Roy Williams to UNC

[wayne1218]

As a Carolina fan i think i just wet myself from excitement:p I can't believe we reeled him in and i think with the team coming back and Roy Boy in town hopefully for the rest of his coaching career that things are looking up again at Chapel Hill........When people like Jordan and Dean Smith are begging you to take the job well i'm just glad he did this time.......WOW!:D :D :D

[BettorsChat]

Jordan wanted the job? Did Williams state why he left Kansas?

[BettorsChat]

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- In the end, Roy Williams knew it was time to return to his roots, to the storied program in powder blue where he learned his craft as an assistant at his beloved alma mater.

The coach who grew up in the North Carolina mountains went home Monday, rejoining the Tar Heels to try to win the national title that eluded him for 15 seasons at Kansas.

He resigned as Jayhawks coach exactly one week after losing in the NCAA championship game -- and almost three years after turning down the North Carolina job the first time he had a chance to take it.

"I was a Tar Heel born. When I die, I'll be a Tar Heel dead. But in the middle, I have been Tar Heel and Jayhawk bred, and I am so, so happy and proud of that," Williams said during a news conference inside a practice gym at the Smith Center, before a crowd of cheering boosters.

Former coaches Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge stood nearby, and the Tar Heels' players wore suits and sport jackets. Outside, a crowd of students gathered, and they could be heard cheering before the announcement

Williams met with his Kansas players in Lawrence earlier in the day to tell them his decision. He left Allen Fieldhouse nearly in tears, and later flew by jet to Chapel Hill.

"Other than serious injury or death to my family, I've never had anything more difficult than what I've been through this afternoon with my team, and telling those 13 young men that I was leaving them," he said at the news conference.

When Matt Doherty resigned April 1, there was immediate speculation that Williams would be the front-runner, but he angrily refused to answer questions about the job after the Jayhawks lost to Syracuse in the title game.

Williams took the Kansas job only a few months after Larry Brown coached the team to the 1988 national title. After going 19-12 in his first season, Williams guided the Jayhawks to the NCAA tournament 14 straight times.

The fourth-fastest coach in Division I history to reach 400 victories, Williams (418-101) won nine conference championships and took the Jayhawks to four Final Fours, including two appearances in the title game.

"It's sad for the program and the players who are here," said Jeff Boschee, who was a senior at Kansas last year and attended Monday's half-hour meeting. "It's tough for them."

Other players had different reactions. Wayne Simien, who dislocated his shoulder in January and later had season-ending surgery, appeared angry after the meeting.

"I gave my right arm for him, literally," said Simien, wearing a sling.

At North Carolina, meanwhile, there was elation. A school that saw Williams leave as a highly regarded assistant now welcomes him back as one of the most respected coaches in the country.

"Certainly, we have the entire package, in my opinion," Smith said. "He's proven he's an outstanding coach. He doesn't hide from tough games, and his teams play hard, they play together, they execute and they play smart."

Williams played for Smith as a freshman with the Tar Heels during the 1968-69 season and was his assistant from 1978-88. During that time, North Carolina advanced to the national title game in 1981 against Indiana and won the championship the following season, when Michael Jordan hit the winning shot.

Doherty, a former assistant to Williams at Kansas, had been coach at Notre Dame for just one season when he was hired at North Carolina, after Williams turned the school down. Doherty, who played for the Tar Heels in the early 1980s, had a terrific first season on the sideline, winning The Associated Press national coach of the year award in 2001.

But the Tar Heels slipped badly the next season, going a program-worst 8-20. Doherty's young team went 19-16 this season but missed the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. Doherty also was criticized for alienating some players and athletic department staff.

Williams' fierce loyalty to his players kept him at Kansas when he was first offered the job in Chapel Hill, and many Jayhawks fans hoped he would stay in Lawrence for good.

In June 2000, Williams spent an agonizing week following the retirement of Guthridge, who had succeeded Smith. Williams was forced to choose between two programs that desperately wanted him.

After a weeklong vacation at his home in South Carolina, and a day spent in Lawrence thinking it over, Williams announced his decision to 16,000 Kansas fans at Memorial Stadium.

"I'm staying," Williams said simply.

Given a second chance at North Carolina, he decided to go.

"The last time I decided to stay, it was because I thought it was the right thing," Williams said Monday night. "This time, I decided to leave because it was the right thing."

Smith talked to Williams, his close friend and golfing buddy, about the job last week. On Wednesday, Kansas fired athletic director Al Bohl, with whom Williams had a chilly relationship, but the school said the move was not made to placate the popular coach.

[BettorsChat]

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- The University of Kansas began searching Monday night for a replacement for Roy Williams, vowing to move quickly and aggressively to find the school's next basketball coach.

"We intend to talk to the very best coaches in the country about this opportunity, and we will make a decision quickly," Chancellor Robert Hemenway said in a statement.

Interim athletic director Drue Jennings announced that he will have a press conference at 11 a.m. Tuesday to further discuss the coaching search.

"Our foremost concern right now are the players, both the ones returning and the ones joining the team next season," Jennings said in a statement. "We are committed to moving as quickly as possible in finding the right person to provide great leadership for our basketball program."

Hemenway also focused on Kansas' basketball players and recruits.

"We are preparing for the next era of leadership in a heritage that goes back to James Naismith and Phog Allen," Hemenway said. "KU has a long and successful men's basketball tradition and we want you to be part of that under our new head coach."

Jennings was named interim athletic director Wednesday after Kansas fired Al Bohl. He will lead the search for the Jayhawks' new coach.

Likely candidates include Illinois coach Bill Self, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Marquette's Tom Crean, Notre Dame's Mike Brey and Joe Holladay, one of Williams' assistant coaches.

Kansas has had only seven full-time head coaches in its 105 years of basketball.

[BettorsChat]

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- From Nevada to Oklahoma, and even outside Allen Fieldhouse, resentment over Roy Williams departure to North Carolina was quick to surface Monday night.

Before deciding to leave Kansas after 15 successful and popular years, Williams apparently did not immediately call any of the four topflight high school recruits he'd signed for next season.

"The main reason we were interested in seeing our son go to Kansas was to play for Roy, because we felt like what he said you could count on," said Pete Padgett, father of 7-foot David Padgett of Reno, Nev. "We're almost stunned. We had never seen that side of coach Williams before."

The recruits, who comprise one of the best classes Williams has ever attracted to Kansas, will all have the option of asking to be released from their commitment. If Kansas does grant that release, they would be free to sign with another school.

Speaking late Monday night in Chapel Hill, N.C., Williams spoke of his Jayhawk recruits with the same compassion as he did for his current players. He said he had tried to call them and would not go to bed before reaching all four.

"Folks, it's hard to turn my back on those kids," Williams said.

Seeing a picture of one Friday morning, he said, left him with his hand on the phone, ready to call North Carolina and turn town the Tar Heels.

"A lot of people say Roy is too emotional, but folks, I care about those kids," Williams said.

Williams turned down North Carolina three years ago, saying he just couldn't bear to tell his players "that I'd found a team I'd rather coach than them."

Having reached a different decision this time around, he apparently encountered some anger when he gave the Jayhawks the news Monday -- just one week after they lost to Syracuse by three points in the NCAA championship game.

Whether any will transfer -- and by rule sit out a year -- remains to be seen. Sophomore center Wayne Simien, who was sidelined most of this season with an injured right shoulder, said before the meeting he would not want to go anywhere else.

But Simien emerged from the meeting very upset, saying as he stomped to his car, "I gave my right arm for that man, literally. I gave that man my right arm."

Another key returning player, sophomore Keith Langford, had already raised the prospect of transferring should Williams leave, saying last week, "I can't see myself playing for anybody else at this school."

Recruit Jeremy Case, a 6-1 guard Williams called the best shooter he ever signed, admitted he was bothered by the lack of a phone call from Williams -- but said he's not interested in going anywhere else.

"I love KU," said Case, who averaged more than 25 points a game during his senior year. "I love they way they are."

Diana Giddens, mother of recruit J.R. Giddens, said she was "shocked" to hear the news.

"We weren't expecting this," she said from her home in Oklahoma City. "J.R. is away at a high school all-star game. I'm pretty sure he'll still want to go to Kansas. But I haven't talked to him about it."

Pete Padgett said Williams' decision will prompt his family to reconsider his son's future.

"Coach Williams told us he would coach David for four years. Now we need to take a step back and see what happens. People are astounded he hasn't contracted the incoming players for next year."

Everyone's decision may hinge a great deal on who follows Williams. Most frequently mentioned is Bill Self of Illinois. But other names coming immediately into play included Mark Few of Gonzaga, Tom Crean of Marquette and Mike Bray at Notre Dame.

Williams offered his own candidate for the job: Joe Holladay, one of his assistants at Kansas.

"If that doesn't work out, he'll be here with me," Williams said.

The Jayhawks are also handicapped because they are also without a permanent athletic director.

Al Bohl, who had clashed repeatedly with Williams, was fired last Wednesday.

So now the Jayhawks -- eight days removed from playing for the national championship -- are without a permanent athletic director or a basketball coach. And the bulk of the great freshman class they were counting on for next year -- all immediately uncontacted by Williams on his way out -- may also be at risk.

[voskuhl43]

UNC needs to refocus

They went from a basketball school to a drama school in just two months and personally I'm a little tired of it.

[wayne1218]

Thanks BC that's good shit........KU get the fuck over it,WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA