Gary Williams bids farewell; Maryland plans to name court after coach
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In a press conference that was more pep rally, Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams formally announced his retirement Friday afternoon.
Held at the school's Comcast Center and open to the public, the celebration included an announcement by president Wallace Loh that he wants the court to be named in Williams' honor. Word of Williams' retirement from his alma mater first came Thursday.
During the tribute, Williams was visibly emotional, seemingly trying to hold back tears as fans stood and cheered. He also had to pause during his remarks to compose himself.
"This is my decision, but it's not a quick decision; it's been a decision I've thought about for a while," said Williams, 66, who won the 2002 national championship.
Despite his emotion, he was able to inject some humor into the answer to some news media questions: "It was a hard decision because besides the coaching thing, I'm basically unskilled."
Williams had 461 wins at Maryland, including two trips to the Final Four. He ranked fifth nationally among active coaches in victories. Maryland went to 14 NCAA tournaments, including 11 in a row from 1994 to 2004 under Williams. But the Terps missed the NCAA field four of the last seven seasons.
In 33 years as a head coach, he also led programs at Ohio State, Boston College and American University before returning to his alma mater in 1989 to rebuild a program devastated by an NCAA investigation and the death of star Len Bias. He has 668 career victories.
"I'd like to thank our students," he said to rousing cheers. "This has been fun for me.
"There's a great deal of satisfaction that I've reached as a basketball coach that I've never really talked about. ... I don't want this to sound self-serving but in the last 12 years in conference play we have the second-most wins to Duke."
Williams will remain as an assistant athletics director and special assistant to athletics director Kevin Anderson.
"Gary has been an iconic figure in the ACC," commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. " His resurrection of the Maryland program to national championship status was huge, not only for the University of Maryland, but the Atlantic Coast Conference as well. His long term consistent success is what I admire the most about Gary. His accomplishments are of Hall of Fame caliber".
See photos of: Maryland Terrapins
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