Gary Williams will retire as a legend after rescuing Maryland from the dumps of NCAA violations and building the program up to where it won a NCAA championship. However, if there was one criticism of Williams, especially in recent years, it was that he did not recruit high-level talent in his own backyard. As Tom Ziller of SBNation.com notes, several top NBA stars, including Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay and others, left the D.C. area and were not heavily pursued by Williams.
But now, that could change. As ESPN recruiting expert Dave Telep notes, many high-profile coaches are willing to leave their current jobs because of the fantastic recruiting base that Williams mostly ignored.
The job will be extremely attractive to an elite group of middle-aged coaches, many of whom have secretly mused about the Maryland job behind the scenes. The Maryland job is regarded as a gem. Combine the facilities with the recruiting grounds and the fan base and one has to believe that Maryland will land a worthy successor.
The big reason why the position is so attractive is the fertile recruiting area. The right person will be able to recruit the Baltimore and D.C. Catholic leagues, bridge the gaps that existence between some of the key AAU figures and unlock areas that Williams previously didn't attempt to mine.
Williams was an old-school coach that never enjoyed dealing with the high-maintenance, high-level recruits, but the next Maryland coach could certainly reopen those doors.