2B
Friday, March 29, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
The Coach: Roy Williams
Players come first for Roy
Williams credits 'the kids' with team accomplishments in tourney
Coach Rov Williams and assistant coach Jerry Green re-enact a foul.
By Eric Nelson Kansan staff writer
In Fall 1988, the mood on the KU campus was a little more somber than it was this past week.
The Jayhawks were told by the NCAA that not only would they have no opportunity to defend their 1988 national title, but they were also slammed with recruiting restrictions.
Roy Williams arrived at Kansas just in time to serve somebody else "jail term." He had to rebuild a wounded Kansas program.
Williams' difficult beginnings at Kansas make it hard to believe that the Jayhawks, a Vitalte perennial in the 1901 Final Four in Indianapolis,
Williams admits that even he is surprised.
"The two years I was greatly concerned about were this year and next year because of the recruiting restrictions we had been under," he
But 26 wins later and with a date in the national semifinal game against his alma mater and coaching mentor, a season meant for rebuilding has become memorable and enjoyable.
Williams called it "the happiest I've ever been to postpone my golf game for another week."
Success is not new to Williams. His tournament successes include the 1982 national championship at North Carolina.
Winning Williams
At Kansas, he last year's team to the Dodge NIT presseason championship. That team was ranked either first or third for the nation for 13 consecutive weeks.
Williams currently holds the best winning percentage by a coach in Kansas history. 75.8 percent.
But Williams coaches for the players and not personal recognition.
"I've said many times before, the greatest thrill I get out of coaching is seeing the look on our gue's faces immediately after they have accomplished something," he said. "After the Arkansas game I tried to step back and just watch our kids for a few moments because that was
really something.
"Some of you guys and a few others keep sticking cameras in my face and I didn't get a chance to sit back and watch. That's what I would have done. I have done, but still, that's the best feeling you can have as a coach."
Roy's Boys
When questioned about the success of the Kansas program, Williams gave much of the credit to “the kids” who wrote the word Kansas across their arms.
The hard work of the team and assistant coaches, which he referred to as the best in the country, has built a success story.
But Williams is not one to stand in the spotlight of the team's successes.
Richard Scott, freshman forward,
said that if the team executed and
concentrated as they were told to,
thems gave them much of the
credit.
"If we do all that, he'll just put the credit on the team; he wouldn't really take the credit for himself."
Williams becomes disgusted when not enough credit is given to the
"Sometimes I've felt like people were saying 'It's the Carolina system' so much that they weren't giving credit to my kid, but I gave it to like everybody else, but my kids are a heck of a lot more important."
Mike Maddox, senior forward, said much of the success of Kansas State.
"He deserves a lot of the credit," he said. "He's not one to get up in front and take a lot of the credit. He tries to give a lot of the credit to us and sometimes too much so. I know all the players respect him for that."
Mark Randall, senior forward, said Williams' hard work was evident both on the court and on the recruiting trail.
"I think that carries over to the team," he said. "Everybody wants to work hard and they want to be good. You have to do the best they can all the time."
Sibling rivalry
Now Williams is heading into a
game against a program that raised him and a person he considers a brother, Dean Smith.
"He's done more for college basketball than anybody else will probably ever do." Williams said. "Even more importantly, he's done more for people without them ever knowing about it."
Like a big brother, Williams said that Smith had given him a lot.
"But if I had a big brother, and I was playing him, I would still try to beat his butt," he said.
Not feeling intimidated by being the long shot of the tournament, Williams has set his sights on winning the tournament.
"I do believe it is going to be an exciting time," he said. "But at the same time, it's something I am not afraid of." Well, we made the Final Four."
Williams said that he considered
With North Carolina State in 1983, Villanova in 1985 and Kansas in 1988, the long shot came in to spoil the party.
“That’s what is great about the NCAA tournament,” Williams said. “It’s not necessarily the best team who wins the tournament. In in the record book it says they’re champions and that’s what counts.”
Now with the possibility of facing the team they stunned in Madison Square Garden UNLV — the underdog role again.
Williams and the Jayhawks have some practice at being spoilers. At last year's NIT they suprisingly won it all.
Coaches' N.C. tie adds twist to game
"Since we're here, let's go ahead and spoil the party," Williams said.
By S. J. Bailey
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams spent 10 years learning the game of basketball and sharpening his coaching skills as an assistant under Dean Smith at North Carolina.
Tomorrow,
the nation will
see whether
the student
can give the
teacher a lesson
of his own.
When the Jayhawks take on the Tar Heels
Dean Smith
tomorrow afternoon for a shot at the 1991 national championship, it will be a reunion of sorts for the team's captain, friend and mentor, Dean Smith.
Williams graduated from North Carolina in 1972 after playing on the 1968-69 Tar Heel freshman team. After a four-year coaching stint at Swannanoa Owen High School in North Carolina, he rejoined the Tar Heels as an assistant coach, where he stayed until he took the job at Kansas in 1988.
Smith, oddly enough, has strong ties to the Jayhawks as well. Smith graduated from Kansas in 1953 after playing on Phog Allen's 1952 national championship team and the 1953 Jayhawk team, which finished second in the NCAA tournament to Indiana.
Williams, who claims to have learned 90 percent of what he knows from Smith, said watching his mentor prowl the opposing sidelines would be difficult for him.
"It will be hard for me because at the end of the game, one of us is going to lose," Williams said. "But on the other side of it, one of us will be in the finals, and I like that part of it."
Williams said he could not have asked for a better professor of the game than Smith.
"Coach Smith's influence has been amazing," he said. "He truly is in a league by himself. He's done more for college basketball
than anyone will probably ever do."
Williams also said Smith was one of the primary reasons behind his success.
Smith has high accolades for Williams as well.
"If it weren't for Coach Smith, I wouldn't be where I am today," he said. "He's very, very special to me. He's like a big brother who's given me everything I have, and a lot more than I deserve."
"I am very excited for Roy." Smith said. "He is a talented coach who has done an excellent job with that program. In fact, people tell me that Kansas runs our stuff better than we do."
Smith is not stretching the truth much. Williams has taken the principles he learned at North Carolina to the players he has at Kansas.
"It's going to come down to who can execute best." Williams said. "Our plays are extremely similar, right down to the names and signals we use for them. Basically, whoever can execute their third options the best is probably going to win the game."
But Williams has another advantage as well. As an assistant at North Carolina, Williams helped recruit many of the players on the Tar Heel squad that won the championship noon, including Rick Fox, King Rice, Pete Chichet, Hubert Davis and George Lynch.
"Certainly, both teams will be well seated," Smith said. "We talk a lot with Roy during the season and exchange tapes. But I have to say they probably know a lot more about our players than we know about hers."
Although Williams said he and Smith were like brothers, he added that he would have no problem getting prepared for the game.
"Once the game begins, I probably won't even remember who's coaching the other team," Williams said with a sheepsish grin. "Even if I had a big brother and I was playing him, I'd still try to beat his butt."
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