They were right.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Laird Noller, an area car dealer and friend of Williams. “It’s absolutely the greatest thing for Kansas athletics we’ve had in years. He’ll be here forever. What will it do for recruiting? It will be unbelievable. It’s wonderful news.”

Wint Winter Jr., a Lawrence attorney who played football for Kansas in the early ’70s and served as a state senator from 1982 to 1992, said it had been fascinating to watch Williams struggle with the decision between the Jayhawks and the Tar Heels.

“It shows the class of Roy Williams,” he said.

Kansas basketball has crossed paths with Memorial Stadium with good results before, Winter said.

“I remember the national championship celebration at Memorial Stadium in 1988. I think Larry Brown said he was staying then,” Winter recalled, before returning to the present. “It would have been hard on fans to sit and listen and have their hopes up and have Williams say something else.”

National television broadcasts turned Thursday night’s press conference into a huge boost for the Kansas program, Winter said.

“It’s a great program-builder to make this a celebration,” he said. “It almost announces the beginning of a second tradition at KU.”

Mark Allen, grandson of legendary KU coach Phog Allen, said Williams put himself in an elite bunch of coaches with his announcement.

“I think the really great coaches in history have identified themselves with one program,” Allen said.

Williams will begin his 13th year at Kansas when the summer recruiting season starts Saturday.

“I think Roy’s the finest basketball coach in America and a credit to the University of Kansas,” Allen said. “He’s a class act in every way. The way he’s handled this tough week has been admirable.”