CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 11: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels coaches during ... [+]
Roy Williams has coached high-major college basketball for 32 years. He’s won three NCAA championships and never once endured a losing season.
But that remarkable streak could end this year.
The Tar Heels are currently 8-9, 1-5 in the ultra-competitive ACC and have endured a slew of injuries, most significantly to freshman point guard Cole Anthony, a projected Top-10 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Williams, 69, recently made headlines when he said that this was the “least gifted team I’ve ever coached.”
“It’s not fun, it’s not fun,” Williams, who received an eight-year contract extension in December 2018, told me Monday afternoon as he watched games at the prestigious Hoophall Classic at Springfield College.
It’s been about five weeks since Anthony, the son of former NBA point guard Greg Anthony, underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, and Cole Anthony recently posted he would be back “soon.”
But Williams says there’s no rush to bring him back.
CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 04: Cole Anthony #2 of the University of North Carolina during a game ... [+]
“We’re waiting until the doctors say he can go,” Williams told me. “He’s not practicing, he’s not doing anything. We’re trying to be extremely cautious with him and when they tell us he can do something, we’ll do it. That’s all it is.”
Williams said “there’s no question” that when Anthony returns “he’ll help things,” but he also pointed out that the ACC schedule ahead is brutal.
The league boasts three Top 10 teams in No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Louisville and No. 8 Duke.
“The tough thing is the ACC teams that are at the top, that’s who we have the second half of the season,” Williams said. “So who knows what it’s going to be but there’s no question that [Anthony] was playing better than anybody else. There’s no question he was our best player so he’s going to help us, there’s no doubt.”
After enduring his fourth straight loss on Saturday at Pittsburgh, Williams and assistant Steve Robinson spent the better part of Sunday and Monday recruiting at the Hoophall Classic.
Several of UNC’s committed players for 2020 were on display, including Montverde (FL) Academy’s Day’Ron Sharpe and Hillcrest Prep (CA)’s Donovan “Puff” Johnson, the brother of former Carolina and current Phoenix Suns forward Cam Johnson.
Williams also watched uncommitted Class of 2020 small forward Ziaire Williams of Sierra Canyon (CA), the school Bronny James attends, Class of 2021 Hillcrest Prep forward Mike Foster and Class of 2021 Paul VI (VA) guard Trevor Keeler.
Ziaire Williams said Roy Williams “loves my versatility and he always says how bad they need a wing and a player like me for next season. So he just loves the way I play basketball. I’m always looking for the open man if I don’t have a shot so that’s what he loves about me. And my character. He always says he loves my character more than anything.”
Roy Williams cannot comment on uncommitted recruits but said he enjoys the recruiting process and watching his future players.
“I just hope I live long enough to enjoy that,” he said. “Two things, one thing it’s gut-wrenching about what kind of season you’re going through but college coaching, the game and the practices is such a little part of it. There’s other things you have to do, whether it’s speaking to your alums or recruiting or whatever. So this is a huge part of the job anyway.
“I enjoy watching games, I enjoy watching really good players play the game but it doesn’t erase the hurt, it doesn’t stop my sleepless nights or anything.
“Everybody says, ‘Well, you got help coming.” I jokingly I hope say that I’m going to live long enough to get there.”
