| Buzz Williams | |
| Current Title: | Head coach |
| Current Team: | Texas A&M |
| Current Conference: | SEC |
| Birth Date: | 1 September 1972 |
| Birth Place: | Greenville, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Oklahoma City ('94) Texas A&M–Kingsville ('99) |
| Coach Years1: | 1994–1998 |
| Coach Team1: | Texas–Arlington (assistant) |
| Coach Years2: | 1998–1999 |
| Coach Team2: | Texas A&M–Kingsville (assistant) |
| Coach Years3: | 1999–2000 |
| Coach Team3: | Northwestern State (assistant) |
| Coach Years4: | 2000–2004 |
| Coach Team4: | Colorado State (assistant) |
| Coach Years5: | 2004–2006 |
| Coach Team5: | Texas A&M (assistant) |
| Coach Years6: | 2006–2007 |
| Coach Team6: | New Orleans |
| Coach Years7: | 2007–2008 |
| Coach Team7: | Marquette (assistant) |
| Coach Years8: | 2008–2014 |
| Coach Team8: | Marquette |
| Coach Years9: | 2014–2019 |
| Coach Team9: | Virginia Tech |
| Coach Years10: | 2019–present |
| Coach Team10: | Texas A&M |
| Tournament Record: | 11–10 (NCAA Division I) 5–2 (NIT) |
| Championships: | Big East regular season (2013) |
| Awards: | 2× SEC Coach of the Year (2020, 2023) |
Brent Langdon "Buzz" Williams (born September 1, 1972) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at Texas A&M University. He previously served as head coach at Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2019, Marquette from 2008 to 2014, and New Orleans during the 2006–07 season, and as an assistant coach at Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M–Kingsville, Northwestern State, Colorado State, and Texas A&M.[1]
Brent Langdon Williams grew up in Van Alstyne, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Oklahoma City University in 1994 and a master's degree in the same field at Texas A&M University–Kingsville in 1999. Williams married Corey Norman in 2000.[2] They have two daughters (Addyson and Zera) and two sons (Calvin and Mason). Referring to his boundless energy, his coaches at Navarro College nicknamed him Buzz. He was inducted to the Navarro College athletic hall of fame in 2021.[3]
Williams coached Marquette to a 25–10 record in the 2008–09 season, where they lost to the Missouri Tigers in the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament. He coached Marquette to a 22–12 record in the 2009–10 season, which ended with a close loss to the 11th-seeded Washington Huskies in the first round of the 2010 NCAA tournament.
During the 2010–11 campaign, Williams led the Golden Eagles back to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2003. His team went 22–15 including a 9–9 Big East Conference record. They lost in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Big East men's basketball tournament to Louisville. Marquette received an at-large bid in the 2011 NCAA tournament. There they defeated Xavier in the second round (formerly the first round) and Syracuse in the third round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they were defeated by No. 7-ranked and No. 2-seeded North Carolina.
Williams' 2012 team returned to the NCAA tournament after finishing second in the Big East regular season, finishing 14–4 in conference play. As a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, they defeated BYU and Murray State to advance to their second straight Sweet Sixteen. There, they lost to No. 7-seeded Florida.
After winning a share of the Big East Men's regular season championship, Marquette received an at-large bid in the 2013 NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed. There, they earned come-from-behind victories over Davidson in the second round and Butler in the third round. In the Sweet Sixteen, the school's third straight under Williams, they defeated ACC regular season and conference champion Miami to earn a trip to Williams's first Elite Eight, where they lost to Syracuse.
The 2013–14 season was Williams' worst at Marquette, finishing 17–15 with a loss to Xavier in the Big East tournament.
Williams was named the head basketball coach at Virginia Tech on March 21, 2014, replacing James Johnson. The move had critics questioning why he would leave Marquette for Virginia Tech, "one of the country’s toughest rebuilding projects."[4] Williams left behind a program at Marquette, which had only nine scholarship players – none taller than 6'7" – for new coach Steve Wojciechowski.
In Williams' first season, the Hokies finished 15th in the ACC with a 2–16 conference record, matching the lowest ACC win total in Virginia Tech history. However, with several true freshmen playing a significant number of minutes, a young nucleus was established. Expectations grew further when Williams landed commitments from Maryland transfer Seth Allen, and Zach LeDay from South Florida. Both became eligible in the 2015–16 season. After a slow start to the season, the team quickly improved. On January 4, 2016, the Hokies defeated their in-state rival and 4th ranked Virginia at home, marking Williams' biggest win at Virginia Tech to date. The team had continued success in the ACC, ending the regular season with another upset of a top-10 rival, this time 7th ranked Miami. Williams' Hokies finished the regular season at 10–8 in ACC conference play; an improvement of eight wins from the previous year. The Hokies would receive an invite to the 2016 NIT where they advanced to the second round before losing to BYU.
On July 13, 2016, Virginia Tech and Williams agreed to a contract extension through the 2022–23 season. At the same press conference, Buzz also announced his establishment of a new endowment and scholarship for the university. The Buzz’s Bunch Scholarship Endowment will be awarded annually to an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech in any field of study who is registered at the school with a disability. Also, "The Buzz and Corey Williams Family Student-Athlete Scholarship – In Memory of T. Marshall Hahn" will be awarded annually to an undergraduate female student-athlete at Virginia Tech.[5]
The Hokies began the 2016–17 season with an 11–1 non-conference record and won their first ACC conference game against No. 5 Duke in Cassell Coliseum on December 31, 2016. On January 29, 2017, Williams earned his 200th career win as a head coach with a win against Boston College in Blacksburg.[6] After going 5–6 in their first 11 ACC games, the Hokies defeated No. 12 Virginia in double overtime, marking Williams' fourth victory over a top-15 team in the past two years. The Hokies parlayed their success with a trip to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007. As the No. 9 seed, they lost in the first round to Wisconsin.
The 2017-18 team had similar success, finishing the regular season with a 21–11 record and a 10–8 ACC record.[7] Williams led the Hokies to their second consecutive NCAA tournament berth but lost in the first round to Alabama.
The 2018-2019 team entered the top 10 for the first time since the 1995-1996 season. Before the season started, freshman Landers Nolley (Top 100 recruit, 2017-2018 Georgia Player of the Year[8]) was deemed ineligible due to his ACT score being suspiciously high, casting doubt on its validity despite his high school coach describing Nolley as an "Ivy League-type guy".[9] ESPN's Jay Bilas tweeted that this was "another example of why the NCAA should get out of the eligibility business. It's just wrong".[10] In addition, senior leader Chris Clarke was indefinitely suspended prior to the start of the season. During conference play, Justin Robinson sustained a toe injury that kept him out of over half of the Hokies' conference games. Despite these major setbacks, Williams led the Hokies to a 23–7 regular season with 12 wins in the ACC, the most in program history. In addition, Virginia Tech received the fourth seed in the east bracket of the 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, tied for the highest seed in program history. After the Hokies defeated Saint Louis University in the first round and Liberty University in the second round, Williams earned a bid to the Sweet 16, the program's first bid since 1967. In their Sweet 16 matchup the Hokies faced ACC rival Duke, a team they defeated earlier in the season. Duke prevailed over Virginia Tech after a missed last second shot by senior Ahmed Hill.
On April 3, 2019, it was announced that Williams would be leaving Virginia Tech to take the same position at Texas A&M.[11]
In his first season, Williams brought the Aggies to a 16–14 (10–8 SEC) record, and earned himself SEC Coach of the Year honors by the Associated Press due to the strong finish to the regular season. As the team was about to tip off against Missouri in the SEC Tournament, the season was abruptly ended by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team was noted for Williams's trademark defense, but the transition to a new offensive scheme proved difficult, culminating in the team's average margin of victory being just slightly over 8 points by season's end.
The next year, the team was marred by illness from the ongoing pandemic and canceled a majority of their games before drudging to an 8–10 (2–8 SEC) record.
In his third year as coach, the team found its, at the time, most success under Williams as it went 20–11 (9–9 SEC) in the regular season. The team also fought all the way to the SEC championship game in the SEC tournament, defeating
and
along the way before falling to
in the finals. The team was expected by many to make it into the NCAA Tournament, but an 8 game losing streak in the regular season was the deciding factor against their entry. The team earned a spot as a 1 seed in the NIT, making it all the way to the championship game in Madison Square Garden before falling to Xavier. The team finished the season with a final record of 27–13 (9–9 SEC).
Williams's fourth year was viewed as a roller coaster of sorts, but was nonetheless his most successful. The team found themselves ranked in the Top 25 early in the season, but puzzling losses to teams such as Murray State and Wofford within the first few weeks led to some early doubters. The team would turn it around, however, finishing the regular season with a 15–3 SEC record, 23–8 overall, culminating in a regular season finale victory against #2 Alabama. The successful turnaround of the season earned Williams his 2nd SEC Coach of the Year honors in 4 years. The team would continue their conference dominance through the SEC tournament, before falling in the championship game to Alabama. Due to the early losses in the season, the team was given a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, even though they were ranked 17th in the Top 25. This would lead to an unfortunate match-up against a very hot Penn State team, who defeated the Aggies in the first round.
In the 2023-24 season, Williams led the team to another roller coaster of events. Ranked as high as #12 in the non-conference part of the season, the team then proceeded to go on hot and cold streaks throughout the regular season, finishing with an overall record of 18–13 (9–9 SEC). Winning their way to the SEC tournament semifinals, including defeating #9 Kentucky, earned the team an At-Large bid into the NCAA Tournament as a 9-seed. The team defeated Nebraska in the first round before falling to #2 ranked Houston in overtime, concluding their season with a 21-15 record.