Roy Williams (coach)
Roy Williams (born
August 1,
1950 in
Spruce Pine, North Carolina) is head coach of the men's
basketball team at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After averaging about an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the
University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced
Matt Doherty in
2003. He is second all-time for most wins at Kansas behind
Phog Allen, and third all-time in the
NCAA for winning percentage.[
1] He received his 400th win in January 2003, when Kansas beat the
University of Wyoming. On
April 4,
2005, Williams shed his title as "the best coach to never have won a NCAA ring" as his Tar Heels defeated the
University of Illinois Fighting Illini in the
2005 National Collegiate Athletic Association championship game.
Williams lettered in basketball and baseball at T. C. Roberson High School outside of
Asheville, North Carolina and went on to play junior varsity basketball at
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("UNC") and study the game under legendary coach
Dean Smith. Williams graduated in
1972 with a bachelor's degree in education and later recieved an M.A.T in
1973 from
UNC.
Williams first coaching job was as a high school basketball and golf coach at
Charles D. Owen High School in
Swannanoa, North Carolina.
In
1978, Williams came back to
UNC and served as an assistant to Coach Smith. During his tenure as assistant coach, UNC went 275-61 and Williams played a role in recruiting
Michael Jordan.
In 1988, Williams left UNC and replaced former UNC assistant
Larry Brown as the head coach of the
University of Kansas Jayhawks.
Williams coached 15 seasons at Kansas (from 1988-2003). During that time he had a record of 418-101 with a .805 winning percentage. Williams's teams averaged 27.8 wins per season while at Kansas. Except for his first season at Kansas (when the team was on probation), all of Williams' teams made the NCAA tournament. Kansas won the Big 12 conference championship nine years while Williams was head coach.
In 2000, Williams was faced with the opportunity to return to North Carolina when
Bill Guthridge left the head coaching position vacant. After national media sources such as
ESPN prematurely announced Williams would take the position, they quickly backed off as it became clear that Williams's mind was not made up. Carolina media continued to report that he had accepted the position. After a week of this back-and-forth, Williams held a press conference at
Memorial Stadium, where he announced that he was staying. [
2] [
3]
Williams took his 2003 Kansas team to the NCAA finals against Syracuse. Syracuse ending up beating Kansas, 81-78, to win the NCAA men's college basketball championship in New Orleans. After the loss, Coach Williams was faced with CBS reporter Bonnie Bernstein. Bernstein asked Williams about his interest in taking head coaching position at UNC since there would be an opening after
Matt Doherty's firing. Williams declined to comment on the situation. Bernstein then persisted to ask again about his interest in the UNC head coaching position to which Williams responded:
"The guy in your ear that told you that you had to ask that question ... as a journalist, that's fine ... but as a human being, that's not very nice ... and I've got to think that in tough times that people should be more sensitive. I don't give a shit about Carolina right now. I've got 13 kids in that locker room that I love." [
4]
Although Williams's previous statements had included a promise that he would retire or die as the coach at Kansas [
5], he accepted the UNC head coaching position shortly after that championship game.
Roy Williams has been the head coach of
UNC since 2003.
Williams has won the AP Coach of the Year award twice. Once in 1992 with the Kansas Jayhawks and again in 2006 with the North Carolina Tar Heels. He is only the seventh coach in history to win the award twice and the second to do it at two different schools.
Williams received the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award from the Los Angeles Athletic Club in April 2003.
* Williams won more games in the first 15 seasons of his coaching career than anyone else in NCAA history.
[
6][
7] [
8][
9][
10]
*
University of North Carolina Athletics - Official Bio*
University of Kansas Men's Basketball*
NCAA coaching stats*
USA Basketball Bio *
Book on William's Championship Year at UNC
