NCAA Basketball rewind: Most impactful coaching hires after 2014 season

3. Buzz Williams (Virginia Tech)

Since joining the ACC in 2004, Virginia Tech had struggled to adjust to the league. Their first decade in the conference had seen programs like Duke and North Carolina win national titles while other programs had their moments in the sun. The Hokies were after another new head coach in 2014, having finished under .500 in the last three seasons.

Buzz Williams was up to the task and his coaching career had already taken him all over the place. He had been an assistant for many years, mainly in Texas, at schools like UT Arlington, Colorado State, and Texas A&M. He was head coach at New Orleans before a successful six-year stint leading Marquette, taking the Golden Eagles to an Elite Eight and pair of Sweet Sixteens. Williams was ready for the new challenge of fixing a struggling ACC program.

Virginia Tech became a better basketball program with Williams calling the shots. After initially struggling in year one, the Hokies won at least 20 games in each of his last four seasons. After an NIT bid in 2016, he took Virginia Tech to three straight NCAA Tournaments, including the program’s first Sweet Sixteen in over fifty years. Williams departed for Texas A&M soon after that run, bringing him back to his Texas roots, but certainly upgrading this Hokies program considerably.