Buzz Williams

Background and personal life

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 his wife, Corey Norman, in 2000. 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.

Career at Marquette

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.

Wiliams' 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 schol'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.

Virginia Tech

Buzz Williams was named the head basketball coach at Virginia Tech on March 21, 2014, replacing James Johnson. The move had critics questioning why would he leave Marquette for, in the words of The Washington Post, the ACC's "stepchild program" . The Chicago Sun-Times characterized it as a "head-scratching move to an ACC bottom-feeder." 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 amount 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's 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 Buzz 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.

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, Buzz Williams earned his 200th career win as a head coach with a win against Boston College in Blacksburg. 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.