Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock confirmed in a press release on Wednesday morning that Buzz Williams is leaving to take the head coaching job at Texas A&M.
“Coach Williams made a very positive impact on the culture of our basketball program at Virginia Tech,” Babcock said. “We appreciate all that Buzz and his staff did for our students and our program. We wish Buzz, Corey and their family the very best as they return to their home state of Texas.
“Thanks to our talented student-athletes, Coach Williams and his staff, Virginia Tech is now one of the most attractive jobs in the nation’s top basketball conference, the ACC,” Babcock continued. “I’m extremely confident that we’ll be able to identify and hire a new head coach who can further build on the success our men’s basketball program has achieved in recent years. Until we have our new head coach in place, we will have no further comment on our search process.”
Williams inherited a program that had finished last in the ACC four straight seasons. He turned things around quickly, taking the program to the NCAA Tournament three years in a row for the first time in school history. His tenure culminated with this year’s Sweet 16 appearance, which was also a first for the program in the modern era of the NCAA Tournament.
Overall, Williams went 100-69 in his five seasons at Virginia Tech, with a 44-46 record in the ACC. If you throw out his first and only rebuilding season, his record was 89-47, with a 42-30 mark in conference play. He made the program competitive with the top programs in the ACC, accumulating a record of 6-8 his last three seasons against Duke, Virginia, and North Carolina.
Besides developing a winning program, Williams and his wife Corey also endowed two scholarships at Virginia Tech.
The Buzz’s Bunch Scholarship Endowment will continue to be awarded annually to an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech in any field of study who is registered with Services for Students with Disabilities. Buzz’s Bunch is a non-profit organization that the Williams family created at Marquette and continued at Virginia Tech as a way to bring children with disabilities and special needs together and allow them to fall in love with the game of basketball. This endowed scholarship further strengthens the longstanding pledge the Williams family has made to help those with disabilities and special needs reach their full potential.
The Buzz and Corey Williams Family Student-Athlete Scholarship – In Memory of T. Marshall Hahn – will be continue to awarded annually to an undergraduate student-athlete participating on any women’s intercollegiate teams at Virginia Tech. First preference shall be given to students who are the first generation of their family to pursue a post-secondary (college) education. Preference shall also be given to students who are members of an underrepresented population at Virginia Tech. This scholarship recognizes Coach Williams’ deep appreciation for his friendship with the late Dr. Hahn and the many initiatives he championed during his tenure at Tech to develop a culture of diversity and inclusion for all Hokies.
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Thanks buzz, for all your great work. I also enjoyed meeting you in Abingdon Virginia
A sad day…
Thanks Buzz!
I want to thank Buzz personally for all he did to elevate HOKIE basketball and living in the great state of Texas since 1971, certainly understand him wanting to come back home. But I am scratching my head wondering why he didn’t wait around until next year when the real basketball program in Texas, that’s UT for
any lurking Aggie sympathizers, possibly opens up with Shaka on the hot seat in Austin. A&M will always play second fiddle to UT in that sport.
Great coach, strong character. Sorry that you are leaving. But THANK YOU for your time at Tech!
We should not begrudge a man who wants to “return home.” He earned this opportunity by his lifetime of work. I am happy we had ha services for five years, wish he and his family well and welcome our next basketball coach who hopefully will take our program to even a higher stratosphere.
Should have ponied up some money to at least try to make him think about it! Did we do that?
I doubt that Whit would make that public. And I’m not sure it should be. Time to move on to the next coach.
Grateful that Buzz spent 5 years at VT and thankful for him elevating the program out of the basement of the ACC! It was a lot of fun cheering him on the last 5 years and best wishes for him and his family at A&M. Looking forward to Whit bringing in another good hire and continuing the success for men’s BBall! Let’s Go Hokies!
Small correction: Buzz inherited a program that had finished last for 3 straight seasons. His first season also finished last to have 4 straight last-place finishes.
Thanks for everything Buzz did!
Pleased to see all the well wishes. I share the same sentiments and have been surprised by the ire on the boards. We all deserve to look out for #1, and he was a great coach here during his tenure, regardless of whether he took his foot off of the recruiting pedal at the end (which I believe we were warned about from his days at Marquette). But he coached ’em up well and made it fun to watch VT basketball again. Let’s hope the next coach is that good.
Hit it right on the nail head. Way too much vitriol and angst directed to a coach that did nothing but elevate VT MBB to heights we have not seen before and short of a last second missed shot. We could still be playing. OK it’s WB time to do it again and make another great hire. I trust him and wish Buzz and his family the best as long as we are not playing each other 😎
Best of Luck in College Station, Buzz. That is until you play the Hokies.😊
Best of luck to you Buzz – I hope you enjoy being home. I appreciate everything you did for VT.
Best of luck to Buzz and his family. It’s hard to turn down the chance to go home. Thank you for all you have done at VT.
Kudos to Buzz for the endowed scholarships.
Do they stay?
So says the article
You can’t take back money that you gave to the endowment.
Buzz, we will miss you and your family. Thanks for elevating our program and proving that success can be achieved the right way – the hard way – in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech is much better off today than it was before you arrived. I hope you and your family feel the experience was mutually beneficial. The future is bright in Blacksburg and College Station, TX. Godspeed.
Well, time to move into the next chapter of VT Basketball. Buzz Williams Done a great job here and I thank Whit Babcock for hiring him in the time of need. I look forward to what our AD will hire in Buzz’s replacement. With a great AD, things usually work out just fine..
Thank, Buzz. You did a lot for the program and the school. It sounds like you will continue the great work even after you’re gone.