108 replies to this topic

[bnickle]

He was 66 when he "quit." You obviously aren't too fond of GW.

I appreciate what Gary Williams did for the program. He was a much more flawed coach, and man for that matter, than most MD fans admit or recognize.

[glenn__davis]

Yeah, I'm not totally saying GW was half assing it near the end either. He had a pretty good class before the disaster of 2005 and a very good class after.

 

For whatever reason he was just never able to truly build from his national championship season and the new arena.

 

He also lost a lot of guys due to very questionable circumstances.

 

Shane Clark jumped ship to Villanova.  There were some strong rumors at the time that the president of Villanova fudged some paperwork to keep Clark from being able to qualify at MD (I forget the details here).

 

Gus Gilchrist was another that got away.  IIRC his handler wanted a job and Gary wouldn't give him one.

 

Rudy Gay was another questionable one.

 

We know he didn't want to deal with Curtis Malone.  Seems like a good decision now.

 

I've often said that I think Gary's recruiting failures were a little overstated.  I actually think what changed was that he couldn't adjust to the mindset of more modern players.  He recruited some lower character guys and had trouble reaching them like he could in the past.  That class of Gilchrist, McCray, Garrison, Caner-Medley should have been dynamite.  The players he was getting at the end really weren't that different than they guys he'd always gotten, in fact in some cases they were a little better.  He just wasn't as effective at coaching them up, with some obvious exception like Vasquez and Hayes.

[Oriole85]

I appreciate what Gary Williams did for the program. He was a much more flawed coach, and man for that matter, than most MD fans admit or recognize.

There's a concept fans thinking pretty highly of one of their own. I think I've been pretty down the middle with GW. He's a legend to many, MD fans. He had his time, it was a good run, he brought MD basketball back to prominence (and more), couldn't come close to maintaining it, stayed a little too long, but glad he was able to end on his own terms.

 

Not sure where this being flawed as a man comes from. He had the DWI 20 years ago and was arrogant, but I'm not sure what you are really talking about.

[Oriole85]

He also lost a lot of guys due to very questionable circumstances.

 

Shane Clark jumped ship to Villanova.  There were some strong rumors at the time that the president of Villanova fudged some paperwork to keep Clark from being able to qualify at MD (I forget the details here).

 

Gus Gilchrist was another that got away.  IIRC his handler wanted a job and Gary wouldn't give him one.

 

Rudy Gay was another questionable one.

 

We know he didn't want to deal with Curtis Malone.  Seems like a good decision now.

 

I've often said that I think Gary's recruiting failures were a little overstated.  I actually think what changed was that he couldn't adjust to the mindset of more modern players.  He recruited some lower character guys and had trouble reaching them like he could in the past.  That class of Gilchrist, McCray, Garrison, Caner-Medley should have been dynamite.  The players he was getting at the end really weren't that different than they guys he'd always gotten, in fact in some cases they were a little better.  He just wasn't as effective at coaching them up, with some obvious exception like Vasquez and Hayes.

He didn't want to get involved in the AAU game.

[glenn__davis]

He had his time, it was a good run, he brought MD basketball back to prominence (and more), couldn't come close to maintaining it, stayed a little too long, but glad he was able to end on his own terms.

 

This is honestly all that should ever need to be said.  He left on his own terms and is in good standing with the University.  If that means he stayed a bit too long, I'm just fine with what (of course it should be mentioned that in his penultimate season he was ACC regular season champ).

[Oriole85]

This is honestly all that should ever need to be said.  He left on his own terms and is in good standing with the University.  If that means he stayed a bit too long, I'm just fine with what (of course it should be mentioned that in his penultimate season he was ACC regular season champ).

He did say a few years ago, that it's better too leave a little too early than a little too late, implying that he could've kept going and didn't feel he had worn out his welcome. But yeah I'm glad that he was able to leave on his terms and is welcomed back. Way too often, you see these messy divorces, where both sides feel awkward.

 

Remember when GW left, he was named Assistant AD/Special Assistant to Kevin Anderson? Does he still hold those titles? I remember him saying when asked about it, that he wasn't going to be around. Essentially, it was ceremonial in the first place.

[BSLMikeLowe]

How can anybody be happy that the State of MD highest paid man was half assing his job. How can anybody be happy when they see that anywhere in any workplace. Just at a whole different level when it's public and the guy is making millions of dollars a year.

 

Yeah, UM could have paid a whole lot less to just find some CYO coach for the basketball team. That would make everyone "happy."

[BSLMikeLowe]

Remember when GW left, he was named Assistant AD/Special Assistant to Kevin Anderson? Does he still hold those titles? I remember him saying when asked about it, that he wasn't going to be around. Essentially, it was ceremonial in the first place.

 

I don't know, it was probably just a made-up title for him to get paid to do some fundraising. Whatever Gary is up to these days, I certainly hope he isn't half-assing it.

[Oriole85]

I don't know, it was probably just a made-up title for him to get paid to do some fundraising. Whatever Gary is up to these days, I certainly hope he isn't half-assing it.

Yeah that and a PR move to show that he left on good terms and was still welcomed back. I think he's still fundraising and making decent money doing so.

 

He's doing Fox Sports One, as well as CSN stuff (he hosts a nightly show during the AT&T, does some cbb analysis, saw him one time on SportsTalk Live). I don't think he's still employed by the Big Ten Network, but he did that.