

Oliver Schaack
Apr 4
4 min read

There’s a “buzz” going around College Park right now. The source? Well, that's Buzz Williams as Maryland men's basketball officially announced its next head coach on Tuesday ahead of the introductory press conference on Wednesday.

After Kevin Willard’s abrupt departure, a feeling of disarray sat within students and the bulk of the fanbase. Fans recognized the season stacked with highlights as the program rose to its highest AP ranking in five years was deflated by the off-court noise, but with the offseason already swirling, time wasn’t on Maryland’s side.

“I had complete confidence in her ability to lead the athletic department in this time period and that confidence has only strengthened as we have navigated this process together – unexpectedly – over the last 12 days,” university president Darryll Pines said on Wednesday.

Many students around campus had strong opinions on who should be the next face of Maryland hoops with many great candidates available. Williams was one of the most notable options along with Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard and UConn assistant Head Coach Luke Murray among others.

One senior, Jared Scheinberg, who was born and raised a Terp fan, felt that there were several top-tier options on the table for the Terps. However, he sees that this is no ordinary hiring cycle for a transitioning athletic department following news of Damon Evans being named the new athletic director on SMU on March 21.

“With the circumstances of having no AD and Willard having his foot out of the door during the [NCAA] Tournament, I think this is as good a hire as we possibly could have gotten. Wasn’t my immediate first choice but I think the program is in a safe place given his previous success at A&M and Virginia Tech. As a fan, it’ll take time to adjust from having one of the best scoring offenses in the country to now Williams’ gritty and tough defensive play style, but excited to see how a Buzz-led team can compete in the Big Ten.”

Other students look at the move as a way to wipe the slate clean of Willard, like fellow senior Patrick Sullivan. “Love the hire. A coach who has experience as a head coach in a division one program and won’t stab us in the back.”

If you did not already realize it before, the student body was not exactly making sure Willard didn’t get hit by the door on his way out.

Williams’ introductory press conference yesterday afternoon brought a fresh sense of hope for the program. His opening remarks focused much more on how he defines winning beyond the scoreboard and the power of being a part of a team.

“There’s something that’s life changing about being on a team,” Williams said, “and so to have the opportunity to be on this team means the world to me, but I also understand the magnitude and the mantle that is to be the steward of that team…We have to learn how to help win. There’s different measurements on winning. It’s easy to figure out when there’s a scoreboard, but not everything in life has a scoreboard, and everybody believes winning is a little different as it relates to when there’s not one, but we all know that being on a team grows us up.”

Williams has won at multiple stops throughout his head coaching career. He’s won over 100 games at his previous three schools with Marquette (2008-2014), Virginia Tech (2014-2019), and Texas A&M (2019-2025). In these 18 years, Williams made four Sweet 16’s and one Elite Eight back in 2013 with Marquette.

With 100 wins at Maryland, Buzz would become one of three NCAA head coaches to ever win 100 games at four different institutions. Steve Alford accomplished this feat along with a very familiar face for Maryland basketball fans – Lefty Driesell.

Williams’ most recent tenure with Texas A&M was one of great success in College Station. The Aggies made the NCAA Tournament each of the last three seasons, and Williams took home two SEC Head Coach of the Year awards in the 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 seasons, respectively.

The multiple pitstops over the past two decades is the only fear for Terps fans, wondering whether he will be here for the long run. Yet, one former Maryland Head Coach regarded as the greatest who ever walked the sideline in College Park thinks this worry for Maryland fans across the country is nothing of concern.

That coach happens to be Gary Williams, the only national champion head coach in Maryland basketball history. Michael Howes of the Diamondback reported on X the Hall of Fame Coach’s opinion on this concern, which bodes well for Terps fans.

“I was at American for four years, Boston College four, Ohio State three. Then I came here for 22.”

There was a special community that evolved over the years for the former Williams. Now, Terps fans will look to rebuild that community once again for the new Williams in town.

The next step for Maryland Athletics now is to find a new Athletic Director to replace Evans. University of Maryland President Darryll Pines was present at the introductory press conference along with Interim Athletic Director Colleen Sorem to welcome Williams.

Pines spoke to members of the media shortly after the press conference, and stated the next steps for finding Maryland’s next Athletic Director.

“I mean, I have a wish, if it could be done today, if it could be done at the same time, be perfect. You know, it's a process of probably going to evolve over six, eight weeks. What I've been telling everybody is my hope is to announce on Monday the process and the search firm is going to work with us. That's my goals.”

The process to find someone who’s the right to lead Maryland Athletics will be a long and arduous process for those involved, but it is arguably the biggest decision that will be made in recent memory. Yet, one thing that the Maryland community can hold their heads high about is the man with the keys to the Maryland Basketball program.

The Buzz Williams era, just a week after the Terps’ first Sweet 16 loss in a decade, has officially begun.

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