Williams Recognized Among Nation's Best
11/4/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 4, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland head men's basketball coach Gary Williams was named the No. 3 college hoops mentor in the nation by CBSSportsline.com's Gregg Doyel earlier this week. Williams, who returned to his alma mater in 1989 and restored its basketball program to a position among the nation's elite, accepts his second national accolade from CBSSportsline.com after being named the national coach of the year by the website in 2002.
Doyel's full story can be read at CBSSportsline.com.
Williams' successful tenure with the Terrapins includes NCAA Tournament berths in each of the last 10 seasons, seven Sweet Sixteen appearances over the course of the last 10 years, Final Four showings in 2001 and 2002, and the 2002 national championship -- Maryland's first-ever in the sport of men's basketball. Only three active Division I basketball coaches can claim to have recorded such accomplishments.
Williams, the 2002 ACC Coach of the Year, has compiled a 502-281 record in 25 years of coaching overall, making him the 17th-winningest active coach in the nation. He has guided the Terps to seven-straight 20-win seasons, six consecutive finishes in the top 3 of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and a decade's worth of sellout home crowds.
With a 295-153 overall record as the Terps' head coach, Williams is on the cusp of becoming only the sixth ACC basketball coach ever to win 300 games. After defeating No. 1 Duke last January in Comcast Center, Williams is now tied among ACC coaches for the most victories over top-ranked teams.
The Terrapins begin the 2003-04 season at No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, marking the seventh-straight year that Maryland is ranked in the preseason.
