Maryland Record Breakers: Walt Williams

Juan Dixon scored more career points than any player in Maryland history. Tom McMillen averaged the most career points. Ernie Graham scored the most points in a single-game.

But the greatest scoring season in history? That undisputedly belongs to “The Wizard” himself, Walt Williams.

The numbers Williams put up are baffling to say the least.

In the ACC alone, he still holds the record for points in conference play (29.6/g), in addition to the night he hoisted a conference-record 22(!) 3-point attempts at Clemson.

At Maryland, he remains the record-holder for, well, a lot. If it has to do with scoring in a single-season, then Williams likely owns the record. 

But none of those records is more impressive than his streak of seven consecutive games scoring 30+ points. It is a remarkable achievement alone if not for the fact that all seven games came in ACC play.

It was quite the journey for Williams to get to that point.

A native of Prince George’s County, Williams didn’t play organized basketball until he reached high school. Instead, he honed his craft on the blacktop at local outdoor courts pretending to be Len Bias.

“It was Len Bias who made me a full-fledged Terp fan,” said Williams, who recently teamed up with fellow Terp Tony Massenburg to co-author Lessons From Lenny. 

He credited that background on the local courts for his ability to play any position Gary Williams asked of him later in college.

“There’s no positions out there so if all you could do was post up, you weren’t going to get the ball much,” Williams said on the Hear the Turtle podcast. “Playing on the blacktop and having the freedom to push the ball up the court was an advantage for me in terms of transitioning into an organized situation.”

But prior to Gary Williams’ arrival, Walt Williams briefly contemplated leaving Maryland.

“The only reason I really entertained the notion of leaving was because I was frustrated about the way things went with Coach Wade,” Walt Williams said. “But I saw my teammates as brothers and I didn’t feel it was in my nature to walk away because of a tough situation.”

It wouldn’t be long before a special bond formed between Walt Williams and Gary Williams. The future Hall of Fame coach knew how badly the team needed Walt, and Walt was set on proving his coach right.

That motivation to prove Gary Williams right was forged in a game against Clemson when Walt started the game “0 for 8 or 9” and passed up an open jumper. At the next break, Gary immediately confronted Walt on the court.

“He really laid into me about the fact that the only chance we had to win was if I was aggressive and maintained confidence,” Walt said. “And I thought the dude was crazy. [In my head] I was like, ‘You didn’t just see me miss eight or nine shots, what are you talking about?’ It made me think ‘this dude thinks I’m a bad dude’ and that was motivating for me. From that point on there could have been two or three people in the arena and I wanted to show them that Coach Williams thought I was the baddest dude.”

The story checks out.

Said Gary Williams: “Walt and I joke about it now. He says the only time I yelled at him was when he didn’t shoot because I wanted him to shoot more.”

Coming off a junior season in which he missed the latter half of the year, Williams was set on leaving his mark in his final year in College Park.

And leave his mark he did.

Williams scored at least 20 points in all but three games, with all three of the games coming before the new year. But the pièce de résistance of the season was the seven straight games with at least 30 points.

“It was crazy,” Williams said. “Most of those games I didn’t even know how many points I had until I walked in the locker room and one of my teammates would tell me. I was just in the flow of the game and trying to do what I could to win.”

Gary Williams was most impressed by Walt’s ability to perform against ACC opponents even when they knew what was coming.

“He was incredible,” Gary said. “He could score any way there is to score in basketball. Walt always did it in a way that it helped the team. It wasn’t garbage points he was scoring. It was Walt trying to make the team better.”

Four games into the illustrious streak - against Clemson again - Walt Williams recalled feeling so good in warmups he stopped taking shots altogether.

“I just wanted to bottle up those shots,” Williams said. “I remember shooting around before that game and I was just in a rhythm from distance. I remember I shot really well in that game.”

Most Maryland fans regard Walt Williams’ as the savior of the program as it dealt with NCAA sanctions.

Said Gary Williams: “Walt has a lot to do with the fact that we didn’t lose fans during the period that we weren’t allowed to play in the NCAA Tournament.”

Currently serving as the third member of the radio team with Johnny Holliday and Chris Knoche, Walt Williams’ contagious presence is a fixture at Maryland basketball games. 

He hopes to pass his love for the University of Maryland and basketball knowledge to the next generation.

“My time at Maryland was so much fun,” he said. “I made relationships that last to this day. I have a text chain with 17-18 guys I played with from 1988-92 right now. That was one of the most fun times of my life and I just want to be a part of that experience for all the guys there now. If I can help those kids grow on and off the court, I just want to be a part of that. It’s special to be able to inspire youth. I’m inspired by them - look at the social issues going on right now, the young people are really stepping up.”