Asked on Massachusetts Street:
Luke Ditto, owner of Affordable Property Services, Lawrence
“From what I’ve heard, I think he’s going to be a good coach.”
Jon Francis, owner of Francis Sporting Goods, Lawrence
“I think he will represent the university well and he seems like a good family man. I think he’ll be a good fit.”
Carrie Crawford, scholarship hall director, Lawrence
“I think he’ll be good. He knows the culture pretty well, so that’ll be good.”
Sarah Randolph, Big Brothers Big Sisters employee, Lawrence
“He seems like a class act and a great coach to follow Roy.”
Asked at Centennial Park:
Ben Clark, KU senior, Lenexa
“It won’t hurt us at all. KU’s good tradition of coaches ain’t the only thing that makes KU basketball good.”
Scott Murray, KU senior, Overland Park
“I’m not too worried about Roy leaving. Roy never could win the big one anyway, so we’ll get a coach in here, we’ll be fine. We’ve still got the players.”
Marshall Mallory, KU senior, Leawood
“I think it’s going to be detrimental to the team. We could possibly lose recruits, we could have players transfer. It could really spell disaster for the program.”
Allison Mueller, Mass Street Deli server, Lawrence
“Roy has a magic about him that makes our team come together and perform well. I don’t know if the next man will have that or not, but we’ll see.”
Megan Dudley, retail sales, Lawrence
“I think he’ll stay because he’s always lived here and I don’t think he wants to leave.”
Mark Koch, welder, Lawrence
“I’d think, with enough fans here, that he’ll stay.”
Taaha Hassan, KU student, Lawrence
“I hope not. Roy Williams has done a lot for the program but I think we could do a lot better with a new coach.”
David Fry, unemployed, Lawrence
“No, because of his history there and he’s been losing the last few years.”
Roy’s tenure at KU
Video: Williams’ news conference
Audio: Williams’ news conference
Photos: Roy’s years at KU (’88-’03)