Williams leaves Aggies for Maryland hoops job

Texas A&M's Buzz Williams has finalized a six-year deal to become the next coach at Maryland, sources told ESPN.

The move, announced Tuesday by Maryland, brings the veteran head coach from the SEC to the Big Ten and marks one of the highest-profile moves in this coaching carousel.

Williams has reached 11 NCAA tournaments over his 18 years as a head coach -- a run that includes five consecutive NCAA appearances at Marquette, three straight at Virginia Tech and each of the last three years at Texas A&M.

Williams has gone 373-228 as a college head coach, which includes one year at New Orleans in 2006-07. This season, Texas A&M finished 23-11, came in fifth in the rugged SEC and earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Williams will replace Kevin Willard, who left for Villanova after a protracted and awkward exit from Maryland that included a blunt assessment of the program's deficiencies.

Williams' buyout to leave Texas A&M dropped to $1 million on Tuesday, per his contract. Maryland is set to receive $2 million from Villanova for Willard's departure.

Williams takes over a job with national championship expectations, as Gary Williams won the 2002 national title there. Since arriving in the Big Ten in 2014, the results haven't matched the consistent success that Williams delivered in the ACC. The Terrapins have reached the Sweet 16 just twice since joining the Big Ten, once under Mark Turgeon and under Willard this year.

Buzz Williams is a known program builder and brings familiarity with the general recruiting footprint from his time at Virginia Tech. The strength of the Maryland job lies in leveraging the DMV area, where Williams brings familiarity.

Williams was at Virginia Tech from 2014 to '19, going 100-69 over five seasons before leaving for Texas A&M. He led the Hokies to three consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time in school history.

The move marks the fourth power conference coach to leave one power league for another during this cycle, joining Willard's jump to Villanova, Sean Miller's move from Xavier to Texas and Darian DeVries' jump from West Virginia to Indiana.