May 21, 2004

Commencement Photos

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland head men's basketball coach and 1968 business school grad Gary Williams delivered the commencement address as more than 1,100 UM students graduated from the Robert H. Smith School of Business on Friday, May 21.

Williams shared with the graduates some experiences from his days as a student, teacher and coach. He told the students that they can accomplish great things through hard work and perseverance, and that there are no shortcuts to success in whatever they aspire to do. He encouraged the graduates to choose a profession that they would enjoy, set goals, and work diligently to accomplish them.

Approximately 750 students graduated with bachelor's degrees, more than 300 with master's degrees and three with doctorate degrees. Smith School commencement details are listed here.

Since returning to the College Park campus in 1989, Williams has led his alma mater's basketball program into an era of national prominence. With 11 straight NCAA tournament berths, seven Sweet Sixteen appearances, a pair of consecutive Final Four showings and the 2002 national championship, Williams and his staff have forged what is now more than a decade of dominance.

In 2004, the 1968 business school graduate led his Terrapins - who statistically comprised one of the nation's most youthful squads - to the program's record eighth consecutive 20-win season. Further, Williams' Terps accomplished what only few other Maryland squads have ever achieved, thrilling fans across the nation in capturing the 2004 ACC title. Williams' squad became only the third team in ACC Tournament history to down the Top 3 seeds in the tournament, and set the all-time record for tournament comebacks in overcoming a 21-point deficit against NC State in the semifinal round.

Williams owns more than 500 victories in his 26 seasons as a head coach, with over 300 coming at the University of Maryland. He is the 16th-winningest active coach in America, and is one of only 10 coaches ever to lead his alma mater to the national title.

Williams has become the sixth-winningest coach in ACC history after transforming the Maryland program into one of the nation's most formidable, and building a Baltimore-D.C. area following that has consistently resulted in packed arenas. For the second-straight season Maryland set a new home attendance record in 2004, as 287,200 fans came out to support the Terps at Comcast Center during their ACC championship season.