Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
North Carolina’s Roy Williams retiring from coaching
By JACOB POLACHECK and SOPHIE GILLIAM
North Carolina head men’s basketball coach Roy Williams is retiring from coaching after 33 seasons as a head coach, the program announced Thursday.
Williams, who led the University of North Carolina to three NCAA championships, finishes third in all-time wins by a Division I head coach with 903 (.774 winning percentage).
He is the only coach in NCAA history to record 400 wins at two different schools: Kansas and UNC.
Williams will address the media at a press conference on Roy Williams Court at the Dean E. Smith Center on Thursday at 4 p.m.
“I feel that the most important thing moving forward is to maintain the culture of UNC basketball,” Matthew Bunn, a student at North Carolina, said. The absolutely most critical attribute for a new coach would be a deep love and dedication to the UNC basketball program, the students, and the university as a whole. Roy’s love for Chapel Hill, the coaching staff, and the players is what made UNC basketball special, and it is important to continue that legacy in a new coach.”
Williams began his coaching career in 1973 at Charles D. Owen High School in Swannanoa, N.C. before taking his first college coaching job as an assistant under Dean Smith at North Carolina in 1978
After 10 seasons as a UNC assistant, Williams left for Kansas to replace Larry Brown in 1988.
The 70-year-old Williams has spent the last 18 seasons at UNC, going 485-163 and leading North Carolina to three national championships (2005, 2009 and 2017).
Williams also coached at Kansas from 1988-2003, leading the Jayhawks to four Final Four appearances before leaving for his alma mater in 2003.
UNC lost to Wisconsin in the first round of the 2021 NCAA tournament, marking Williams final game and only first-round loss in 30 tournaments.
North Carolina assistant coach Hubert Davis and UNC Greensboro head coach Wes Miller have emerged as two potential candidates to fill the UNC head coaching vacancy.
“I think the best choice for the job would be assistant coach Hubert Davis,” Jack Lles, a student at North Carolina said. “In addition to a very successful 12-year NBA career, Davis has been a top assistant to Roy for the past nine years, making him a great choice to fill the void Williams will leave.”
Davis, 50, has served as an assistant at UNC under Williams since 2012.
Before joining UNC’s staff, Davis played in the NBA for 12 years, playing for the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and New Jersey Nets.
Miller, 38, played at UNC under coach Williams from 2004-07, winning a national championship with the Tar Heels in 2005. He previously served as assistant coach at Elon (2008-09) and High Point (2009-10)
He served as assistant coach at UNC Greensboro in 2010 before being promoted to head coach following the resignation of head coach Mike Dement.
During his time as UNC Greensboro head coach, Miller has led the Spartans to a 182-134 record including three SoCon regular season tiles and two SoCon Tournament Championships.
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