I’m gonna miss this so, so much….
Clip from Gary Williams’ press conference after being hired to coach his alma mater.
This afternoon, he’ll have a press conference announcing his retirement.
Full circle, but man. What a sad day.
When a blog reader emailed me the link to the breaking news about Gary Williams’ retirement yesterday, it was like a torpedo that came straight through my inbox and hit me right between the eyes. Not gonna lie, it was no easy task holding myself together and getting through the rest of the work day.
In a recent post about Jordan Williams leaving for the NBA, I wrote, “Maryland was successful before he showed up and the team will be successful after he leaves. It’s really not the end of the world.”
The same, hopefully, will hold true for Gary Williams, but when I got the news, it legitimately felt like the end of the world.
It’s partly because I’m a young’un (relatively speaking), and partly because I didn’t become a diehard Maryland fan until fairly recently, but I’ve never known Maryland basketball without Gary Williams - and to be honest, I don’t really want to. Of course, Maryland basketball existed before he was the coach (otherwise, how could he have played for the Terps??) but a team without Gary on the sidelines is a totally foreign concept for me.
Maryland could get a really great coach to take over the program next season. But it won’t be Gary. The fist pumps, the screaming, the sweating, the yelling at the bench for the mistakes of the guys on the court, the ridiculous Midnight Madness entrances - the overall passion for the game, the school, and the fans can’t be replaced. Gary Williams can’t be replaced. Maryland basketball will go on without him, of course, but it’s the end of an era. My only regret is that I didn’t get to see more of it.
Every year on the occasion of the Maryland-Duke game (and sometimes in between, when I need a pick-me-up), I watch the video of former Terp Dave Neal taking Duke’s Nolan Smith OUT during the 2009 game at Comcast Center.
Seriously, I’ve seen concrete walls that can’t set a screen that solid. And then! To finish with the 3-pointer! It’s all the reasons I love Dave Neal rolled into one clip.
My ab-fab favorite part about it?
I was there.
I went to great lengths to procure tickets for my dad for Christmas, and we got every bit of my money’s worth (unfortunately, I also set the bar for Christmas presents impossibly high).
My dad’s a big Terps fan, but until then, he’d never been to a game. Lemme tell ya, it would’ve been tough to pick a better one.
The Maryland-Duke game in College Park is, at least for Maryland fans, one of the most awesome sporting events imaginable. The atmosphere is so frenzied, so emotionally charged, that it’s tough to even describe. And when Maryland actually plays well against Duke and it’s a close game, the atmosphere is like frenzied running on too little sleep and way, way too much Red Bull. Or Four Loko. Insane.
Imagine that wild atmosphere, and then add in a Maryland fan favorite (Neal), a hated rival, a block that a linebacker would admire, and a beautiful, clutch, three-point shot. Can it possibly get any better than that? Some might say yes, like if they’d managed to hold on for the win, but for this Terps-crazy sports nut and her papa, you know, I don’t think it could.
Although, the following year, I was at Comcast Center when Duke came to town as the top-ranked team and LOST and Jordan Williams dunked on Jon Scheyer on a no-look pass from Greivis Vasquez right in front of me.
That came really, really close to usurping Dave Neal’s screen for the title of Most Awesome Sports Moment Ever, but c’mon, there’s just no usurping Dave Neal.
This year’s game itself probably won’t be one of those unforgettable ones (it wouldn’t shock me if it’s one Terps fans would rather forget), but after a pregame ceremony, it’ll be the first game played on Gary Williams Court. It’s an incredible, well-deserved honor for a man who defined Maryland basketball.
If you’re going, I’m envious. And when you’re there, do me (and yourself) a favor. Look around. Take it in. Join the crazy crowd and yell something at Duke that the administration probably won’t approve of. Look at that wall of screaming, fanatical fans in the student section, and realize that all of them, and all the great games and unforgettable finishes in recent memory, all of them are the work of Gary Williams.
Except that screen. That’s all Dave Neal.
Ceremony to honor former Maryland head coach Gary Williams and name the court after him. Not gonna lie, my brain leaked out my eyes a little bit at this.
I realize not everyone agrees with it, but this was a fitting tribute to a man who came to embody Maryland basketball and everything for which the program stands. It was broken when he took over as head coach, and he took it to the very top. Yes, there were others who did great things for the team and the university - it wasn’t all Gary.
But Gary’s an enormous part of the reason you walk past that national championship trophy case when you enter Comcast Center - he’s a big part of the reason the Comcast Center even exists - and donation or no donation, I’m thrilled the university decided to honor his legacy this way.
It’s not Garyland anymore, but Gary Williams Court sounds pretty darn good.
I had a message from Anonymous the other day asking if I was going to blog about Gary Williams Court, the Maryland-Duke game, and the special Under Armour shoes Darren Rovell tweeted.
I didn’t see Rovell’s tweet, but here are the shoes Under Armour designed just for last night’s game, at which Coach Williams was honored.
Say what you want about Under Armour and Maryland uniforms, but Mr. Plank’s peeps sure make some hot shoes. (Or as hot as shoes can be if they’re not stilettos!)
And here’s what I posted about Gary Williams Court and the Maryland-Duke game. (Quick game recap here.)
Anonymous, let me know if this covers it!
[Gary Williams special shoes images shared via The Washington Post - Maryland’s Gary Williams Shoes]
“
To be fair, the blame for this shouldn’t really fall on Driesell. It should fall on a Maryland administration that, to use an old Driesell quote, “could screw up a one-car funeral.
—
So far, it seems like John Feinstein and I completely agree on the current state of Maryland athletics.
His brilliant take on the Lefty Driesell - Gary Williams - court-naming situation ends with a statement that could’ve been pulled directly from my brain:
Mark Turgeon has the program pointed in the right direction. He may someday achieve what Gary Williams and Lefty Driesell achieved. Maybe by then, the the school they all care about so much will be a little less dysfunctional.
Read the rest here: Lefty Driesell’s comments were wrong, but honoring him is the right thing to do - The Washington Post
