Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoRoy Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
So Wanda Williams, wife of Kansas University’s men’s basketball coach, may have been surprised to see her husband rummaging around the bedroom closet on Tuesday night.
Back in December of 1993, Williams took his sixth KU team to Atlanta to play Georgia University in a game billed as the Kuppenheimer Classic. Kansas spanked the Bulldogs, 89-79.
The significance? The site was the Georgia Dome. Thus, Williams’ record in that huge domed facility is 1-0 going into this weekend’s NCAA Final Four.
As an appearance perk for that game, each member of the KU coaching staff received a new Kuppenheimer suit, which suggests Williams might want to don those duds for good luck when the Jayhawks meet Maryland on Saturday night in the Final Four.
Alas, Williams said he no longer has that suit.
“No,” he said, smiling, “but I’d better look and make sure.”
Earlier during Tuesday’s media session in Parrott Complex, Williams mentioned how much bad luck he had suffered as a coach in Atlanta.
When he was an aide at North Carolina, for example, the Michael Jordan-led Tar Heels were stunned by Indiana in the NCAA East Regional final.
And Williams’ No. 1-seeded 1990 Kansas team was shocked by UCLA, 71-70, in the second round.
Of Atlanta, Williams said: “I think the town owes me one.”
Those defeats occurred, however, in the Omni, an aging facility that was razed in 1999 to make room for the new 20,000-seat Philips Arena, current home of the NBA Atlanta Hawks.
Gone, too, by the way, is Atlanta-based Kuppenheimer. The clothing company went out of business in 1997 and was replaced by Men’s Wearhouse.
And that means that if Williams can’t find his old Kuppenheimer suit, he can’t go out and buy another one.
But then again, Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
l
One coach Williams will work Monday’s national title game. Either Roy Williams or Maryland’s Gary Williams. The two teams will meet at 7:47 p.m. Saturday in a Final Four semifinal at the Georgia Dome.
“Gary is a guy that I have a tremendous amount of respect for and always have. I love the intensity that he coaches with,” 14th-year KU coach Williams said of 13th-year Maryland coach Williams. “In the Maryland area they charge him a great deal because as much as that boy sweats he leaves some big-time damage there.”
Gary Williams is known for leaping out of his seat and sweating as much as the Terp players.
“He’s a hard worker and a guy I’ve had a lot of respect for. I’ve only played against his Maryland teams once and it was in a tournament in Washington and they whipped us (86-83 in first round of Franklin Bank Classic in 1997), but he’s a guy that I liked,” KU coach Williams said.
Both coaches inherited probation when they took their respective jobs.
“I hadn’t really thought of the idea when we got to our schools and not knowing anything about the probation, but it’s two programs that have a lot of tradition,” Roy Williams said. “Gary was going back home and knew a great deal about Maryland’s program than anybody else and it was a sense of being the program that he wanted to run because he felt like it could be his program.
“When I came here I didn’t know that much about Kansas other than what coach (Dean) Smith and coach (Dick) Harp had said but I didn’t appreciate the history and tradition that Kansas had. I think both of us were a little surprised about what happened right after we first got here.
“He is a guy that I try to copy some of the things that they do. We’ve gotten to play golf a little bit over the last couple summers and I enjoy him. We both count P.J. Carlesimo (ex-Seton Hall and NBA coach) as a friend and there’s not many people that do that so we’ve got some common ground there.
Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoRoy Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
So Wanda Williams, wife of Kansas University’s men’s basketball coach, may have been surprised to see her husband rummaging around the bedroom closet on Tuesday night.
Back in December of 1993, Williams took his sixth KU team to Atlanta to play Georgia University in a game billed as the Kuppenheimer Classic. Kansas spanked the Bulldogs, 89-79.
The significance? The site was the Georgia Dome. Thus, Williams’ record in that huge domed facility is 1-0 going into this weekend’s NCAA Final Four.
As an appearance perk for that game, each member of the KU coaching staff received a new Kuppenheimer suit, which suggests Williams might want to don those duds for good luck when the Jayhawks meet Maryland on Saturday night in the Final Four.
Alas, Williams said he no longer has that suit.
“No,” he said, smiling, “but I’d better look and make sure.”
Earlier during Tuesday’s media session in Parrott Complex, Williams mentioned how much bad luck he had suffered as a coach in Atlanta.
When he was an aide at North Carolina, for example, the Michael Jordan-led Tar Heels were stunned by Indiana in the NCAA East Regional final.
And Williams’ No. 1-seeded 1990 Kansas team was shocked by UCLA, 71-70, in the second round.
Of Atlanta, Williams said: “I think the town owes me one.”
Those defeats occurred, however, in the Omni, an aging facility that was razed in 1999 to make room for the new 20,000-seat Philips Arena, current home of the NBA Atlanta Hawks.
Gone, too, by the way, is Atlanta-based Kuppenheimer. The clothing company went out of business in 1997 and was replaced by Men’s Wearhouse.
And that means that if Williams can’t find his old Kuppenheimer suit, he can’t go out and buy another one.
But then again, Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
l
One coach Williams will work Monday’s national title game. Either Roy Williams or Maryland’s Gary Williams. The two teams will meet at 7:47 p.m. Saturday in a Final Four semifinal at the Georgia Dome.
“Gary is a guy that I have a tremendous amount of respect for and always have. I love the intensity that he coaches with,” 14th-year KU coach Williams said of 13th-year Maryland coach Williams. “In the Maryland area they charge him a great deal because as much as that boy sweats he leaves some big-time damage there.”
Gary Williams is known for leaping out of his seat and sweating as much as the Terp players.
“He’s a hard worker and a guy I’ve had a lot of respect for. I’ve only played against his Maryland teams once and it was in a tournament in Washington and they whipped us (86-83 in first round of Franklin Bank Classic in 1997), but he’s a guy that I liked,” KU coach Williams said.
Both coaches inherited probation when they took their respective jobs.
“I hadn’t really thought of the idea when we got to our schools and not knowing anything about the probation, but it’s two programs that have a lot of tradition,” Roy Williams said. “Gary was going back home and knew a great deal about Maryland’s program than anybody else and it was a sense of being the program that he wanted to run because he felt like it could be his program.
“When I came here I didn’t know that much about Kansas other than what coach (Dean) Smith and coach (Dick) Harp had said but I didn’t appreciate the history and tradition that Kansas had. I think both of us were a little surprised about what happened right after we first got here.
“He is a guy that I try to copy some of the things that they do. We’ve gotten to play golf a little bit over the last couple summers and I enjoy him. We both count P.J. Carlesimo (ex-Seton Hall and NBA coach) as a friend and there’s not many people that do that so we’ve got some common ground there.
Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoRoy Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
So Wanda Williams, wife of Kansas University’s men’s basketball coach, may have been surprised to see her husband rummaging around the bedroom closet on Tuesday night.
Back in December of 1993, Williams took his sixth KU team to Atlanta to play Georgia University in a game billed as the Kuppenheimer Classic. Kansas spanked the Bulldogs, 89-79.
The significance? The site was the Georgia Dome. Thus, Williams’ record in that huge domed facility is 1-0 going into this weekend’s NCAA Final Four.
As an appearance perk for that game, each member of the KU coaching staff received a new Kuppenheimer suit, which suggests Williams might want to don those duds for good luck when the Jayhawks meet Maryland on Saturday night in the Final Four.
Alas, Williams said he no longer has that suit.
“No,” he said, smiling, “but I’d better look and make sure.”
Earlier during Tuesday’s media session in Parrott Complex, Williams mentioned how much bad luck he had suffered as a coach in Atlanta.
When he was an aide at North Carolina, for example, the Michael Jordan-led Tar Heels were stunned by Indiana in the NCAA East Regional final.
And Williams’ No. 1-seeded 1990 Kansas team was shocked by UCLA, 71-70, in the second round.
Of Atlanta, Williams said: “I think the town owes me one.”
Those defeats occurred, however, in the Omni, an aging facility that was razed in 1999 to make room for the new 20,000-seat Philips Arena, current home of the NBA Atlanta Hawks.
Gone, too, by the way, is Atlanta-based Kuppenheimer. The clothing company went out of business in 1997 and was replaced by Men’s Wearhouse.
And that means that if Williams can’t find his old Kuppenheimer suit, he can’t go out and buy another one.
But then again, Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
l
One coach Williams will work Monday’s national title game. Either Roy Williams or Maryland’s Gary Williams. The two teams will meet at 7:47 p.m. Saturday in a Final Four semifinal at the Georgia Dome.
“Gary is a guy that I have a tremendous amount of respect for and always have. I love the intensity that he coaches with,” 14th-year KU coach Williams said of 13th-year Maryland coach Williams. “In the Maryland area they charge him a great deal because as much as that boy sweats he leaves some big-time damage there.”
Gary Williams is known for leaping out of his seat and sweating as much as the Terp players.
“He’s a hard worker and a guy I’ve had a lot of respect for. I’ve only played against his Maryland teams once and it was in a tournament in Washington and they whipped us (86-83 in first round of Franklin Bank Classic in 1997), but he’s a guy that I liked,” KU coach Williams said.
Both coaches inherited probation when they took their respective jobs.
“I hadn’t really thought of the idea when we got to our schools and not knowing anything about the probation, but it’s two programs that have a lot of tradition,” Roy Williams said. “Gary was going back home and knew a great deal about Maryland’s program than anybody else and it was a sense of being the program that he wanted to run because he felt like it could be his program.
“When I came here I didn’t know that much about Kansas other than what coach (Dean) Smith and coach (Dick) Harp had said but I didn’t appreciate the history and tradition that Kansas had. I think both of us were a little surprised about what happened right after we first got here.
“He is a guy that I try to copy some of the things that they do. We’ve gotten to play golf a little bit over the last couple summers and I enjoy him. We both count P.J. Carlesimo (ex-Seton Hall and NBA coach) as a friend and there’s not many people that do that so we’ve got some common ground there.
Richard Gwin/Journal-World PhotoRoy Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
So Wanda Williams, wife of Kansas University’s men’s basketball coach, may have been surprised to see her husband rummaging around the bedroom closet on Tuesday night.
Back in December of 1993, Williams took his sixth KU team to Atlanta to play Georgia University in a game billed as the Kuppenheimer Classic. Kansas spanked the Bulldogs, 89-79.
The significance? The site was the Georgia Dome. Thus, Williams’ record in that huge domed facility is 1-0 going into this weekend’s NCAA Final Four.
As an appearance perk for that game, each member of the KU coaching staff received a new Kuppenheimer suit, which suggests Williams might want to don those duds for good luck when the Jayhawks meet Maryland on Saturday night in the Final Four.
Alas, Williams said he no longer has that suit.
“No,” he said, smiling, “but I’d better look and make sure.”
Earlier during Tuesday’s media session in Parrott Complex, Williams mentioned how much bad luck he had suffered as a coach in Atlanta.
When he was an aide at North Carolina, for example, the Michael Jordan-led Tar Heels were stunned by Indiana in the NCAA East Regional final.
And Williams’ No. 1-seeded 1990 Kansas team was shocked by UCLA, 71-70, in the second round.
Of Atlanta, Williams said: “I think the town owes me one.”
Those defeats occurred, however, in the Omni, an aging facility that was razed in 1999 to make room for the new 20,000-seat Philips Arena, current home of the NBA Atlanta Hawks.
Gone, too, by the way, is Atlanta-based Kuppenheimer. The clothing company went out of business in 1997 and was replaced by Men’s Wearhouse.
And that means that if Williams can’t find his old Kuppenheimer suit, he can’t go out and buy another one.
But then again, Williams isn’t superstitious. Much.
l
One coach Williams will work Monday’s national title game. Either Roy Williams or Maryland’s Gary Williams. The two teams will meet at 7:47 p.m. Saturday in a Final Four semifinal at the Georgia Dome.
“Gary is a guy that I have a tremendous amount of respect for and always have. I love the intensity that he coaches with,” 14th-year KU coach Williams said of 13th-year Maryland coach Williams. “In the Maryland area they charge him a great deal because as much as that boy sweats he leaves some big-time damage there.”
Gary Williams is known for leaping out of his seat and sweating as much as the Terp players.
“He’s a hard worker and a guy I’ve had a lot of respect for. I’ve only played against his Maryland teams once and it was in a tournament in Washington and they whipped us (86-83 in first round of Franklin Bank Classic in 1997), but he’s a guy that I liked,” KU coach Williams said.
Both coaches inherited probation when they took their respective jobs.
“I hadn’t really thought of the idea when we got to our schools and not knowing anything about the probation, but it’s two programs that have a lot of tradition,” Roy Williams said. “Gary was going back home and knew a great deal about Maryland’s program than anybody else and it was a sense of being the program that he wanted to run because he felt like it could be his program.
“When I came here I didn’t know that much about Kansas other than what coach (Dean) Smith and coach (Dick) Harp had said but I didn’t appreciate the history and tradition that Kansas had. I think both of us were a little surprised about what happened right after we first got here.
“He is a guy that I try to copy some of the things that they do. We’ve gotten to play golf a little bit over the last couple summers and I enjoy him. We both count P.J. Carlesimo (ex-Seton Hall and NBA coach) as a friend and there’s not many people that do that so we’ve got some common ground there.
