They are the rabble of the ACC.
The coach, Brent Langdon Williams, goes by Buzz.
Buzz didn’t attend Oklahoma State University; he attended Oklahoma City University. He earned his Masters degree at Texas A&M-Kingsville, not Texas A&M.
Oklahoma City and A&M-Kingsville are fine schools, mind you, they’re just not Duke or North Carolina or Virginia — all ACC powers with wonderful academic pedigrees and national recruiting reaches.
So Williams, who hails from Van Alstyne, Texas, population 3,000 give or take, recruits players from every hole-in-the-wall high school, community college and transfer he can find.
Not only does Williams find flawed diamonds, he polishes them with his special sauce of part preacher/pure teacher.
Buzz and his Rabble Band performed one of their favorite tracks Wednesday night in Barclays Center: payback. They bounced Wake Forest from the ACC Tournament with a 99-90 victory.
On Saturday, the Hokies blew a 13-point lead at home and lost 89-84 to Wake. The Hokies (22-9) are headed to a Thursday quarterfinal-round matchup against No. 2 seed Florida State (24-7).
Win or lose, they’re headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.
“There’s a lot of guys that will get on the bus tonight that have an edge to prove that they want to belong,’’ said Williams, who might have been speaking about himself. “They want to be a part of it.’’
Wake Forest may or may not be part of the big dance. The Demon Deacons played in the nation’s toughest conference, but they’re 19-13 and their fate is in the NCAA selection committee’s hands.
“We’re going to sit back and wait,’’ coach Danny Manning said. “That’s our reality right now.’’
This, too, is reality: Williams is one sharp cookie.
His degree is in kinesiology. His players, many overlooked or borderline disregarded, play with an edge that makes them a pain in the Hokie.
“When I committed to Maryland, didn’t nobody know who I was,’’ said senior guard Seth Allen, winner of the ACC’s Sixth Man Award, who scored 18 points.
“When I was transferring, I got this — I mean, some type of respect, but still, I mean, just the hardest thing about being overlooked is, once you start getting to ground level and people are noticing who you are, you’ve got to still work like you’re not overlooked, you know what I mean?’’
Teammate Zach LeDay said he knows exactly what Allen means. LeDay scored a career-high 31 points.
“I didn’t have a choice,’’ LeDay said when asked why he chose Virginia Tech. “This was my only choice. I didn’t take a visit or anything. I just came here just willing. Just I had nothing to lose.’’
That might be the hit track for Buzz and the Rabble Band.
Williams left Marquette, a basketball school in Milwaukee, for Virginia Tech, a football school in Blacksburg. He was 11-22 his first season. He’s 22-9 in his third season at Tech.
“It’s demented,’’ Williams said. “It’s perfect.’’