Any fan of college basketball knows the name Roy Williams, and they know it well. The North Carolina head basketball coach has been at the forefront of collegiate hoops for over a decade and a half, drawing comparisons to Mike Kryzewski, Jim Boeheim and the legendary Bob Knight.
Over the course of his career, Williams has advanced to 9 Final Fours, converting three of those appearances into National Titles, which pairs nicely with 9 ACC Regular Season Championships. Likewise, his 903 wins as a Division I head coach rank fourth all-time.
Despite an impressive track record and a lasting impact on the program, however, many UNC fans are speculating that it may be time for Roy to hang it up. And, as much as it pains me to admit, I have to agree.
After an embarrassing campaign during the 2019-2020 season, in which the Tar Heels finished with an overall record of 14-19, the incoming freshmen were a glimpse of hope. UNC entered the following year with the #2 recruiting class in the country and was expected to compete at a high level, perhaps even making a run for a seventh championship.
Throughout the year, there were moments when this outcome seemed possible and in a few particular matchups, it even appeared somewhat likely. But, for most of the season, the Heels didn’t have the chemistry to string together even a minimal win streak.
Somehow, Roy had fumbled the bag again. There was an incredible amount of talent on this year’s roster, and it was being wasted. The lineups that took the floor were anything but cohesive and offensively, it looked like the Heels were playing pickup games.
Point guard, Caleb Love, was incredibly careless with the ball and always heaving up prayers at the rim. Garrison Brooks, who was named the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, couldn’t seem to find the bucket all year. And Walker Kessler, who was expected to flourish in the system struggled for minutes all season long.
The Heels still found a way to clinch an NCAA Tournament berth and despite being an #8 seed, I was confident that Roy’s years of experience would carry them through at least the Sweet Sixteen. I couldn’t have been more wrong. UNC got torched and Roy’s 25-0 record in the first round was history.
It wasn’t just that the Heels lost, or that they lost so early on, but more so the fashion in which they went out. It was an absolute beat-down in which no player on the floor had the will to fight back and the coaches looked helpless on the sideline. By halftime, I already knew it was over.
Another season down the drain.
While I don’t necessarily agree that Roy should catch all the flack for back-to-back substandard seasons, I was disappointed to find that he wasn’t tweaking lineups on a game-by-game basis in the way that he normally does. And, worse than that, he didn’t seem to have the passion on the sidelines or in the huddle that has characterized his hall-of-fame career.
At a certain point, you must hold a coach accountable. It is their duty to win games and the Heels have struggled to do so.
Shortly after a March Madness loss, in the postgame press conference, Coach Williams announced that he would be making a $3 million donation to the university for scholarship purposes. Days later, Day’Ron Sharpe has already declared for the NBA Draft and Walker Kessler has entered the transfer portal. If you ask me, the writing is on the wall.
If Roy has coached his last game, I’m not sure where Carolina will turn next. Perhaps it’s Hubert Davis who has been an assistant for what seems like a century, or maybe the program will go in an entirely new direction.
Regardless of what the future looks like in the Dean E. Smith Center, fans and players of the UNC program have been fortunate to have Williams for the last 17 years. The list of accomplishments that he boasts is longer than this blog itself, and if not for his devout interest in the success of this program, who knows where we’d be today?
All I can say is “Thank you Roy.”
Stanley out.
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