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Opinion: Look to Chapel Hill, Roy
By STEVE WILSTEIN
AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) � Roy Williams was right: He owed Final
Four week to his players.
That meant no ``junk,'' as he put it, about the North
Carolina job.
Now he owes it to himself to think seriously about following
his heart.
Williams looked as if he lost 10 pounds Monday night. His
face was drained, his eyes were rimmed red.
He marched miles on the sideline, jumping and flailing his
arms, crouching and barking at his players, snapping at the refs, pumping
his fists, smiling and snarling, and always straightening his tie. He was
coming apart on the inside but didn't want to show it.
Williams coached his heart out and left a piece of it in the
Superdome when Syracuse beat Kansas 81-78. He wanted this game for his
players, for seniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich and all the rest. He
wanted it for the heritage he had built at Kansas, for the legacy he wanted
to leave behind _ if he does move on to North Carolina.
Maybe, unselfishly, he wanted this game least of all for
himself, but he'd be lying if he said that wasn't immensely important, too.
The emotionally churning moments after the loss were not the
time for him to talk about leaving or even to think about it. Anyone who
wanted an answer about his intentions would have to wait.
``I could give a flip about what those people want,''
Williams sneered, adding that ``it's not very sensitive'' for anyone even to
ask right now.
``I haven't thought about that for one second. ... I've got
13 people in that locker room that I love.''
It was too soon to ask about it and too soon for him to
think about it.
North Carolina hasn't even approached him yet about taking
the job that Matt Doherty gave up last week under pressure.
But the time will come soon and when it does, Williams
should take the job that he turned down at the last moment three years ago.
Williams could go on coaching Kansas forever. He could stay
until he finally wins an NCAA championship, completes his mission and
satisfies all those Jayhawks fans who have been waiting for him to deliver
on a promise he never made but certainly set up.
Williams is too good a coach, too decent a man, for any
school to want to lose.
He stayed three years ago when he thought it was the right
thing to do. He had young players and he had the extended family of players
who had come and gone and were counting on him.
But the time is right now, at age 52, for a change.
Maybe not this week. Maybe not next week. But soon.
And Williams may make the move this time because it's the
right one for him, for Kansas and, most assuredly, for North Carolina.
In his heart, Williams is a Carolina man. He played at
Chapel Hill and worked as an assistant under Dean Smith. His son, Scott,
played guard for the Tar Heels. His daughter, Kimberly, graduated from North
Carolina last year.
Williams is exactly the kind of coach North Carolina wants
and needs. A coach who has Smith's respect and, more important, a coach who
won't alienate Smith, as Doherty did. Williams has that blend of toughness
and love and civility that North Carolina's chancellor and athletic director
said they want when they pressed the volatile Doherty to quit.
The challenge for Williams at North Carolina is to rebuild a
program that has gone adrift, but he is not one to shy from that kind of
task.
Winning or losing a championship game shouldn't define a
coach's talent or reputation, yet in the minds of many that's exactly what
it does.
Syracuse's Jim Boeheim is no better because he won his first
national title, but his victory will validate for many what every other
coach and all of his players over the past 27 years already knew: The man
can flat-out coach.
``I don't feel any smarter yet,'' he said. ``Maybe
tomorrow.''
Boeheim took his young players, harnessed their raw skills
and molded them into a tight, efficient team. The Madness of March sang out
in their exquisite harmony. In their zone defense and in their sweet
shooting they were joyous to watch.
On the other side, it would be stupid to suggest Williams'
second championship loss somehow tarnishes him, as if he is any less a coach
because his team missed a few free throws near the end or because a
game-tying shot by Michael Lee in the final second was blocked by Hakim
Warrick, or because the Jayhawks came up three points short.
Boeheim argued that Williams actually did the better
coaching job, bringing his team back from 53-42 at halftime after Syracuse
had played almost perfectly for the first 20 minutes � hitting 10 of 13
three-pointers. Maybe Boeheim was simply being gracious, but he wasn't too
far off.
When they embraced after the game, Boeheim said, ``I told
him the same thing Bob Knight told me in 1987 � you'll be back someday.''
Boeheim is right about that. The only question is where.
Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The
Associated Press. Write to him at
[email protected].
Copyright 2003
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:47:07 AM
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