Is the retirement of Gary Williams good for Maryland?

On Thursday afternoon, Maryland head coach Gary Williams hung up his sweat-drenched suits, retiring after 33 seasons as a basketball coach that saw him rebuild Maryland from a program dealing with NCAA sanctions into a national title winner in 2002.

It was a move that was both shocking and long overdue.

Jeff Goodman broke the news of Williams' retirement on Cinco de Mayo, which is well after the coaching carousel usually stops spinning. We rarely get this far into the offseason and see a coaching change at any level, let alone a potential hall-of-famer and national title winner opting to retire. And we rarely see a coach of Williams' stature retire without reading and hearing the rumblings days and/or weeks in advance. Furthermore, Maryland finally got rid of Debbie Yow, the athletic director that Williams had butted heads with for the past 16 years.


But, as Williams told John Feinstein of the Washington Post, "After [Debbie] Yow left, I thought I might enjoy it more this year and I really did like working with Kevin Anderson. He's a straight shooter. But I think I'd been worn down by the previous 15 years [with Yow]. It grinds on you."

Throw in the fact that Williams, who is a less-than spritely 66 years old, got married a few weeks back and that yesterday he officially lost sophomore center Jordan Williams to the NBA, and it makes sense.

Williams has not had the easiest go of things since he won the 2002 national title. The Terps haven't made it to the Sweet 16 since 2003. They've missed four of the last seven NCAA Tournaments. There has been speculation that Williams was on the hot seat for some time. Hell, it has been reported that Williams strongly considered retiring after last season, when he led Maryland from the bottom half of the ACC to a share of the regular season title with national champion Duke.

The biggest criticism against Gary Williams has been the fact that he was unable to tap into the fruitful recruiting pipelines of the DC-Baltimore corridor. The region has been as fertile as any area in the country over the last five years. Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Ty Lawson, Nolan Smith, Donte Greene, Josh Boone, Carmelo Anthony, and Rudy Gay are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the talent that has come out of that region.

How many of them went to Maryland?

At the same time, that criticism may also be Williams' biggest strength and the main reason that what he has accomplished should be recognized.

Its not a secret that Williams is old school when it comes to recruiting. By-the-book doesn't even begin to describe his methods. He cleaned up a Maryland program that was rattled with sanctions when he took over the job, and has spent his 22 years at the helm of the Terrapins as far away from the NCAA's radar as The Fast and The Furious was from a movie that deserved to have four sequels.

Williams didn't get in bed with AAU coaches. He stayed away from the seedy underbelly of recruiting. And while it probably cost him some player, he was still able to land two future pros in Greivis Vasquez and Jordan Williams. He still brought in a talented recruiting class this season -- headlined by Sterling Gibbs and Nick Faust -- and had the beginnings of a good one next season, with Justin Anderson committed.

Williams wasn't a recruiter.

He was a ball coach. He was a guy that turned good players that were ignored by other programs into great players at the college level.

Maryland basketball will probably be better without Williams. The folks in Durham may disagree, but Maryland is a borderline-top ten coaching gig in the country. They have a terrific natural recruiting base. They have an on-campus arena with a dedicated and passionate fan base. They have one of the best home-courts in the country. They can afford to pay a very good salary and will likely land a big-name head coach to replace Williams.

And you can bet that the next Maryland head coach won't have the same qualms with the current state of recruiting that Williams did.

The Maryland program won't be down for long. Williams' successor may eventually end up with a better resume at the school.

But that shouldn't tarnish the luster on Williams' time in College Park.

Because his success didn't come with an asterisk, a vacated season, or a blemish on his resume.