<body><div><p>Before Buzz Williams took the podium at this week’s Southeastern Conference media days in Birmingham, Ala., league commissioner Greg Sankey introduced Texas A&amp;M’s sixth-year head men’s basketball coach as a relationship-driven leader and someone who loves to learn.</p><p>This fall, Williams has built relationships with A&amp;M students and his love for learning in the classroom co-teaching a class through the university’s sport management division. Sankey shared recent course topics include ethical leadership lessons, decision science and the path to getting better. He followed by saying they were courses he should sign up for himself.</p><p>“Personally, I think it has nothing to do with sport,” Williams said. “I think part of the education any student would want needs to have some level of leadership and I think that’s no matter what they end up doing, some level of context on how to be a better leader, I think is beneficial.”</p><h2>People are also reading…</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=03aMvo_0wClblxw00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=03aMvo_0wClblxw00" width="1763" height="1175" ><figcaption>Texas A&amp;M men’s basketball head coach Buzz Williams teaching a class in 2023. TEXAS A&amp;M ATHLETICS</figcaption></figure><p>A&amp;M athletic director Trev Alberts is also teaching a class in the sport management division this fall, too.</p><p>When Paul Batista, A&amp;M athletics’ faculty rep and a sport management professor, approached Alberts early in his tenure about the idea of co-teaching a class in the fall, Alberts said he wasn’t sure about it. Months later, Alberts said he’s grateful he’s taken up teaching. His class is held on Fridays before A&amp;M home football games.</p><p>“It’s just a fascinating time in college athletics, so you combine all the stuff that’s in front of us with different guests that are experts in these areas, I’m sure it’s interesting to the people in the class,” Alberts said.</p><p>Alberts described the students in his class as competent, well-thought and in tune to what’s going on in the current realm of college athletics. The class has brought in several guest speakers, including former A&amp;M football coach R.C. Slocum, Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek and ESPN on-air reporter Laura Rutledge.</p><p>“It’s good to have the conversation and I will say, amongst all the things I get the privilege of doing every day, it’s among the most enjoyable for me,” Alberts said. “… It’s interesting how thoughtful they are because they have thought about the if this, then what, like what’s the outcome if this happens and that happens.”</p><p>Anna Palasciano, an A&amp;M senior majoring in communication, said she got an email about the class Alberts co-teaches from her program director. She grew up playing sports in Little Elm, a suburb north of Dallas, but lost her passion for sports during high school. She said being in the class has shown her the power of sports, though. She’s hoping to pursue a marketing career in the western sports industry.</p><p>“It’s been really wonderful to hear from such a big professional, especially one at such a huge university like A&amp;M,” Palasciano said. “I just love hearing his leadership perspective and also the wonderful speakers that we get to talk to.”</p><p>This isn’t the first time Williams has taught in the classroom. He’s previously been a guest lecturer for an ethical leadership class for A&amp;M’s Corps of Cadets. He also co-taught a leadership class when he was head coach at Virginia Tech. This semester’s class is a true three-hour credit, 400-level course, though. There’s around 50 students in the class, but it’s open to the public and guests typically come each week. Students from Allen Academy attended once this semester.</p><p>Each class has a title related to the conversation and Williams said he tries to make them as interactive as possible. The class has discussed topics such as the casino of life, expected value, bias as a leader, the concept that every decision has two factors: evidence and belief, which evidence to pay attention to and which evidence to ignore, and not having limiting beliefs.</p><p>Williams said he prepares for the class with Josh Chambers, director of creative for the A&amp;M men’s basketball team, on Fridays, practices over the weekend, again with Chambers on Mondays and then studies for an hour before class on Tuesdays.</p><p>“I think incrementally each week I’m a little more efficient,” Williams said. “I think the students are enjoying it.”</p><div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v8bE6QjCvAQ?enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://theeagle.com" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div><p>Alberts knows the impact teachers can have on students’ lives. He said he will never forget Jane McAndrews, his third-grade teacher at Cedar Heights Elementary School in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She was the first teacher to ask Alberts why he wasn’t getting all A’s. She then said she told him that because he had the ability to do so. Alberts said it was the first time someone had told him he was smart and was a conversation that changed his life.</p><p>“The impact that teachers can make is pretty significant,” Alberts said.</p><p>It’s uncertain if Alberts will get a review on Rate My Professor, but he said it’s felt good to have a couple of students tell him this was their favorite class.</p><p>“You think about the future and if there’s some things that are going to have to be different, there’s going to be some changes, you’re going to have to sell that, you’re going to have to talk to people and engage with key stakeholders,” Alberts said. “Our students are a key stakeholder and they’re our future Board of Regents, our future corporate sponsors, our future donors, could be my future president. I think having them feel like they have access and an audience is important.”</p></div></body>

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A&M AD Trev Alberts, men’s hoops coach Buzz Williams teaching classes this fall

Before Buzz Williams took the podium at this week’s Southeastern Conference media days in Birmingham, Ala., league commissioner Greg Sankey introduced Texas A&M’s sixth-year head men’s basketball coach as a relationship-driven leader and someone who loves to learn. This fall, Williams has built relationships with A&M students...