All you can do as a coach is ask players to give what they have

What a season it's been for Gary Williams at Maryland.

The Terps won their first four games of the season, including beating No. 6 Michigan State by 18. On January 7, they were 11-3. Since then, they've gone 7-8, though they upset No. 3 UNC and nearly upset No. 10 Wake Forest during that 15-game stretch.

A Washington Post column last month described the Terps as a"workmanlike, undersized unit" featuring just one senior and noted that Coach Williams' "critics charged that he either can't or won't recruit the talent he needs to be more competitive."

But the columnist adds: "So what did Williams do? He coached his team up, that's what."

Throughout it all, Coach Williams, who is in his 20th season at UM, has kept his team focused. After the close loss Tuesday night to Wake, he said his team has given all they had.

"This is what it's about: all you can do as a coach is ask them to give what they have -- and this group has done that. It's never because of effort with them. As a coach, that's what you live for."

[Thanks to Zak Boisvert at Fordham for passing along!]