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The Maryland basketball team is struggling in Year 1 of the Buzz Williams era. It appears he’s already losing a portion of the fanbase.
The head coach has not addressed the public often in his debut season as the losses mount. Is he hiding from Terrapins fans?
Taylor Lyons of the Baltimore Sun brought that point to light in a recent story.
Tuesday was Williams’ first news conference outside of a postgame setting since Dec. 12, when the Terps were 6-4. Williams also hasn’t appeared on the weekly Maryland Basketball Radio Show since Dec. 9 and won’t do so again this season.
Williams did not attend a news conference outside of a postgame presser for nearly two months. He has not appeared on the program’s weekly radio show since early December. He will not make another appearance this year.
Why?
Is Buzz Williams hiding?
Some believe he’s shielding himself from criticism by avoiding the public. The Terps are just 9-14 with a 2-10 mark in Big Ten play.
Maryland is 3-10 since the coach’s last radio show, which followed a 19-point loss to Iowa at the start of conference action.
Is his absence purposeful or simply coincidence?
Maryland unveiled its radio show schedule ahead of the 2025-26 college basketball season. Buzz Williams‘ final appearance was slated for December 9th.
That release preceded his team’s on-court struggles. It was planned. Was it foresight? Maybe. Maybe not.
It’s worth mentioning that his last show aligns with Big Ten play opening, a time when difficulty in the schedule ramps up. It’s reasonable to think he wanted to put more of a focus on coaching in conference.
It is also possible he knew his team wasn’t good enough to compete.
The Buzz Williams Radio Show at Texas A&M aired throughout the entirety of the coach’s final season in College Station. Maryland basketball fans are unhappy that’s not been the case in College Park.
They’ve found it difficult to connect with a coach many believe is out of place.
Williams says he’s not dodging fans.
“I’ve said yes to everything I’ve ever been asked to do,” he said in Tuesday’s news conference – his first since December 12th.
“Whatever was going on on the internet that said I didn’t want to talk to the media, I don’t know. I have not tried to dodge anything relative to the results.
“I apologize for those that don’t think they know me or whoever these fans are. I’m happy to — I’m not hiding anything.”
Buzz Williams has previously coached at Marquette, Virginia Tech, and Texas A&M. The Lone Star State native is fiery and passionate, which sometimes results in a sweat-drenched gameday outfit.
With that said, his personality isn’t for everyone. Many around the program had their doubts after the hire, which have since been confirmed.
I had very low expectations for the Williams hire. Save for one season more than a decade ago at Marquette, his long resume included almost no true accomplishments. He’s been good enough to keep jobs until he’s recognized it was time to get out before people started asking why he hadn’t accomplished anything. There was nothing to suggest he was a rising coach and far more to suggest he was a journeyman.
Far more troubling were the conversations I had with those who covered him during his time at Virginia Tech. It became clear to me what a poor cultural fit Williams would be at Maryland. He ran programs that were insulated. He operated as a singularly powerful force. His emphasis on religion is popular with a specific crowd, but this is not a region where religion trumps reality…
The discontent from the fan base isn’t entirely about the performance on the floor. It also has to do with the total detachment the program seems to have from the community. Williams has hardly gone out of his way to ingratiate himself. His news-conference messaging about “lessons learned” is ripe for satire. He hasn’t built relationships with the local basketball community.
Fans believe he’s isolated the program from the fanbase. Players have no ties to the community. The coach is unwilling to connect with his followers.
His avoidance of media opportunities only fuels that fire.
Buzz Williams insists he’s not dodging fans. He’s simply focusing on the task at hand. Unfortunately, the results haven’t followed. On-court struggles combined with off-court narratives might lead to a quick breakup.