Philadelphia ? Scope the landscape of college basketball, check the credentials and references, ask about what kind of man Roy Williams is, and you won’t hear too many complaints. You might hear that he’s fiery. That he’s demanding. That he accepts nothing short of maximum effort from the high school stars who enter his program.
But, notice, he has never been confused with Matt Doherty.
So on Monday night, after days of speculation, negotiations, and serious prodding by the legendary Dean Smith and a certain 76ers coach, after an emotional goodbye to his Kansas University players, Smith’s former assistant returned to Chapel Hill.
The University of North Carolina had its man.
About time!
Now there’s no more need to chatter about Larry Brown. No need to wonder if the architect of the Sixers won’t be around to try to orchestrate another run to the NBA Finals. No need for North Carolina to lament having brought aboard Doherty, who tarnished the tradition built by Smith.
The man UNC wanted three years ago is the man it got this time around.
Kudos to the Tar Heels. Hooray for Philadelphia. Too bad for Kansas.
Let’s hope that Doherty is taking some notes.
Listening to critics of Williams last week, it was almost easy to forget the man has taken four teams to the Final Four and two to the national-championship game while becoming the fourth-fastest coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 400 victories.
As Williams pondered the idea of leaving the Jayhawks after 15 illustrious years, he appeared as bad as Doherty.
Kansas fired Al Bohl, its athletic director, and Williams’ poor relationship with Bohl, along with Kansas’ desire to keep Williams, was considered the reason why. The fact that Bohl blamed Williams for his ouster — looking as childish as I’ve ever seen an official look at a news conference — only exacerbated the situation.
Supposedly, Williams would now be forced to stay. After all, you can’t go get a man fired, then leave the university that let him go for the sole purpose of appeasing you.
But the fact is, Bohl wasn’t liked by Kansas chancellor Robert Hemenway. He wasn’t liked at previous institutions where he worked, either. Coaches abhorred him. The perception was that no one wanted to work with him, and certainly not for him.
Thus, Bohl’s fate was determined long ago. Why he even bothered to show up at the national-championship game in which Kansas lost to Syracuse nine days ago beats me.
When you run an athletic department, people have to believe in you, in what you stand for, and know that you have their best interests at heart.
As Williams boarded a plane Monday night for Chapel Hill, you could almost hear the anguished cries from Jayhawks land.
Williams gave it his best shot — 15 times over — at Kansas. Now it’s time for him to move on to new challenges.
The Tar Heels haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament in two years. Their mystique, their stature, has dissipated so drastically that the quest to resurrect their program will extend far beyond simply winning basketball games.
When something had to be done, UNC did it by going out and getting what it needed. Getting Williams would not have been necessary had Doherty done his job.
