Coach Gary Williams and former Athletics Director Debbie Yow are back at it again.

When former Athletics Director Debbie Yow left this university to take the same position at NC State last June, she explained that her relationship with Terrapin men’s basketball coach Gary Williams had been repaired, that they were ending their time together in good standing.

As she was saying her farewells in College Park, Yow even went so far as to say she wanted Williams’ name on the hardwood at Comcast Center and that she had even nominated him for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Yeah, so, umm, about all that.

In case you missed the hullabaloo from Tuesday — or if you live under a rock, because this story has been receiving media attention from multiple national outlets — allow me to fill you in with the short version.

Two days ago, at an introductory press conference for the Wolfpack’s new men’s basketball coach, Mark Gottfried, Yow reignited her longstanding conflict with Williams.

During the conference, a reporter asked Gottfried about Yow’s perceived history of being difficult to work with and whether it had any impact on his decision to accept the job.

After a short and dodgy answer about NC State fans from Gottfried, Yow interjected, calling Williams out by name even though the reporter’s initial question mentioned no one specifically.

“You guys, come on, I don’t have a reputation across all men’s basketball of being difficult to work with,” Yow said. “I have a reputation of not getting along with Gary Williams, who has tried to sabotage the search. Come on. We all know that, OK? So, whatever. It’s not a reputation. It’s Gary Williams out there doing his thing. Whatever.”

So much for that whole repaired-relationship thing.

I’m not sure what Yow was trying to achieve by taking a jab at Williams, but she’s only made herself look childish, foolish and quite comical.

In reviving a feud that once seemed all but dead, Yow has recast herself as the antagonist of a conflict that has taken on the feel of a high-school drama. The whole situation reeks of he-said, she-said.

But it’s Yow who’s come out smelling the worst. By claiming Williams interfered with her coaching search, Yow is blaming a former employee for her failure to bring in the kind of grade-A coach the Wolfpack faithful had craved. Multiple candidates, including Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart, were reportedly under consideration to replace former coach Sidney Lowe, but none until Gottfried actually jumped at the job offer.

That’s not a result of “sabotage” from Williams — it’s a result of people not wanting to work with an athletics director who has repeatedly had tenuous relationships with coaches in revenue sports. Even in her first athletics director job at Saint Louis in the early 1990s, Yow reportedly clashed with former Billiken coach Rich Grawer.

“I think she’s been publicly embarrassed, and she’s not used to that,” Washington Post columnist John Feinstein said on 106.7 The Fan yesterday morning. “When Shaka Smart says, ‘I would rather work at VCU for a million dollars less than come and work for you,’ which is what he basically said two days ago, that’s embarrassing if you’re an athletic director still trying to prove yourself to your new constituency down at NC State, which had a lot of doubts when she was hired.”

Williams, of course, has denied involvement in the coaching search from the start. In a statement released Tuesday, Williams firmly stated anyone who was alleging otherwise “isn’t being truthful.” Later that night, Williams told Comcast SportsNet’s Chick Hernandez that he had never even spoken with Smart or Gottfried.

It’s hard not to believe Williams. The idea that the coach would go door-to-door or call his colleagues to tell them to not take the NC State job is just ludicrous. He’s got plenty of other things to keep him busy at this university — namely, rebounding from the program’s worst season in 17 years and possibly preparing for life without forward Jordan Williams, who is testing the NBA Draft waters.

And while this story is still unfolding — it is, after all, still in the blame-game phase of the renewed conflict — all of the drama has made one thing certain.

If you’re a Terp fan, start setting aside some food and gas money now for the team’s trip to Raleigh, N.C., next season. The tension in the RBC Center will be palpable, and the game’s conclusion will add another chapter to the ongoing bout between Yow and Williams. Who knows? Maybe they’ll surprise us and have resolved their differences by then.

But probably not.

jengelke@umdbk.com