Buzz Williams fills final bench vacancy with accomplished recruiter Aki Collins, adds special assistant

Buzz Williams announced today that Maryland men's basketball has added two seasoned operators: Aki Collins joins as assistant coach and director of player personnel and Greg Young as special assistant to the head coach.

Collins, who fills the final of five bench coaching roles, returns to Williams' circle after working together at Marquette. Over the past 20 years, he's built a résumé that spans college power programs and pro scouting—including Pitt, Memphis, New Mexico, Penn State and a stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder. At Penn State from 2021–23, Collins transitioned the Nittany Lions into the Big Ten's top scoring defense and helped land their highest-ranked recruiting class in school history (2021), followed by a top-30 class in 2022.

Most notably, Collins spent time at Overtime Elite as Head of Recruiting & Retention, where he ran the full gamut, scouting elite high school talent, overseeing player development, and helping athletes decide between pro, college or overseas paths. That hands-on approach in a paid-prep environment, plus his recruiting connections all over the country, could be invaluable to Maryland as NIL and the transfer portal redefine recruiting.

"I've known Coach Aki for a long time," Williams said in a press release. I trust his ability, and character, as much as anyone in this business. He has a history of production in his role and will be a valuable asset to our players and our staff. I am very thankful he is here!"

While Overtime Elite is known for flshy highlights and prep phenoms, Collins sounds like a Williams kind of guy.

"When I took over the job, there was a lot of noise in the public about what exactly we were and what our kids were," Collins said in a 2023 Sports Illustrated profile. "The first thing I wanted to focus on was character. I don't care how good you are — we'll get to the good part — but let's dissect it by starting with the character. A lot of it is toughness. There's a level of toughness that I admire. You can win with character and toughness."

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"When I took over the job, there was a lot of noise in the public about what exactly we were and what our kids were," Collins said. "The first thing I wanted to focus on was character. I don't care how good you are — we'll get to the good part — but let's dissect it by starting with the character. A lot of it is toughness. There's a level of toughness that I admire. You can win with character and toughness."

Young brings close to four decades of coaching experience, including juco stops to serving as head coach at UT Arlington and later associate head coach at Troy.

"I've known GY almost my entire life. He was in my wedding. He is an incredible human being. He brings a wealth of wisdom and experience to our staff," said Williams. "He will be leaned on by myself and our coaching staff in many ways and provide a different perspective on the game that is only additive to our program. I am incredibly grateful he is here!"

The hires come amid a flurry of moves at Maryland. A day earlier, Williams announced the hires of Eddie Benion as Director of Basketball Operations and Steve Gephardt as Director of Scouting and Analytics. Both bring a mix of experience and familiarity with Williams from previous stops.

Benion, who held the same role under Williams at Texas A&M and Virginia Tech, has been a longtime right-hand man, handling logistics, travel, scheduling and the behind-the-scenes operations that keep programs running smoothly. He's also had stints at Marquette and Kentucky, giving him deep high-major experience and institutional knowledge of how Williams likes things done.

Gephardt spent the past two seasons as Director of Scouting and Analytics at Texas A&M, where he worked closely with the coaching staff to provide advanced metrics and scouting insights. Before that, he was a graduate assistant at A&M and held roles at Belmont and the NBA Summer League. He'll continue to oversee film breakdown, opponent scouting and data-driven analysis in College Park.

Maryland also announced the hiring of Utah State AD Dianna Sabau on Tuesday.

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