“I didn’t think it was going to be good,” he said. “I’m not naive.”
When Williams came to UNC after 15 years at Kansas, he brought along academic counselor Wayne Walden and assistant coach Joe Holladay.
“They jointly managed academic oversight until they both eventually left the University, Walden in 2009 and Holladay in 2013,” the report said.
Walden would manage the players’ classes and eligibility, reporting to Holladay, who would then give Williams a general overview of what his players were doing in the classroom. Walden knew players were enrolled in the classes that rarely met and only required one paper to be turned in that was graded by Crowder.
But after their time together at Kansas, Williams had no reason to believe his longtime right-hand man — and friend — would defy his ethics to such an extent.
“I trust (Walden) from the bottom of my soul,” Williams said. “There’s never been anybody more ethical than Wayne Walden.”
Because of their relationship, Williams relied on Walden to handle his teams’ academic standing and didn’t see the need to intervene in the making of their class schedules.
“I’ve never chosen a class in my entire life, I’ve never chosen a professor for a class in my entire life,” Williams said.
Instead, Walden worked closely with Crowder. He knew Crowder was grading the papers, but told Wainstein he couldn’t remember sharing that with Holladay or Williams. Williams supported Walden’s claim, saying he was never informed about Crowder’s involvement.
Williams said he sat down with Holladay after his second year at UNC and said he was concerned so many players had declared the same major.
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He added he wanted his team to get out of the independent study courses, and back into a physical classroom.
“(We) talked about, ‘Let’s make sure we don’t push anybody in any direction,’’’ Williams said. ‘“Let’s make sure we allow kids to choose their own major.”
Williams, who was choked up Friday, said academic integrity has been a priority since he first stepped on the court.
“There hasn’t been a day in my life, that I haven’t been extremely concerned about doing things the right way academically,” Williams said.
Junior forward J.P. Tokoto, said Williams is aware of what the Tar Heels are doing in the classroom, and that he’s capable of bearing the turmoil.
“He’s not a soft guy,” he said. “He’s coach Roy Williams. He’s going to do what he needs to do.”
At the press conference, Williams seemed more affected by the report than he let on.
“It’s a very sad time for me as a guy that works at the University of North Carolina, went to school here, was an assistant coach here,” he said. “If you cut me open — it’s the color I bleed. We made some mistakes for a long time and it’s a very, very sad time for us that we’re going through this.”
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