Gary Williams Retires

[weezie]

Up and rolling on local DC news.

I'm oddly shocked and kind of sad to see him leave the coaches seat, too, like some folks above.

[OldPhiKap]

Awkward social question:

What does one bring to a coach's retirement riot?

[superdave]

I'm going to miss Gary Williams. He was the second best coach in the ACC and consistently achieved more with less. One of my favorite "what if" questions: what if Gary Williams could have recruited the talent to Maryland that Paul Hewitt had at GT?

I'd like to second this post. Gary was always a good foil and a great competitor. When his kids took on his fighting spirit, they won a lot. Think Vasquez and Dixon.

As for replacements, I would think Patsos and Booth would have to be on the initial list because it is now May. But Smart would be the first phone I'd make as AD.

[superdave]

Awkward social question:

What does one bring to a coach's retirement riot?

Anything that will burn is acceptable. Any behavior that gets you tear-gassed is acceptable. Shirts optional for gentlemen.

[summerwind03]

I guess I'm a little surprised.

http://www.umterps.com/sports/m-bask...050511aab.html

[Delaware]

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebask...seasons-050511

Wow. Another big change coming.

I've said for a while that Gary is both:
- the 2nd best coach (to you know who)
and
- the 2nd worst person (to the guy down the road 8 miles)
in the ACC coaching ranks.

[taiw93]

Wow. Really sorry to hear this. As much as I hate Maryland fans, I've always been sort of partial to Gary Williams. He's a great coach and, more importantly, he's just hilarious to watch. I'm going to miss the "Sweat, Gary, sweat!" chants.

[sagegrouse]

A real loss to the ACC. He was a consistent winner, even when he had less than blue-chip talent, and his best teams were very, very good indeed.

He will be missed.

sagegrouse

[SmartDevil]

hope he and his family are healthy. It seems rather abrupt.

According to the often unreliable DC sports radio stations, Gary got married again two weeks ago.

[JasonEvans]

I wish we'd known this was coming sooner. He deserved a farewell tour of the ACC.

-Jason "I waned to hear a final, loving serenade of 'sweat, Gary, sweat!'" Evans

[dyedwab]

...about Gary. A few takeaways (not direct quotes, but paraphrases)

1) Patsos was shocked, said he saw Gary in the last couple of weeks and he didn't hint that he was thinking about retirement

2) Said Gary really thought about retirement last year - and was devastated by the Michigan State last second shot knocking UMD out of the tournament. Said Gary had a particular bond with Greivas.

3) Said the Jordan Williams decision could have been a trigger that pushed Gary to decided that he just didn't want to coach in the game today, the way it is changing.

4) Patsos said he'd be honored to be considered for the job - Said former UMD assistant Mike Lonergan (now head coach of Vermont) is a done deal to George Washington.

[LSanders]

Per the front page ... If Gary and Yow do end up in the same retirement home, think she'll hire a taster for her prune juice?

(Will he?)

[JasonEvans]

According to the often unreliable DC sports radio stations, Gary got married again two weeks ago.

Part of how I will always remember Gary (a small part) is this photo --



--Jason "the chicken bone in his hand just makes this photo!" Evans

[Duvall]

Per the front page ... If Gary and Yow do end up in the same retirement home, think she'll hire a taster for her prune juice?

(Will he?)

She should. Gary, speaking to his favorite sockpuppet:

“I started thinking about it last year after we tied Duke for the ACC title,” Williams told The Post’s John Feinstein in a telephone interview. “I’ve been doing this a long time and I thought it might be time to do something else. After [Debbie] Yow left, I thought I might enjoy it more this year and I really did like working with Kevin Anderson. He’s a straight shooter. But I think I’d been worn down by the previous 15 years [with Yow]. It grinds on you."

[Mike Corey]

I wish we'd known this was coming sooner. He deserved a farewell tour of the ACC.

-Jason "I waned to hear a final, loving serenade of 'sweat, Gary, sweat!'" Evans

That, along with the "Inspiration" v. "Perspiration" chant, were among my favorites.

[-bdbd]

What about Chuck Dreisell, son of the legendary lefthander? Chuck coached for several years at a Div III school and has been on the staff at James Madison and Georgetown before coming to Maryland, where he was an assistant for 4 years. He left Maryland to be the head coach at The Citadel last year. They weren't very good, but it was his first year on the job and that is not an easy program at which to win. He would seem to have at least some respectable experience and might be considered for the job.

Keith Booth is currently on Gary's staff and has been for several years. He has no head coaching experience, but was a very successful player in college and then in the NBA. I wonder if he will get a look.

Rick Barnes and Fran Fraschilla both coached under Gary at Ohio State. I don't think Barnes is leaving Texas for Maryland and Fran pretty much coached his way out of another big-time job when he was at St John. Is being an assistant to Gary in the past enough of a connection for Maryland to consider you? If so, Fran Dunphy could be in the mix too as he was on Gary's staff at American. Fran has done a really nice job at Temple and Penn. He's older, but would be a nice hire if Maryland can get him.

I think they should really look at Jimmy Patsos, who was an assistant at Maryland for 13 years. He is currently at Loyola (MD), which is a woeful program that had not had a winning season in more than a decade when he took them over in 2004. He hasn't turned them into world-beaters, but they've had winning seasons in 4 of the past 6 years -- which is like a miracle at Loyola. They had one year they won 19 games. He's in his mid-40s, so he's young enough to perhaps stay in the job for a while. I think he'd be a strong candidate.

--Jason "Any other ideas?" Evans

All good thoughts Jason. I'm in DC and can tell all of our NC-based Dukies that the MD fanbase is, in many ways, much like the NCSU one. IOW, they think their program is a LOT more attractive than it is. So, I fully expect lots of discussion about Brad Stevens, Rick Barnes and Mike Brey around DC in the coming couple of weeks. It really is quite late in the season to be initiating a coaching search, so I wouldn't be shocked if someone like Booth is named an "interim" HC for the next season, to give them time to really recruit a big name. Smart and Stevens and the UR coach are immediate candidates that I'd think of, but have all just signed long extensions. Patsos seems like the most likely if they want to move quickly, though Dreisell might be a good link to the past.

I for one will miss Gary. I think of him as a worthy adversary. Sure he has his quirks, but in the final analysis he's held his own against K and Duke pretty much as well any other coach over a long period of time. I also think that he is the best in the ACC for getting the most out of lesser talents, and developing them. I also respect that he refused to play the recruiting games, which probably cost him a few notable recruits -- much to the disdain of many Terp fans who expected Final-Four-quality teams every year after 2002, and "after we built a new state-of-the-art facillity for him in the Comcast Center." I hope they don't, like NCSU fans, come to a belated realization of how good he was some years from now, after experiencing failure in more than one successor. He was a good one.

More linkage:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports

[roywhite]

We'll have to see how things go with Mike Brey being a candidate for the Maryland job.

Mike Brey reportedly a candidate

In this article from Washington, DC, they do a quick summary of Brey's background and manage not to mention his time at Duke with Coach K.

Sources insist that Maryland is likely to target Notre Dame's Mike Brey to fill their head coaching vacancy - deep roots in DC area.

Brey has compiled a 238-120 record in 11 years at Notre Dame. He originally graduated from DeMatha in the late 1970s and also spent five years as the head coach at Delaware. The Fighting Irish finished as the second-best team in the hyper-competitive Big East last season, but were bounced by Florida State in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.

[buddy]

I guess this means I will have to retire my custom made "Sweat, Gary, Sweat" tee shirt. Only worn once a year for the last five years. Now I'll have to find another shirt to wear when we smear the turtle.

[wilko]

I guess this means I will have to retire my custom made "Sweat, Gary, Sweat" tee shirt. Only worn once a year for the last five years. Now I'll have to find another shirt to wear when we smear the turtle.

It can have an honored spot next to the "Lefty" skull-cap..

[loran16]

All good thoughts Jason. I'm in DC and can tell all of our NC-based Dukies that the MD fanbase is, in many ways, much like the NCSU one. IOW, they think their program is a LOT more attractive than it is.

Actually, I disagree on this. NC State was known by the experts to be a meh job. But Maryland:
Both Dave Telep and Evan Daniels noted that its a great job due to its recruiting grounds, and other college bball analysts (Goodman, Wolken, Luke Winn, Staples, etc.) are all saying this is at least a top 20 job, due to the recruiting ground, great facilities, tradition, and being in the ACC.

NC State's recruiting ground was shared with two national powers in the same conference. Maryland's is shared with 1 power in a different conference, and Georgetown is NOT UNC/Duke. Moreover, Maryland's got apparently better facilities, and has won significant games in the lifetimes of current college bball recruits.

Maryland is a very good job. I'm not sure it'll get huge interest due to how late the job opened. But it is NOT NC State.