Like at Virginia Tech, Buzz Williams has revived Texas A&M

Radford knows that well, having redshirted on the Tech team Williams guided to the Sweet 16 in 2019. So does Texas A&M program aide Wabissa Bede, who started 26 games at point guard for Tech in Williams’ last year with the Hokies.

“We’re trying to build the same culture that we did at Virginia Tech,” Bede said. “Coach uses the same words. The mindset’s still the same. It doesn’t matter where we are. We use the same methods that we did at Viginia Tech.”

Those methods include a heavy emphasis on players’ skill development, particularly in the offseason. Bede said the goal is for players to improve year-to-year so that their roles can grow each season.

This year, the growth translated to the team’s first NCAA tournament win since 2018. Friday night, the ninth-seeded Aggies sank 13 3-pointers on their way to a 98-83 win over eighth-seeded Nebraska.

Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points, going 7 for 10 from beyond the arc. Manny Obaseki added 22 and Radford finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Richmond native Henry Coleman came off the bench to score 10 points and grab five rebounds.

Williams demands an intense amount of effort and work from his players a staff, behavior he mirrors himself, and then encourages even more.

Williams pushes himself so hard to be prepared for every possible challenge, on and off the court, that Bede finds himself encouraging his boss to dial his intensity down at times.

“He overprepares so he’s ready for any scenario,” Bede said. “Sometimes, I try to tell him, Hey, you’re not out there. You’re doing as much as you can.’ He just wants to do everything he can to help the team. Everything he can.”

At Tech, Williams orchestrated the single greatest year-to-year improvement – in terms of conference wins – in ACC history his second season with the Hokies. After going 11-22 overall and 2-16 in the league in 2014-15, Williams guided Tech to the first of four straight 20-win seasons and a spot in the NIT.

The next three years, the Hokies made the NCAAs.

After going 24-24 his first two years in College Station, Texas, he’s posted three straight 20-win seasons. A bubble team that didn’t get into the NCAAs three years ago, Williams led that Aggies team on run to the NIT championship game.

This year, they’re in the NCAAs for the second straight season.

“I think there are some similarities,” Williams said between the two rebuilding efforts. “I don’t know that you can replicate it exactly like that anymore.”

The blueprint may need alterations – at Tech, Williams brought in key transfers who had to sit out a season; now they can play right away out of the portal – but Williams’s ability to build remains unchanged and largely unmatched.

Going back to his Marquette tenure, Williams has led his teams to the NCAA tournament in 10 of his last 16 years. But he’s never reached a Final Four, coming closest in 2013, when Marquette reached the Elite Eight.

Going into Friday night, his teams had been knocked out in the first round in three of his past four NCAA appearances.

As he walked out onto the FedEx Forum court for the Aggies’ shootaround Thursday, he said, “I just hope we do better than we did this time last year.”

Williams said he’s seen a more professional and focused demeanor at the tournament from his team this year than he did last year. He saw a similar growth with the Hokies.

“I think year 3 when we went to the tournament a at Tech, there were a lot of similarities with our group last year. Just happy to be here. ‘Look at this. Can you believe this,’” Williams said. “And we didn’t win in Year 4 at Tech, but our approach that year was much better. And thus far, this group’s approach has been more mature than last year.”

Friday, against Nebraska, it showed.