Maryland basketball head coach Buzz Williams on why "Lefty Driesell changed basketball"

Ahmed Ghafir
Apr 14
4 min read

Nearly two weeks into the beginning of the Buzz Williams era, Maryland men’s basketball has filled over half of its roster spots through the portal while the new staff shifts at least a portion of its attention to the high school route after hosting a potential reclass candidate this past weekend and ahead of another expected 2025 visitor later this week.

But head coach Buzz Williams made it clear that the game is different from his time since beginning his coaching career at New Orleans and Marquette.

“I think everything has changed. I think the skillset required to be a head coach in 2025 is dramatically different than what it was five years ago. It’s not even the same job or the same industry as it was when coach [Jimmy] Patsos or coach [Gary] Williams or coach [Lefty] Driesell were here,” Williams said during Sunday’s alt Wizards broadcast, finally giving someone a reason to tune into a Wizards game.

“I’m not smart enough to complain about it. I am pretty convicted on the things I don’t want to sacrificed in regards to what I think our program should be about on and off the floor. And I think any time there is a model of uncertainty, what is it this year, it was different than it was last year. We’re still waiting on the house settlement. What is it going to be this time next year? And there’s such unrest. The only thing I know how to do is tell the truth. Sometimes that works relative to those families, sometimes it doesn’t.”

The big caveat is the ongoing house settlement as schools look to finalize the revenue sharing ahead of the July 1 deadline, coupled with what changes could be made to the structure of college athletics.

“Do I think at some point in time there will be some level of normalcy? I don’t know. It’s too hard to say because there’s a lot of questions but nobody knows who has the authority to have those answers and so whether it’s players coming from Texas A&M here, whether it’s players who have been on our campus this week or players that will be on their campus next week, the only thing I know how to do as a human being is just to explain to them the truth and what’s important to us on the floor, what’s important to us off the floor. And I think any time money is involved, just how I was raised, I think just the best way is to just tell the truth.”

Meanwhile, Williams has hit the recruiting trail still without a formally announced staff with several former Texas A&M assistants expected to follow him to College Park. Whether an alum like Steve Blake, Juan Dixon or Greivis Vasquez materialize into a formal position on staff remains to be seen, but Williams knows the impact the coaches before him left on the program given his close relationships with both Lefty Driesell and Gary Williams.

“I’ve had a long affinity for coach [Lefty] Driesell and to be transparent, also with coach [Gary] Williams. When this process started, Dr. [Darryll] Pines and Colleen [Sorem] wanted me to talk with coach Williams,” head coach Buzz Williams added. “Of course I never told them of our relationship nor did I ever speak of my relationship with coach Driesell, his son and his daughter. I didn’t ever want to influence their decision and I for sure didn’t want it to be with relationships with coaches I’ve admired my whole career. Caoch Williams has been fabulous to me, since before getting this job he’s been great. He sent me a text [Saturday] night, we played voicemail yesterday. Coach Driesell’s daughter, coach Driesell’s son – both of those coaches that I had corresponded with long before I became the head coach because I grew up wanting to be a head coach not knowing if I would. Even in the time I’ve been a head coach, those were both men I respected as people but I also respected their path. Coach Driesell is one of two coaches in the country who have won 100 games or more at four different institutions. And then obviously what coach Williams did, not just here at Maryland which speaks for itself in Final Fours and national championships but what he did at American, what he did at Boston College, what hedid at Ohio State. I know the world’s changed and the model is different but as someone who [is] not young anymore and not quite old, I have a lot of respect and admiration for the guys that did it the original way, guys who were pioneers in the sport, guys that created the type of opportunities for people like me to be a part of not just the institution at the University of Maryland, but in general. Lefty Driesell changed college basketball.”

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