04/24/24
April 14, 2003
Williams leaving Kansas to coach alma mater: ... although many people here at SpoFi thought he would go, I am pretty shocked by the whole thing, since Williams could have been the Dean Smith of Kansas, rather than trying to be the replacement for Dean Smith at UNC. But then again, who wouldn't want to coach all that young Tar Heel talent?
posted by smithers to basketball at 05:15 PM - 8 comments
So long as Williams can win the "big game" for UNC I'll be happy.
posted by Bag Man at 09:58 PM on April 14, 2003
Good luck, bag man.
posted by jackhererra at 11:08 AM on April 15, 2003
I'm glad to see Roy come back, although Carolina did him no favors with the timing of this. As a Duke fan, the rivalry with UNC has been pretty pathetic the last few years. UNC has grabbed a game here and there, but most of the games were meaningless, most of the time it was just UNC trying to play spoiler. Maybe Roy can get this discordant bunch playing together.
posted by corpse at 11:11 AM on April 15, 2003
Good luck, bag man. This is my greatest fear. However, if The Dean likes Roy, I'll give him a shot.
posted by Bag Man at 11:32 AM on April 15, 2003
rcade: I think Kansas fired Al Bohl (the AD) as a preemptive show of good faith towards Williams. This way they can hold their heads up (and their hands out) to the KU deep pockets and say, "See, we did our best, he was determined to leave." And believe me, this AD was out here (Fresno) prior to Kansas; getting rid of this him was a wise move whether Williams stayed or not.
posted by kloeprich at 11:52 AM on April 15, 2003
So, whither now doth the coaching carousel stoppeth? Is the frontrunner for the gig Bill Self? And if so, where does Illinois go for a replacement? And where does Steve Lavin land in all of this?!?
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:37 PM on April 15, 2003
Steve Lavin lost his shot when Pittsburgh promoted an assistant.
posted by billsaysthis at 05:53 PM on April 15, 2003
As this dragged on without Roy Williams putting an end to the speculation, I figured he was going to bolt for UNC. Lucky them -- the guy is a big upgrade from Matt Doherty. However, isn't Williams the same guy who got the AD fired last week as a precondition of him staying? That's a weird move.