How has new Maryland basketball coach Buzz Williams historically fared in Year One?

New Maryland men’s basketball head coach Buzz Williams still has six roster spots to work with as he builds his first team in College Park.

So far, he has done an impressive job after taking over a Maryland team with no returners from its 2024-25 Sweet 16 squad. Williams has brought in eight transfers, four who have followed him from Texas A&M, and one incoming freshman in McDonald’s All-American and 6-foot-5 combo guard Darius Adams.

Of course, the landscape in college basketball has changed vastly over the last few years. But the 52-year-old Williams, who has 373 career wins and has been to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament four times, is familiar with change. Maryland is Williams’ fifth stop of his head coaching career. While he will not be expected to win big in Year One, expectations across the sport are expedited with the transfer portal, NIL and soon-to-be revenue sharing.

How have Williams’ first teams at each destination failed? Let’s take a look.

2019-20 TEXAS A&M AGGIES

Record: 16-14, 10-8 SEC (Tied-6th place)

Outcome: Postseason canceled

2018-19 Record: 14-17, 6-12 SEC (11th place)

While the 2020 NCAA Tournament never happened, Williams was not taking a team that finished 131st at KenPom to The Big Dance. But after starting the season 3-5, the Aggies finished the season 13-9 and went above .500 in the SEC, which was then the sixth-best league in the country. They won their final two games and five of their final seven games before the SEC Tournament was canceled. 

Williams did not have a completely blank slate, as 50.3% of the team’s minutes returned from the 2018-19 squad, including leading scorer Savion Flagg and second-leading scorer Wendell Mitchell. Williams took over for Billy Kennedy, who was fired. The season was not anything special to write home about, especially after Texas A&M went just 8-10 in the ensuing, wacky 2020-21 season, but the Aggies ultimately were NIT runner-ups in 2022 and NCAA Tournament participants (as single-digit seeds) in each of the previous three seasons.

2014-15 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES

Record: 11-22, 2-16 ACC (15th place)

Outcome: No postseason

2013-14 Record: 9-22, 2-16 ACC (15th place)

Williams’ successful tenure at Virginia Tech was hardly defined by his first season, which would have been impossible to find success for virtually anybody at the helm. The Hokies were in bad shape following three straight under-.500 seasons from 2011-14, eventually leading to James Johnson getting fired after only two seasons.

Virginia Tech had returned just 33.1% of the minutes from its 2013-14 squad, headlined by second-leading scorer Adam Smith (who then transferred after one year with Williams). Williams’ first season in Blacksburg, while not great record-wise, ultimately set the foundation for an NIT bid in 2016 and three straight NCAA bids from 2017-19, culminating in a Sweet 16 appearance in 2019.

2008-09 MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES

Record: 25-10, 12-6 Big East (5th place)

Outcome: NCAA Tournament Round of 32

2007-08 record: 25-10, 11-7 Big East

Williams had massive success at Marquette, and it started from Day One. Tom Crean left Marquette for Indiana, and Williams took over after one season (2007-08) as an assistant in Milwaukee. Williams had the benefit of 74.2% of the minutes returning from the 2007-08 team, including Marquette’s top-four scorers in Jerel McNeal, Dominic James, Lazar Hayward and Wesley Matthews.

He brought Marquette to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Sweet 16 in 2011 and 2012 and the Elite Eight in 2013. Marquette went 17-15 overall and 9-9 in the Big East during the 2013-14 season, his last with the program before leaving for Virginia Tech.

2006-07 NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS

Record: 14-17, 9-9 Sun Belt (4th place in West)

Outcome: No postseason

2005-06 record: 10-19, 6-9 Sun Belt (tied-4th place in West)

After two seasons as an assistant at Texas A&M, Williams took the New Orleans job. He was only there for one season, leading a four-win improvement. The Privateers’ leading scorer from the 2005-06 team, Bo McCalebb, returned. He averaged 25 points per game under Williams. 

Devin Johnson, Williams’ longtime assistant, started as an undergraduate assistant with him during the 2006-07 season at New Orleans.

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