Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.
It’s hard to believe, but Roy Wiliams has two more benchmarks.
Both April 1 and August 1 have passed without making note(book) of them for the Hall of Famer.
Does it seem like Ol’ Roy has been retired for more than four years since the day a lot of people believed was an April Fool’s joke? Yes, he retired after 18 seasons at Carolina (most of them on Roy Williams Court) on April 1, 2021 and also celebrated his 75th birthday on August 1, last Friday.
Roy and Wanda no longer live in Chapel Hill – they are now at Forest Creek in Pinehurst (plus the mountains and the coast), wealthy and generous enough to add $10 million to what they had already gifted UNC.
But they rarely miss a game at the Smith Center, which this season includes the home rematch with Kansas, where Williams emerged from a no name to a big name over 15 years in Lawrence.
That needs a little review, as Williams was sitting in his assistant’s office when Dean Smith stopped by to see him. “Don’t tell anyone, but I think we can get you the Kansas job,” Smith said in the summer of 1988. Roy thought he had lost it.
That, too, had a Carolina connection. Another Tar Heel alum, Larry Brown had left Kansas with a national championship trophy and a one-year NCAA probation for his successor.
Ironically, it helped Williams, because no big-name coach wanted to inherit a program that had to sit out the 1989 post-season. But that took the pressure off rookie Roy, who had a season (19-12) showing the Jayhawks he inherited and recruited and the fans that he could coach, dad gum it!
We all forgave him for not succeeding Bill Guthridge in 2000 when he affirmed Smith’s personal ask after Kansas lost the 2003 NCAA championship game to Syracuse (mostly by missing 18 free throws.) Matt Doherty had made a mess of things, and Smith said, “Last time, I said we wanted you,” Smith semi-pleaded, “this time we need you.”
It took Williams one season to win his first national title after four Final Fours at Kansas. He went on to four more Final Fours and two more natties in 2009 and 2017, very different teams that proved he could coach all kinds.
In his 17 seasons of coaching against Duke and Mike Krzyzewski, Williams won more games and more national championships and beat Coach K nine out of nine in regular-season finales with the ACC title at stake.
He looked tired on that April 1 afternoon when he walked into the Dean Dome press conference. A week later, after his choice (Hubert Davis) got the job, he looked less tired and more tanned.
In the excruciating wait for football season, writers are creating polls on the 25th anniversary of this century. In two of them, Bill Self (Ol’ Roy’s successor) is No. 1, Williams is No. 2 and Krzyzewski is third.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
