The recent one point loss to Morgan State at home followed by a loss at Miami where the Terps held a 17 point lead at one point and an overtime loss to Florida State this past week has many throwing stones at the head coach of Maryland and his ability to successfully run the team anymore. Many of the student body know of Gary Williams bringing back Maryland from the depths of NCAA sanctions, but aren't fully aware to the extent of the disciplinary actions imposed on Maryland.

After the death of Len Bias and scandal from Bob Wade, Gary Williams was fortunate that Walt Williams stayed at Maryland while Mustaf left. Gary didn't have full scholarships for all players. Maryland was on probation for two years and weren't allowed to broadcast games on television until after midnight. No one wanted to play at Maryland. After Moten chose Syracuse due to the violations at Maryland, Gary was able to turn the program around at a game in 1993 versus Georgetown with a little known recruit - Joe Smith. Soon there after winning became more regular and so did the recruiting of Steve Francis.

Years of Being Competitive:

Williams moved the Terps from the bottom of the conference to respectability and a share at the top with Duke and UNC. Gary Williams built a competitive program through the 90s with twelve straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Excellent Coaching

A measure of a great coach is getting the most out of the players he has on his team. Due to the expansion of the ACC and the inclusion of Roy Williams to the ACC, the road to the top of the ACC became even more challenging. Gary has constantly been able to take mediocre players and make them look good and with coaching make good players look great. It's easy to say a coach is great in a championship season. It's also easy to say a head coach is great when they have top talent year in and year out.

2004 marked one of the greatest season's of coaching under Gary Williams. It was a turbulent year as John Gilchrist led Maryland to their first ACC Tournament win since the Len Bias era. With the departure of Dixon and Baxter, the team was left with a bunch of characters that Williams had to confront, coach, and motivate. Without winning the tournament, it wasn't certain if Maryland would have even been selected to the NCAA Tournament. Williams faced and overcame much adversity in 2004 while taking his team to another trip to the big dance.

This Past Week:

Maryland may have left Florida with two losses this past week, but should they have even been in those games? Miami was down seventeen to Maryland before mounting a late second half charge to win by two. Most analysts had projected Miami making the NCAA Tournament. Maryland's guard laden team held tough until the more talented front court and three point shooting guards for Miami won the game in the last minute of play.

Maryland could have easily folded versus Florida State in a game where the front court dominance of the Seminoles should have been enough to defeat the Terps. Yet, it was Maryland that had more rebounds and offensive rebounds in the game. The Terps may have even won the game if a missed free throw by two of the best free throw shooting players in the conference (Vasquez & Hayes) both hit their missed shot late in the game. Gary clearly outcoached Leonard Hamilton and nearly walked away with a win.

Recruiting:

Gary Williams has long been viewed by his critics as falling short on his recruiting duties as head coach. What many seem to forget is how Gary has rebuilt a program, consistently been winning, and even won a national title with his recruiting practices. While many players choose to play at Duke for Coach K or want to play at UNC as a stepping stone towards the NBA, Gary has assembled teams able to beat both schools.

The wrap some would lay on Gary's recruiting only punctuates how good a coach he is. It's the same recruiting over the years that have helped beat Duke & UNC, win a title, an ACC Tournament.

Assistants:

Gary Williams has often sited extended responsibilities of recruiting to his assistant coaches, because he was also coaching his assistants and training them how to recruit. The Terps have been so successful under Gary that many of his top assistants left to become head coaches elsewhere.

The Blue Chips Factor:

The movie "Blue Chips" isn't one of the best sports movies. It isn't even one of the top ten in my book. It also has Nick Nolte and that's not a great selling point either, but the last ten minutes of the movie are very poignant in today's era. In the movie the coach tells the press that the best coaching he did was getting the most of the previous season's team that finished slightly above .500 and was perceived to be thin on talent. That record wasn't good enough (to everyone else) when the players gave every ounce they had to the program and gave the coach everything he demanded. Isn't getting the most out of a team the goal and winning with less talent a sign of a good coach? Absolutely!

Gary Williams:

Gary can't play for his players, but he always elevates the level of the players on the team with coaching. The Terps picked by many to be at the bottom of the conference have already defeated Michigan, Michigan St., & Ga Tech. The Terps could have been blown out in many of their games, but the constant is Gary taking the team he has and making it the best team it can be.

It's easy to ask for a change, but to request to remove arguably the second best coach in the ACC to step down seems ridiculous. Gary has repeatedly been able to defeat his peers at the highest levels and yet it's not good enough. What makes coaches like Gary and coach K so successful is to take players and make them look better. Gary doesn't have the Tar Heel or Jay Hawk brand behind him, but always get the most out of his Terps.