Does Gary Williams Want to Leave College Park?

I don't assume for one second that Gary Williams wants to leave his post as head coach of the University of Maryland men's basketball team. Six years removed from achieving the pinnacle of his profession, Williams finds himself out the outskirts of relevancy in the ACC, and a recruiting outcast in his own state.

And who can blame him? 2009 will mark Williams' 20th year at the helm of the College Park program. I'm sure he's gotten tired of the weighty expectations as much as the athletic executives are tired of his egotistic approach to his job. It's no secret in the area that Gary Williams thrives off of taking marginal talent and creating a resilient, productive team. But as college basketball has evolved from an athletic destination to breeding ground for professional basketball players, Williams has been left in the dust.

He, along with Terp faithful, are probably sick and tired of watching the Michael Beasleys, Donte Greens, Ty Lawsons, Kevin Durants,  Rudy Gays, Delonte Wests, Jeff Greens, Roy Hibberts, Carmelo Anthonys, Michael Sweetneys, James Whites, DerMarr Johnsons, Joe Fortes and Keith Bogans of the world grow up in the glow of Cole Field House or the Comcast Center and not be drawn to its bright promise of team mediocrity. Its hard enough to convince kids to stay in the place where they've been all of their lives when there's such a big world beyond the metro area. But at some point, Williams needs to start talking to boosters, who need to start talking to AAU coaches, who need to start talking to parents and family members, who need to start telling kids that Maryland isn't such a bad place; especially when Eastern Motors is promising a Navigator and $30k a year for their loyalty.

Not bad when your jumpshot is your credit.

Maybe Gary wants to do it the right way, but in pursuing players the right way, the right players are going in the wrong direction to play basketball; away from the College Park campus. Let's not pretend, college basketball is big money, and the change game that the players and their families try to come up on is small potatoes. It would be a shame if Gary is purposefully keeping the Terps' program in Flo's Diner territory while everyone else is aspiring for Ruth's Chris status.

And you would think that when the women's basketball team surpasses you as the biggest basketball draw in town, you better get back on the fund raising and recruitment trail. That's not an indictment of the tremendous job the ladies have done, but it's more of a testament to what the gentlemen of College Park basketball aren't doing. The days of monster recruiting classes and all-American players belong to the Lady Terps, and Gary doesn't seem to mind watching the sun set on his flickering program.

He's cocky about graduation rates, and he's cocky about the fairly middlin' basketball talent he brings in, but it's all just pomp and circumstance. Williams is smart enough to know that he'd be fired if he didn't pose like he worked his butt off 13 months out of year, but you don't have to be a Terps insider to know that Gary is slipping quietly away into the night. He's an institution, and its sad that College Park doesn't have the heart to put him out of his misery, and he's too arrogant to let it all go.

Comments

[Jeff V]

Gary is still one of the best coaches out there. Keep in mind that the National Championship team wasn't full of 5 star recruits. What is funny is that the team that was full of high level recruits was the Gilcrest, Jones (McD AA), Garrison (McD AA), Caner-Medley, McCray squad.

It's really frustrating to watch them toil in anonymity but now that hes opened the communication with Montrose Christian (vis-a-vis Vasquez) I think Gary is starting to "get it"

[Matt Brown]

Not only is Gary Williams pursuing the right players the wrong way, he's pursuing the wrong players. 0% graduation rates and 0% NBA draft rates cannot go hand in hand. Either get talent on the court or in the classroom.