Gary Williams Named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach Of The Year
3/11/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2002
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. - Gary Williams, who led Maryland to its first outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in 22 years and a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs, was named The Associated Press coach of the year in the ACC on Monday.
Williams, received 44 of a possible 84 votes cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association to edge North Carolina State's Herb Sendek, who got 35. Sendek's club was picked to finish seventh in the ACC tied Wake Forest for third.
Paul Hewitt, last year's winner who led Georgia Tech to the greatest turnaround in ACC history, finished a distant third with three votes. The Yellow Jackets started 0-7 in the ACC, but finished 7-9.
Williams returned four starters from last year's Final Four team, but the Terrapins still had to get past defending national champion Duke in the league.
After losing to the Blue Devils 99-78 in Durham on Jan. 17, Williams' team reeled off 13 straight wins before losing to N.C. State in the semifinals of the ACC tournament.
The winning streak was the third longest in school history and enabled Maryland to go 15-1 in the ACC for its first regular-season crown since 1980.
Maryland now heads into the NCAAs as the top seed in the East for the first time in school history and with a 27-4 record -- the fourth straight season Williams has won at least 25 games.
Williams, mild-mannered off the court, is noted for his sideline antics and temper, but his style has been ultra-successful. He's a 24-year head-coaching veteran with a combined 13 20-win seasons at American, Boston College, Ohio State and now his alma mater.
His 115 wins in the ACC rank sixth all-time and only Kentucky's Tubby Smith has had more Sweet 16 appearances since 1994 than Williams' five.
"Every coach has their own personality that is best suited for what they do as a coach," Williams said. "I can't change how I am now, this is how I am and that's my personality. But you know, I didn't have any technical fouls this year, so what's wrong with how I am?"
Williams has developed some of the best players in the ACC the last decade, including three-time all-ACC first team player Juan Dixon, and is one of the more respected coaches in college basketball.
His players said they've gotten used to his sideline intensity, accepting it as a motivational tool.
"I love his style and I just love him as a person," Dixon said. "We understand one another and he knows where I'm coming from and I know where he's coming from. I'm going to miss playing for him."
"There's nothing wrong with his style, you just have to know what you are getting into before you come here," senior Lonny Baxter said. "Otherwise, you can be a young guy sitting their on the bench and he starts going crazy and it might freak you out a little bit. But the bark is so much worse than the bite, we all know that."
Williams is just the second Maryland coach to win the award in the 49-year history of the ACC. Lefty Driesell won it in 1975 and 1980.
