This Roy's life: coach tells tales

Men's basketball coach Roy Williams, ready to engage a crowd of students, walked onto the stage of Hamilton Hall on Tuesday night with a towel left over from a late-night practice still on his shoulder.

"An Evening with Roy," which was sponsored by the Carolina Union Activities Board as part of Homecoming Week, kicked off 20 minutes late because of Tuesday's basketball practice.

But Williams was greeted with a boisterous standing ovation from the crowd of about 275 at the informal forum, which allowed students to pose questions to the coach.

"I apologize," Williams said. "Most of you who know me or know of me know that I try to be on time."

He continued by comparing a trek up a one-way street to the recently concluded practice and then reflected on his career and the upcoming season.

"This has been the busiest 18 or 19 months of my life," Williams said. He described his move to North Carolina as a hectic time of recruiting and "staying in a Hampton Inn for 11 months."

"But there, you can get breakfast in about five minutes," he said. "It's just in and out."

Williams moved on to discuss his high school basketball coach, who inspired Williams to continue a career in basketball. "If you can't play it, be around it. If you can't play it, coach."

After also paying homage to an inspirational math teacher, Williams' focus turned to current events, the first of those being junior Rashad McCants' recent comments that compared UNC basketball to prison.

"I'm so mad at him, it's ridiculous," Williams said. "He has a wonderful talent ... but he is a pain in the rear end."

Williams added that he sympathizes with McCants for the way the press is depicting him, saying that after watching the interviews the headlines have not portrayed him fairly.

UNC football coach John Bunting was another a target of Williams' sympathy. Even throughout recent football team losses, Bunting and the team have stayed persistent, Williams said.

"Someone who has that much love for his school, I respect and love."

Williams also commented on the state of the upcoming season.

"If we improve our defense and make our players understand that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the name on the back, then we have a real chance at winning it all," he said.

After fielding questions from audience members, Williams closed the evening by encouraging school spirit

"Understand one thing more than anything: We need you to get involved," he said. "Get excited. Show enthusiasm. I will support anything we have here because this is my school."

Junior Jimmy Leak said he enjoyed the event. "I came just to hear Roy speak and get information on the beginning of the season and the players," he said. "I thought that he was really down-to-earth and that he told some good stories."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.