Buzz Williams reflects on locker room message following NCAA Tournament exit

It was an excellent season for the Texas A&M Aggies. Still, it had to come to an end in the NCAA Tournament when head coach Buzz Williams saw his team fall in the second round to the Michigan Wolverines.

After the game, Williams was late to get to the press conference. That’s because, as he explained, he spent longer in the locker room than usual following the loss. There, it was important to set time aside to pray over those playing in their final game.

“Sorry it took so long,” Buzz Williams said. “We’ve done the same thing all 18 years that I’ve coached, and I’m not saying it’s right, nor am I saying it’s wrong. It’s just how we go about things. Anybody who just played their last game, everybody in the organization puts their right hand on that person, and I pray over that person.”

Texas A&M had eight players on this year’s roster who were either a senior or a graduate student. So, Buzz Williams needed to take his time in the locker room following the game. Among those were Andersson Garcia, Manny Obaseki, Wade Taylor, Henery Coleman, and Hayden Hefner who all started in their final game. Jace Carter, Zhuric Phelps, and CJ Wilcher round out the seniors and graduate students for the Aggies.

“So, if I violated the timing of all of it, it’s just because we had eight of them in there. That’s all. We don’t address the game,” Williams said. “I pray over them. Everybody in the organization knows that that’s what’s coming. When I say ‘Amen,’ I head this direction.”

The loss itself was a heartbreaking one for Texas A&M. The Aggies went into halftime with a small lead, but struggled on the defensive end in the second half. That led to a 56-point second-half effort from Michigan and a tough-to-swallow loss to end the season.

Buzz Williams jokes about lack of friends, relationship with players

Reflecting on his team after the loss, Buzz Williams shared a joke about having a lack of friends. Instead, what’s important to him is his relationship with the team and his players.

“I have, like, four friends. My wife would be No. 1 on the list. I try not to count my children as friends. But I only have three other friends other than my wife. I know this comes across the wrong way. I hired two of them because I’m so friendless,” Williams said.

“But I do think the transformational relationships, the true love in our program means no agenda. We haven’t had an agenda. We want to help them be better players, but we want our program to be total development. The development that these long-tenured guys have had has been life changing. And I do think they’re better players, and our teams have continued to improve. But someday they’re going to be old and can’t play, and someday I’m going to be old and can’t coach. But I think that the relationships were built on faith, hope and love is really cool.”