Gary Williams: Maryland Basketball Coach Retires After 22 Years

On Wednesday, the Maryland Terrapins lost their best player to the 2011 NBA draft. Today, they lost the greatest coach in the program's history.

Gary Williams, who compiled a 460-248 record over 22 seasons, announced his retirement from the head coaching position at the University of Maryland.

"My entire career has been an unbelievable blessing. I am fiercely proud of the program we have built here," Williams said in a UMD press release. "I couldn't have asked any more from my players, my assistant coaches, the great Maryland fans and this great university. Together, we did something very special here."

In 2002, Williams won the university's first national championship in basketball and became the first college basketball coach to ever win a championship at his alma mater.

In a matter of two days, the Terps' chances of success in 2011-2012 have taken a gigantic hit. Not only will the school have to replace the two Williamses, but recruits Nick Faust and Sterling Gibbs have announced they will seek releases from their National Letters of Intent, according to Adam Zagoria.

The timing of Gary's decision leaves the university will little time to find a suitable replacement. Bruce Pearl, who recently resigned from Tennessee, is available, but the university may be scared away by his trouble with the NCAA. Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens would be excellent replacements, but they both seem to be content with the schools they are currently at.

Whomever Maryland hires, that coach will have some Jordan Williams-sized shoes to fill. Gary Williams was not only the greatest coach in the program's history, but also one of the best coaches in the country.

The things he did for the basketball program are too numerous to count. He single-handedly kept the team afloat following the death of Len Bias and the sanctions following the ill-fated Bob Wade era. Without Gary Williams, there is no Comcast Center and there might not even be a men's basketball team at Maryland.