Steny Hoyer: “But I rise, as everyone I am sure in the Chamber can understand, with great pride in 12 young men and Coach Gary…”

“But I rise, as everyone I am sure in the Chamber can understand, with great pride in 12 young men and Coach Gary Williams, who had an extraordinary season; who won the national championship for the first time in the school's history; who won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship for the first time in 22 years; who beat teams who had won 15 national championships in Kentucky, in Indiana and in Kansas; who overcame personal adversity as well as they played throughout the season; who went 15 and 0 at home, one of the first times that any team has done that in Maryland's history, and in doing so, crowned an extraordinary history for Cole Field House, which is now going to be closed, at least for the basketball team, who will play in a new arena next year. All in all, it was an extraordinary season for extraordinary young men and for an extraordinary coach. Gary Williams has coached for 30 years now, 24 years as a head coach. He has a winning record of great proportions and is clearly recognized as one of the great coaches of basketball in America.”