Happy Retirement Coach Williams, One of the All Time Greats

I wanted to wait until today before I wrote about Roy Williams, in case it was some wild April's Fools joke, a "holiday" which I despise, especially with two young kids who are way too into pranks. But it was confirmed after his press conference he had last night, assuring everyone that this was real.

I am still kind of in shock. Williams just seemed like a guy who was going to be coaching college basketball forever. He has been around, and relevant, since I was a little kid. I remember watching him as the KU head coach. I remember being upset when he left for UNC because, outside of Michigan, I used to like KU basketball as well. Georgetown has now taken that spot. I remember when I realized why he left KU for UNC and finally getting it. I remember him winning titles and being a force almost every year while at KU and UNC. I remember the scandals, which looking at what is going on elsewhere now, seem so tame. And I remember his painful white boy dancing, that he did unapologetically. All in all though, the thing I remember most is the winning.

In Williams two stops as a head coach, the guy won. He has won three national titles. He has been to nine final fours. He won the ACC regular season title nine times, and the tournament three times. At KU he won four Big 12 regular season titles and three tournament titles. He won the Big 8 five times. He's a two time national coach of the year winner, a two time ACC coach of the year winner, a three time Big 12 coach of the year winner and a four time Big 8 coach of the year. And he has been inducted in both the college and pro basketball hall of fame. That is one hell of a resume. I think anyone would happily take that as their record. He's one of a very few college coaches that have won over 900 games. He has a career winning percentage of .774. His tournament record is astonishing as well. He is 79-27 in the tourney. That means deep runs most years his teams made it.

Roy Williams is a Mount Rushmore college coach. He is just as successful and important to the game as Coach K or John Calipari or John Chaney. There are very few coaches I would have ahead of him. Hell, it may be just a few of the classics, guys like John Wooden and John Thompson. But Williams is, for the modern day, an important and famous coach. He has coached a TON of guys that have had solid NBA careers. At KU he coached Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, Jacque Vaughn and Paul Pierce, among others. Those guys all had solid careers, and are now all somehow involved in the game. At UNC he got some more big time players. Guys like Harrison Barnes, Reggie Bullock, Ray Felton, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Tyler Hansborough, Justin Jackson, Cam Johnson, Ty Lawson, Nassir Little, Coby White, Cole Anthony and Marvin Williams. That list has current players, former champs and guys that are still giving back to the game. The fact that he has been around so many stellar basketball players is amazing. Add on that he got the best out of them, that is one hell of an accomplishment. I watched a video from last NBA season where Coby White was being interviewed, and to hear the way he talked about Williams, it just showed the love and the respect he has as a head coach. Roy Williams is respected in every basketball corner of the world.

As I sit on the news of his retirement, and what went into his decision, I think of kind of get it. UNC is still a very good school, just not like they used to be. The whole ACC has been down the past couple of years, and UNC is not immune. The college game has changed drastically too. I think more change is needed, and hopefully we are headed in that direction, but for a guy like Roy Williams, I can kind of see why he walked away now. One and done is the way of the game. The G League has created a team that will pay the top high school players, so a lot of kids will choose that route now, rightfully so. And overseas is yet another option for some of the top talent. Then you take into account the new transfer rules, I am sure Roy Williams was just fed up. UNC was coming off a year where they were okay. They made the tourney as a 9 seed and got blown out by Wisconsin in round one. Then his best freshman, a kid that played a ton of basketball for them, decided to transfer, citing "better competition". I mean, that is kind of crazy to me. Again, I do not fault these kids for going out and getting theirs, especially when coaches do it all the time and are praised for such moves. But this was not some kid who rode the bench all year. He played and played big minutes for them. I just think he did not like the fit, and nowadays that is more than enough for kids to make a move. Apparently this was the last straw for Williams. And I kind of get it from his point of view. That has to be frustrating for an old school guy like him, and a guy that likes to develop talent rather than just put all 5 star players on the floor.

Roy Williams has earned the myriad of accolades he achieved over his long coaching career, and I think he will take to retirement quite well. He had earned it. I just want to say congrats to him on a wonderful and memorable coaching run at two college basketball powerhouses. Roy Williams is an all time great.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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