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“The growth of the Hokies’ basketball program and
the renewed energy under Buzz Williams in his first
two seasons has been remarkable,” Virginia Tech
Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said. “We’ve
seen improvement in all facets. He’s an educator
first and foremost. He loves his players. They play
hard for him. Everyone within the program and
around the department has embraced Buzz’s work
ethic, passion, and attention to detail. We certainly
have positive momentum and want to do all we can
to keep it going. We believe in Coach Williams and
his staff. Exciting times in Blacksburg.”
Williams was an assistant at Marquette during the
2007-08 season. MU concluded the year 25-10
and advanced to the second round of the NCAA
Tournament for the first time since 2003.
His coaching career has included stints as an
assistant, associate head and head coach. He has
been at the NCAA Division I level for 20 seasons,
and 2016-17 was will mark his 10th campaign
as a head coach. Williams has recruited and
coached more than 20 players who have earned all-
conference accolades, including two league Players
of the Year, two conference Freshmen of the Year
and four Associated Press All-Americans.
Williams arrived in Milwaukee after serving for one
season as the head coach at the University of New
Orleans. He guided the Privateers to a 14-win
campaign in 2006-07, and his roster featured Bo
McCalebb, the Sun Belt Conference Player of the
Year. UNO claimed fourth place in the Sun Belt’s
Western Division and advanced to the league
tournament quarterfinals. The squad claimed as
many victories on the road that season as it had in
the previous three seasons combined. His recruiting
class for the 2007-08 season was ranked in the top
50 nationally by .
Prior to UNO, Williams served as an assistant
coach and recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M for
two seasons (2004-05 and 2005-06) under head
coach Billy Gillispie. Both of his recruiting classes
with the Aggies were ranked among the best in the
nation and featured some of the top-ranked talent
at the prep level. The squad made its first NCAA
Tournament appearance in 25 years in 2005-06
and the previous team posted the top turnaround in
the nation, improving its win total in 2004-05 by 14
games compared to 2003-04.
Williams spent four seasons (2000-01 through
2003-04) at Colorado State, serving as an assistant
the first three seasons before being promoted
to associate head coach in 2003-04. Two of his
recruiting classes were ranked among the 40 best
in the nation, including the 2003 group, which was
tabbed No. 1 in the Mountain West Conference.
Colorado State made its first NCAA Tournament
appearance in 13 years during his tenure, and
named him one of the top
assistants in the country.
The Van Alstyne, Texas, native was previously an
assistant at Northwestern State (1999-2000), Texas
A&M-Kingsville (1998-99) and Texas-Arlington
(1994-98). He earned a bachelor’s degree in
kinesiology from Oklahoma City University in 1994
before completing his master’s work in the same
field at Texas A&M-Kingsville in 1999.
Williams is married to the former Corey Norman and
the couple has two daughters, Zera and Addyson,
and two sons, Calvin and Mason.
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