Buzz Williams is Virginia Tech’s New Men’s Basketball Head Coach
By Tim Thomas
Feb 11, 2014; Newark, NJ, USA; Marquette Golden Eagles head coach Buzz Williams questions a call during the second half of game against the Seton Hall Pirates at Prudential Center. Marquette Golden Eagles defeat the Seton Hall Pirates 77-66. Mandatory Credit: Jim O
Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde br0ke the news this evening that Buzz Williams will be the next men’s basketball head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies. This is a big time hire for the Hokies which was not expected when the Hokies started this search earlier this week. Whit Babcock has made a big time hire that has been compared to how he got Tommy Tuberville to come to Cincinnati when he was the Bearcats’ Athletic Director. Babcock has shown his ability to back up what he says as he has brought in a proven guy who Marquette to the NCAA Tournament 5 times in 6 seasons which include 3 Sweet 16 appearances and an appearance in last year’s Elite Eight.
ESPN’s Jeff Goodman broke the news that Buzz Williams will be getting a deal for 7 years that is worth $18 million for an average annual value that is just north of $2.5 million. Virginia Tech will now go from having the lowest paid coach in the ACC to one of the highest not just in the ACC but also in all of college basketball. The Hokies have flashed the money and financial security which is something that made this deal hard to turn down. Of course, the length of the deal is probably the more important side of this financially as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Williams’s salary at Marquette this past season was around $2.8 million.
Athletic Director Whit Babcock showed with this deal that he can bring big time coaches to Virginia Tech which has excited Hokie Nation after Jim Weaver was unable to get a big name proven winner to replace Seth Greenberg. Babcock showed his committment to building Virginia Tech basketball into a program that competes with the premier ACC programs. Babcock has made a home run hiring and has brought life into a Virginia Tech basketball program that needed something like this to bring back a lot of hype and excitement to the program.
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