Nearly 300 miles of separation apparently wasn’t enough to stop the latest public spat between Terrapin men’s basketball coach Gary Williams and former Athletics Director Debbie Yow.
At an introductory news conference for new NC State men’s basketball coach Mark Gottfried yesterday, Yow, now the Wolfpack’s athletics director, made several pointed remarks about her former colleague, accusing Williams of trying to “sabotage” the school’s hiring efforts.
“I don’t have a reputation across all men’s basketball as being difficult to work with. I have a reputation of not getting along with Gary Williams, who tried to sabotage the search. Come on, we all know that,” Yow said. “It’s Gary Williams doing his thing, so whatever.”
Several candidates reportedly declined offers to replace former coach Sidney Lowe throughout what became NC State’s protracted coaching search, including Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart, who on Monday agreed to a new eight-year contract extension worth $1.2 million annually.
Less than an hour after Yow’s claims of wrongdoing, Williams denied any involvement in the coaching search.
“I haven’t talked to anyone — coach or athletic director — connected to the NC State search,” Williams said in a statement. “I don’t have any interest in the NC State search, since I’m coaching at Maryland and working hard to run our program. Anyone who says I’ve had contact with a prospective coach or athletic director regarding this search isn’t being truthful.”
In an appearance on Comcast SportsNet’s SportsNite last night, Williams specifically denied having made any contact with Smart or Gottfried.
Yow’s comments yesterday represented the most direct public attack from either side in what has been a long and shaky relationship. During her 16-year tenure at this university, Yow’s relationship with Williams was, at best, detached, with occasional conflicts reportedly leading to sharp divisions between the two.
The relationship had taken a turn for the worse publicly in recent years. In 2009, the two offered conflicting reports on two former recruits, Tyree Evans and Gus Gilchrist, who had at one point committed to the Terps’ program but ultimately wound up elsewhere.
As rumors about Yow’s handling of the recruits’ admission swirled, Kathleen Worthington, a senior athletics official under Yow, commented publicly on their departures from the program. Williams quickly lashed back, saying Worthington “has never won a national championship.”
Their coexistence in College Park became so strained that at one point, Yow reportedly attempted to rally financial support from donors to buy out Williams’ contract.
Last June, Yow departed this university to accept the same position at NC State. Soon after announcing her imminent relocation to Raleigh, N.C., Yow tried to dispel any notion that she was leaving the Terps on bad terms with Williams.
“Two weeks ago, I nominated Gary for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame,” Yow said last June. “And about 10 days ago, I asked … the committee on naming opportunities, to consider, I submitted a formal request to add his name to the Comcast [Center] floor. So I don’t know. Is that something that you do if you’re having a spat? I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem to fit.”
Before yesterday, Williams — who was unavailable to comment for this article — had last commented on Yow as she left for the rival Wolfpack last summer.
“I have nothing to say specifically other than I’ll let other people judge the 15 or 16 years Debbie Yow was at the University of Maryland,” Williams said.
ceckard@umdbk.com
