Maryland men’s basketball coach Gary Williams has taken plenty of abuse over the last two seasons when the Terrapins missed the NCAA tournament. It seems the 2002 national title and 11 straight NCAA appearances after reviving a sanctioned program still reeling from Len Bias’ 1986 death mean nothing to the Internet hot heads.
But not everyone has forgotten the Terps’ winningest coach’s accomplishments. Williams will be inducted into the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Basketball Hall of Fame on June 1 along with schoolboy and coaching legend George Leftwich and former Gonzaga coach Dick Myers.
“I went into coaching with the idea I would be a high school coach in New Jersey,” Williams said. “I would have been very happy [there].
“Basketball is one of those things where you’re always looking to the next recruit, the next season, the next game. You don’t get a chance very often to stop and see where’s gone so far. Something like this gives you that opportunity. I’ve been fortunate to be in places where you have a chance to win games.”
Williams is always looking ahead. He’ll be traveling to Las Vegas, New York and North Carolina in the next few weeks alone. Then there’s a trip to an undisclosed Persian Gulf military base to coach troops in a tournament with fellow coaches Billy Lange of Navy and Tubby Smith of Kentucky from May 23-29. The players are just average GIs readying to serve in Iraq for whom basketball is simply fun.
“It’s a new experience,” Williams said. “You get a different look, maybe a different perspective. I’m sure it will be an education for me.”
Certainly, it will be a break from a fan following deeply disappointed in a senior class that underperformed the last two years. The four incoming recruits give the class a No. 18 national ranking. Williams has three more ready to commit in 2007 as the Terps rely on newcomers to rebuild.
George Mason’s Final Four run with overlooked local players made it the regional darling, but only after George Washington’s Top 10 ranking disappeared following a second-round loss and Georgetown’s resurgence stopped at the Sweet 16. Meanwhile, the Maryland women’s basketball team won the national title to captivate the College Park campus.
Somewhere, Maryland’s long-term success and 10 straight years of sellouts didn’t seem enough. The Terps were bashed regularly and Williams was berated by bloggers. Has the program fallen from local kingpin? Not in Williams’ mind.
“It’s almost like we’ve had losing seasons the last two years,” he said. “We’ve beaten a top 10 team each of the last two years. We probably missed the NCAA Tournament this year by a game.
“It’s not like we’ve gone away. This decade we’ve gotten to the Sweet 16, won an ACC Tournament championship, went to a Final Four, won a national championship. Maybe four or five schools have gone that far.”
Meanwhile, Williams has to rework his staff after losing his fourth assistant in three years to become a head coach elsewhere. Chuck Driesell, son of former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell and head coach at Bishop Ireton in Alexandria, may soon join Williams’ staff after the loss of Rob Moxley. Michael Adams is also rumored as a possible NBA assistant.
The changes have been hard on the Terps’ recruiting. However, Williams sees the defections as an affirmation that his program continues to thrive. Players aren’t the only ones with dreams of bigger jobs.
So let the bloggers and message board junkies write what they want. The Washington Hall of Fame’s 24 members, including Elgin Baylor, Dave Bing, Red Auerbach, Wes Unseld, Len Elmore and Morgan Wootten, now welcome a college coach.
And Terps fans should be very proud of it.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at rsnider@dcexaminer.
