Buck Williams was an all-star level player with the then-New Jersey Nets after being drafted third overall in the 1981 draft before being more of a rebounding/defensive specialist in Portland and with the New York Knicks to round out his career.
Williams entered the draft after making the 1980 Olympic team, which was the one that boycotted the games (what a waste) in Moscow due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The 6'8 Williams was the classic power forward, although he often played the pivot against larger players as he was able to use his strength and underrated quickness to adapt to the larger centers in the game.
Buck also was a better scorer than people give him credit for as he averaged 18 pts a game on three different occasions as a Net and never lower than 13 ppg, which only happened once.
As good as Buck Williams was as a pro, I'll always remember him as the workhorse center on the Maryland teams that he played for.
Buck used to give the lanky 7'4 Ralph Sampson of Virginia fits on the block as Sampson couldn't push him off, yet Buck was quick enough to keep the lighter player from taking him outside the paint.
Those Maryland teams never got outside the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament with Buck, Albert King, and Ernie Graham, but they did win two ACC regular-season titles and lost two ACC Tournament finals by one point each to Duke and North Carolina.
Back then, the ACC Tournament meant almost as much as the Final Four did because it was the teams in your backyard.
The league had just added Georgia Tech and was years away from adding Florida State, let alone the other schools that watered down the league to this day.
The 1981 loss to UNC was just another tough loss to Dean Smith that you learned to live with as a Terrapin fan, but the 1980 loss to Duke?
Ah, well that was one that kills me to this day even as my Terrapin fanhood burns dry as they move to the Big 10...
With Bill Foster-led Duke (No Coach K yet) leading by one, but Maryland possessing the ball for the game's final shot, Albert King, and his sweet jumper let fly from 17 feet.King's shot fell a little short but hung around on the rim, however, as usual, Buck Williams had inside position and was ready to tip that shot in giving Maryland and Lefty Driesell that long-awaited ACC tourney title.
However, the typical officiating bias that favored the North Carolina schools came into play as Duke's Kenny Dennard undercut Williams, sending him crashing to the floor.
No tip-in. No call.No title.
In my opinion-the worst call in ACC history.
Period. How that couldn't be called is beyond me and when you hear the stories about the Carolina teams being favored in the league-they aren't just stories, they are true.
Back then, it was Carolina 1st, followed by the rest (since then Duke and Carolina get the most) of the North Carolina schools, but it was tough being a Maryland, Virginia, or Clemson fan being outnumbered and watching this stuff every week.
I only wish I could find a YouTube of this play, but I bet the above picture tells you all you need to know.
Still, Buck Williams might have been the best big man in Maryland school history and that says a lot even if the Terrapins logs did not have a large number of centers at the top of the list.
We welcome Buck Williams to the Forgotten Superstars universe and thank him for all the memories for this aging Terrapin fan...
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