As a Maryland native, and with a daughter who is a recent University of Maryland alum, the news of Gary Williams’ retirement really hit home for me. He has been the coach at Maryland for the last 22 years – as long as my daughter has been alive. He helped make Maryland the school it is today, a school where my daughter received a top-notch education. I’m proud to be the father of a Terp. He took over the coaching job shortly after the Len Bias incident, when the basketball program (and to some extent the school’s reputation) were in shambles. And he took that program from source of shame to a source of huge school and local pride. The basketball program’s success helped put the University of Maryland on the map in a big way, which in turn helped Maryland attract more quality students from across the country.
After all that he’s done for the university, it’s hard to imagine what Maryland will be like without Gary. But the great Washington Post sports writer Thomas Boswell offered a wonderful send-up of this unique coach in last Friday’s paper. Here’s an excerpt:
“And, yes, he does play by the rules, too. Part of that is ethics. But part, I think, is because he’s the best game coach and upset-motivator I’ve ever seen, including Bobby Knight and that coach who goes by one initial at Duke. And Gary loves the Robert E. Lee role, playing that outmanned genius general. He’ll retire tied for the career record by beating seven No. 1-ranked teams. Gary, log firmly on shoulder, loves to beat you with less, then bask in the obvious.
Maryland students loved Gary because he fit them. If he spun in the air pumping his fist and his shirttail came out, all the better. Who says we can’t beat those stuck-up Dukies if we try hard enough? My son, a recent Maryland grad, phoned me from Comcast Center during the 2009-10 season, when Gary and Maryland were on the way to being ACC regular season co-champs.
“Are you watching on TV?” my son screamed over the crowd. “We’re getting ready to storm the court. Gary is going to beat North Carolina!”
For 22 years, but no more, they were indissoluble and indefatigable: Garyland, our Garyland.”¹
Read the full article here. And fear the turtle.
-Ro
¹Excerpted from “Gary Williams: The Greatest Craze to Hit College Park.” by Thomas Boswell. First published in the Washington Post May 6, 2011. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/gary-williams-the-greatest-craze-to-his-college-park/2011/05/06/AFz36JCG_story.html