Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 24, 1991 TAG: 9103240156
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Williams, who has guided Kansas to 75 wins in his first three seasons as a head coach, will watch today's North Carolina-Temple NCAA East Regional final on television.
"I'll watch it with a great amount of interest," Williams said. "I would have watched it that way anyway."
After his Jayhawks upended second-ranked Arkansas 93-81 to win the NCAA Southeast Regional championship Saturday at the Charlotte Coliseum, Williams will be watching his team's next opponent today.
Williams will be pulling for the East's top-seeded Tar Heels. He's a North Carolina native, a UNC graduate and spent 11 years as an assistant to Carolina coach Dean Smith.
Naturally, Williams' euphoria about making his first Final Four as a head coach will be somewhat tempered by the prospect of coaching Saturday in Indianapolis against his mentor.
"I'm certain that every bit of my success is directly related to Dean Smith," Williams said. "I'm sure I wouldn't be the Kansas head coach were it not for him.
"But I've competed against him on the golf course, and I don't let him win. I'll pull like the dickens for the Tar Heels today, and then I guess for me, it's kind of a `good news, bad news' situation."
Kansas uses Carolina's offense, defense, dress code, curfews, travel philosophy. Both schools have tradition, but Kansas is UNC without the glamour.
The ties that bind the schools are strong. Smith is a KU graduate and played on the 1952 and '53 Final Four teams coached by Phog Allen.
The last time UNC and Kansas played in the NCAA Tournament, the Frank McGuire-coached Tar Heels beat the Wilt Chamberlain-led Jayhawks 54-53 in three overtimes in the 1957 championship game.
These mentor-protege matchups can be difficult. At the 1987 Midwest Regional semifinals in Cincinnati, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski went against his old boss and coach, Indiana's Bobby Knight.
It was a very emotional game for both men. Knight said he didn't want to play Coach K. After the Hoosiers won 88-82, Krzyzewski's eyes welled up in the postgame press conference.
"If it's us and North Carolina, I'm sure it's going to be a little bit of a mixed bag for me," said Williams, 40. "But I've been in a similar situation before. I coached against Eddie Fogler [Williams' former UNC staff buddy, now the Vanderbilt head coach] in my first year, when Eddie was at Wichita State. That was the toughest game I've ever coached."
But if the Tar Heels play the Jayhawks, the stakes will be much higher, and Williams won't be matching wits with just a friend. It will be against a man "I never call `Dean.' I always call him `Coach Smith,' " he said.
"I'm sure it will be difficult before the game starts," Williams said. "But then once we tip off, we'll both be too involved to think about it. It's like being on the first tee against Coach Smith. I don't go up there and try to hit the sucker into the woods."
Williams took over the Jayhawks when they were on probation following their Larry Brown-coached NCAA title year of 1988. Williams is 75-24 as a head coach. The only Division I coach with more wins in his first three seasons was North Carolina State legend Everett Case, with 80.
Of course, Brown was once a player and assistant coach for Smith, too.
"If North Carolina wins [today], that means we're going to play each other, and that means at the end I'll be disappointed because one of us is going to lose," said Williams, an Asheville native. "At the same time, I'm going to be happy because one of us is going to be in the finals."
Williams said he would never schedule a regular-season game against Smith. After pulling a second straight regional upset, Williams was trying not to think about the future.
"This [a first Final Four as a head coach] would be special even if I had to go through China to get there, although I'd imagine I wouldn't like the boat ride," said Williams when asked about reaching the national semifinals by winning in his home state.
"It's special because my family was here to see it. My mother, my sister, my cousins, and probably even some people I don't know are my relatives were rooting for me. It's my most satisfying moment as a coach, and that it happened in North Carolina will always be special to me."
If the Tar Heels advance today, what happens against North Carolina will be special for Williams, too, whether he likes it or not.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB