KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Roy Williams of Kansas, whose team was picked near the bottom of the conference but wound up on top of the world, has been voted Associated Press Big Eight coach of the year.
“I think I’m just about the luckiest guy in the world,” said Williams, 39, whose Jayhawks are 28-3 heading into the Big Eight Tournament.
It was announced earlier that the same media panel selected Doug Smith, Missouri’s 6-10 junior, as Big Eight player of the year and Oklahoma’s Jackie Jones as top newcomer.
It was a year which saw Big Eight teams dominate the top of the national rankings. Worthy candidates abounded for every player award.
But picking out one No. 1 coach was never tougher for Big Eight media. Said one longtime voter, “There has never been a time we had so many deserving candidates for coach of the year.”
Besides Williams, there is Norm Stewart of Missouri.
A year ago this week, the dean of Big Eight coaches lay in a hospital bed undergoing treatment for cancer. All he did was regain his strength, health and energy and take the Tigers to the conference championship.
And then there’s Billy Tubbs of Oklahoma. All he did was rebuild his squad almost from scratch, fine tune it through the winter and come roaring into tournament time with the same No. 1 ranking Williams and Stewart spent two months passing back and forth.
Thanks to that trio and their talented athletes, the national basketball recognition the Big Eight has longer for is finally here.
But it was Williams, also hampered by the residue of an NCAA probation brought on by his predecessor, Larry Brown, who captured the award. Williams drew 10 1/2 votes from a panel of sports writers and sportscasters to 3 1/2 for Stewart and three for Tubbs.
“The only thing in my life I ever wanted to do, I’m doing,” said Williams, an assistant at North Carolina when athletic director Bob Frederick brought him aboard.
“I’ve got a great staff of assistant coaches,” Williams said. “I have a very supportive administration and an athletic director who showed confidence in me. And I have 15 kids who bust their tails for me.”
All season long, the Jayhawks have either been No. 1, No. 2 or unranked altogether. Ignored in the preseason polls, Williams efficient, highly disciplined squad launched the season with stunning upsets of LSU, UNLV and St. John’s to capture the preseason NIT.
Their 28 victories represent the second-highest total in school history.
And now those same fans who blasted Frederick for hiring an assistant are demanding to know what steps he’s taking to make sure he never leaves.
“I know people are saying a lot of nice things about me, and I appreciate it,” Williams said. “But I never wanted to be a businessman and make lots of money. I never wanted to be a TV commentator or an actor. The only job I ever wanted, I’ve got.”
For newcomer honors, the AP panel gave three votes to Kansas State guard Jean Derouillere, 6 1/2 to Kansas’ Rick Calloway and 7 1/2 to the versatile, 6-8 Jones.
