PROFILE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, December 6, 1995
7A
The Coach talks about humble beginnings and how he became king of Kansas' court
games.
"It's something they understand and they can handle," he said. "Hopefully, it won't be something they regret later on. It's something, at times, I already regret."
The family does seem to understand. Even when they are constantly interrupted while trying to have a quiet dinner.
"The kids and I like to play this game," The Coach's wife said. "It's fun to see how long we can go before people find out who I'm married to or who their father is."
It hasn't always been easy dealing with their dad's popularity, especially for Scott, who is now 18.
As a child, he came home horrified after talking to one of his classmates.
"Allison down the road didn't know who Dad was." Scott told his mother.
why should she know that? walda
asked, "Do you know what her dad does?"
Being The Coach's son never was an issue again
Now Scott has grown up and has left to go to college at North Carolina, like his father. He is playing basketball as a freshman, also like his father. Scott, like his father, also has a great love and knowledge of the game.
Williams agreed with his son's decision because he thought it would be better for him to get it from underneath The Coach's shadow.
Perhaps it is because he missed out on family activities like Sunday dinners and family trips that now Williams seems so dedicated to his own children.
Maybe it was because his own father never saw him play in a single basketball game.
"
"The NCAA — in one of the few common sense
tings they have ever done — a few years back made it legal for a father to go see his own son regardless of the recruiting period," Williams said. "But still, last year at Lawrence High, I only got to see four regular season games."
Luckily for The Coach, Lawrence put together a post-season run which led it to a state championship and Williams was able to see his son's final five games. Of course, it meant logging hundreds of miles in the car, but Williams was more than willing to do it.
When Williams was a full-time assistant during his last two years at Chapel Hill, he left once for a 25-day recruiting trip. Upon returning home, he had a man-to-man talk with his son.
He might get mad at you one minute, but you know deep down inside that he really cares about you.
"Yeah, Dad, "Scott said. "If you weren't out recruiting as much as you are, we wouldn't get the good players, and people would be beating all the time."
"Do you know the difference between the quantity of time spent together and the quality of time spent together?" Williams asked the 8 year old.
After beating Kansas State in the opening game of the Big Eight Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., Williams drove to Emporia to his see son's game. After losing in the second round to Iowa State the next day, Williams drove back to Emporia.
CHAPTER 5
MR. NICE GUY
- A sixth grade student inquires as to what Williams' favorite book was in sixth grade
* A junior college student asks about his
"One of the biggest mistakes I made was answering all my mail when I first got here," Williams joked. "Now I feel bad if I don't respond."
odds of walking on with the Jayhawks
William W. Mackay and co.2017
An average day's assortment of mail:
* A senior at the Air Force Academy
aspires to become a coach and asks Williams
for his "magical secret ingredient to success"
odds of walking on with the Jayhawks
Williams usually responds to nearly 20 let-
Williams usually responds to nearly 20 letters a day — all his fan mail — every day.
Calvin Rayford Kansas senior guard on why The Coach is important to his players
As he answers his mail, he is surrounded by a growing museum of memorabilia
past teams. There is the 1993 team's preseason NIT Champions trophy. A picture of Michael Jordan wearing a Kansas basketball T-shirt and other past and present players line the shelves.
Of course, with all of his success comes all of his stress.
About 30 magazines cover a nearby coffee table, and the uppermost layer is made up of Jacque Vaughn cover photos. The 1995 Big Eight Conference Champion trophy also sits on the table alongside Final Four souvenir tickets from 1991 and 1993.
"When you're the basketball coach at a place like Kansas, you have no time for anything else. Time with my buddies at lunch enables me to get through the basketball season," Williams said. "That's a good release for me mentally. During the season, there's no release, absolutely none."
One entire wall in his office is dedicated to
His back — with the two discs rubbing
”
"Instead of a constant pain, it's more of a constant discomfort," Williams said. "It's more of a throbbing, tightness sensation. When I'm on the court and I'm standing, then I'd say the discomfort gets closer to pain."
together—still is hampering him, but he manages to switch off between jogging and walking for 45 minutes every day.
After the first few nights of practice this season, the pain was so unbearable that Williams went home one night and laid on his floor for four hours.
"They tell me I'll have to have surgery eventually," he said, with a rare look of discomfort on his face. "I'm just trying to put it off as long as I can."
By exercising and stretching seven times a day. Williams hopes to
be able to get through the season. He's also wearing a backbuckle during practice.
Certain practices seem to take their toll on The Coach more than others. It is easy to see when the pain is the worst.
After a recent practice, Williams was doubled over at center court with his hands on his knees after walking stiffly and painfully throughout practice.
"If I had to coach like this for the rest of my life, I could do it," he explained. "I wouldn't be very comfortable with it, and I hope that I won't have to do that."
During warm-up before practices, Williams can be seen stretching alongside his players and joking with them as if he were one of the gang.
"You see him on TV all the time. He's such a high-profile person, and you're sort of intimidated by him," Kansas sophomore guard C.B. McGraw said. "But he'll be for you all the time. No matter what your problem is, he'll be there for you."
Practice consists of drills ranging from the three-man weave to five-on-five half court scrimages. Throughout practice, Williams constantly is reaching into his pocket, unfolding his schedule and checking to make sure he's on track. He wanders from station to station to oversee his team's progress — encouraging and instructing — just like Smith taught him years before.
When his arms aren't crossed in deep concentration, he is clapping, motioning and velling encouragement.
"Come on Calvin. You're better than that," he tells his back-up point guard.
But Williams has lapses out of civility. "Come to practice and you'll see kind of a different man," Kansas sophomore forward Raef LaFrentz said. "He's very graceful off the court, but once he gets on the court, he's got a fire inside of him that sometimes he lets out. He's no Bobby Knight type, but he really doesn't like to lose."
"Coach Williams has a temper, but we all know that it's a love temper," Kansas senior point guard Calvin Rayford said. "He might get mad at you one minute, but you know deep down inside that he really cares about you."
Straight-as-an-arrow Williams mentioned in the same breath as the red-sweatered, red-tempered Indiana coach?
1995
Big Eight Conference co-Coach of the Year (Coaches' pick)
1992
National Coach of the Year (Associated Press)
Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year (AP)
1990
National Coach of the Year (Sportswriters' pick) Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year (AP)
1989
National Rookie Coach of the Year (Basketball Times)
All-Time Record 187-51
Second-winningest active coach .786 winning percentage
THE SACRIFICE
Williams has had to miss many family functions, such as his son's basketball games and his daughter's dance recitals.
The downside of success has been the high amount of strain placed on Williams' lower back. The result is two discs in his backbone rubbing together.
When I'm on the court and I'm standing,then I'd say the discomfort gets closer to pain.
Roy Williams on the back pain he deals with daily
" 99
COURTESY OF KANSAS SPORTS INFORMATION
Williams has a squeaky-clean image on the court, but Kansas forward Raef LaFrentz says he has "a fire inside of him that sometimes he lets out" during practice.
CHAPTER 6
See what tomorrow brings
In Kansas basketball, everyone is family. Williams talks with two or three former players a day.
But Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag and New Jersey Nets guard Rex Walters don't expect The Coach to join them any time soon — despite the nine different offers he has received from NBA teams during the years.
"It's very flattering, but it's not really what I want to do." The Coach said. "I enjoy college coaching. I enjoy the Jacque Vaughns, the Jerod Hasses and the Scot Pollards. That's what I really enjoy."
Williams does realize that someday, North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith will retire. Someday, he might be asked to follow in his mentor's footsteps.
It would be a difficult choice, but right now, Williams has a pretty good idea of what he wants to do with the rest of his life.
"Coach Smith told me when I came here that Kansas could be the kind of place that you could decide to make your home for the rest of your life," he said. "I believe that, if anything, he undersold the place."
But what happens when Chapel Hill calls to him, as it surely will?
"Can I give you a definite answer? No. Can I give you a huge lean? Yeah, and I think it would be extremely difficult for me to make a decision to leave
here," Williams said. "I don't know if I could be as happy anywhere else as I am here."
This will be Williams'eighth season at the University of Kansas, and The Coach does admit that this team has a chance to be very good.
"I have a dream of winning a national championship," Williams said. "Is this the team that's going to do it? I don't know. If it doesn't work out, I'm going to try it again next year."
People still ask him about going 0-2 at the Final Four and not being able to win the "big one." The ironic part is that people forget how young he is.
Besides, he'll tell you, he didn't become a coach to win national championships.
"There's got to be more than one winner out of 302."
UCLA basketball coach John Wooden didn't win a championship until 1944 — his 15th season. Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyezwski won his first title during his 17th season in 1991. Even Williams' mentor, a father figure in the world of college hoops, needed 22 years before finally cutting down the nets.
Williams, at 45 years old, already is the owner of the second most wins for the first seven seasons as a Division I-A coach. He has, with luck, another 20 years or so of coaching remaining.
year, I'd quit today," Williams said. "That would mean out of 302 teams there would be one successful coach and 301 failures.
"if you told me that the only way I could be considered a success is to win the national championship this
The Coach never even watched a national championship until he was 17 years old. He went into coaching because he saw his high school coach in North Carolina doing what he loved, loving what he did —That's why Williams became a coach.
What about the fans' expectations this year?
"I want them to enjoy the season," Williams said. "I don't want them to think about what will happen at the end of the year. Enjoy the journey, not the destination."
Don't be misled, though. Williams does have visions of cutting down the nets come April 1, 1996, and of hoisting the NCAA Championship trophy above his head.
"I enjoy what I'm doing and I'm working as hard as I possibly can," he said. "You can take every Kansas fan in the world and put all their desire in some kind of a measuring container. Everyone put together doesn't measure up in any way to how badly I want it."
...To be continued
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