Mar 22, 2025; Denver, CO, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Buzz Williams reacts during the first half in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
April Fool’s Day was a little slow around the Big Ten Conference, but Maryland wasn’t joking around when they decided to hire Buzz Williams as its new head basketball coach.
After a week-long public saga where former Maryland front man Kevin Willard complained about several things as the Terps head coach, he headed back to his “beloved” Big East as Villanova’s leader. That opened the door for Maryland to upgrade its head coach by bringing Williams onto campus.
“It is an honor and privilege to be named the head coach of the University of Maryland men’s basketball team,” said Williams. “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.”
Per the official Maryland website, Williams has won at least 100 games at Marquette, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. He is seeking to become just the third coach in Division I head coach to win at least 100 games at four different institutions, along with Maryland Hall of Fame coach Lefty Driesell (Davidson, Maryland, James Madison, Georgia State) and Steve Alford (Iowa, New Mexico, UCLA, Nevada). Over his last 17 seasons as a head coach, his teams have advanced to the postseason 13 times with 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and two NIT invitations, including four career NCAA Sweet 16 appearances (three at Marquette, one at Virginia Tech), one Elite Eight appearance (2013 Marquette) and one appearance in the NIT Championship game.
The Big Ten has some very experienced, successful and intriguing head coaches. Guys like Tom Izzo, Mick Cronin, Dana Altman and Matt Painter have been around a long time and have done some really big things. Dusty May, Jake Diebler and Eric Musselman are just getting started in the conference but have already shown some real promise. Throw a guy like Williams into the mix and you have yet another head coach who is fun to cover and knows exactly what he’s doing.
