UNC coach Roy Williams on COVID-19, ‘Tiger King,’ the G League and losing seasons
Roy Williams said he’d rather be spending his spring out on the recruiting trail following his first losing season in 32 years.
Instead, UNC’s basketball coach is staying in the mountains, playing golf, social distancing and watching a lot of news on TV as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Williams spent an entertaining 20 minutes on WFNZ radio’s “Mac Attack” show talking about all that Tuesday morning.
“I think it’s a scary time in our country,” Williams said. “Who knows what is the right move to make? But I think our country has rallied, has come together with all the social distancing. ... We’re finally seeing some of these numbers flattening out and hopefully it’s been a great thing for us.
“It’s a little scary now that we’re all of a sudden opening beaches and things like that. I’m not so sure that’s the smart thing to do.”
One thing Williams hasn’t done during his forced vacation is watch the “Tiger King” docu-drama on Netflix.
“I don’t even know what in the crap you’re talking about,” Williams joked. “They were taking about it, and I had no clue what they were talking about. I sit here and watch the news every night to get more information about the virus, and last night was first night I watched anything on ESPN.”
Williams said with the pandemic canceling high school travel basketball, it has forced him to change how he is recruiting for the class of 2021.
“Spring is a tremendously important recruiting time for college basketball,” Williams said. “So now what you’re doing is you’re talking to youngsters on the phone. But I’d rather see them play and get more information about their game before I spend all the time talking to them on the phone, so it’s been a really unusual spring for us but I think everybody in our country should be extremely concerned about what steps we’re taking; are we going too fast? I believe the scientists. That’s who I listen to. I do not listen to the politicians.”
Williams spent a good deal of time talking about his team. He said that forward Garrison Brooks, who recently decided to return for his senior season, made an impressive leap with his play, comparing Brooks’ jump to one that Luke Maye made between his sophomore and junior seasons.
Brooks averaged 7.9 points and 5.6 rebounds as a sophomore. As a junior, he averaged 16.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and was named the ACC’s most improved player.
“Last year,” Williams said, “he was our best defensive player. This year, he just opened up a new can and really did some great things ... He was sensational for us and we didn’t have many situations that I would call anybody sensational, including myself, but what he did was a big jump for him and I am really, really happy for him.”
Williams explained several times how tough last season was. North Carolina, which often dealt with injuries, suffered through five- and seven-game losing streaks, finishing 14-19.
To help change that, Williams is bringing in a stellar recruiting class of five players. Three are five-star prospects and two are are graded as four-stars. 247Sports ranks the class No. 3 in America behind Kentucky and Duke.
“We better be good,” Williams said, “because I can’t handle another one like last year. It was a very difficult year, no question. We had never gone through that. It’s the first losing season we’ve ever had after 32 years and I can tell you, I hope to crap I wait another 32 years before we have another one.
“But this group coming in,” he continued, “they’re freshmen, and they have tremendous potential, and you know what potential is, don’t you? Potential is what gets coaches fired. We gotta make sure we get them to reach their potential better than I did last years group. It was a hard year. Still a hard a year. Still all I think about.”
Williams will be 70 in August but doesn’t seem himself retiring soon.
“With me,” he said, “it’s an easy deal. As long as I feel good health wise, and as long as i feel like I’m not screwing it up (I’ll keep coaching) . ... I enjoy going to practice; I enjoy the locker room; I enjoy the bus rides; I enjoy the trips. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing, to have a bunch of people make sacrifices for a common goal.”
Williams, like Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and John Calipari at Kentucky, is often recruiting the best high school players in the country, including Jalen Green of California. But Green is opting to not go to college, instead joining a new NBA G-League professional pathway program.
Green will reportedly earn more than $500,000 in salary and participate in a yearlong developmental program that will include professional coaching, combine training and exhibitions against G League teams and foreign nationals. Raleigh’s Isaiah Todd has also signed up for the academy-like pathways program.
Williams thinks college basketball will still thrive, even if a handful of elite players like Green and Todd bypass it altogether.
“The NBA is gonna do what they think is best for the NBA,” Williams said. “That’s their sole purpose. They’ve never been a partner of the NCAA in my mind and that’s OK. They make the rules for what is best for their game and their league, and that’s what they’re doing. If you don’t want to go to college, don’t go. Don’t go and act like you’re going to pretend and raise your hand and ask questions and things like that.”
Williams believes there will still be plenty of high-level kids that will want what he’s offering.
“There’s still gonna be some kids that understand the value of going to college, the maturity process,” he said, “and going to that G League and getting on the buses and driving around, it’s not the most fun. I’ve had a couple guys that play in it because they’re trying to make that next step. It’s basketball but it’s not most the fun in the world. You ask every player in the G League if they’re having more fun in the G League or did they have had more fun in college. And there’s no question they’re going to say more fun in college.
“But that doesn’t mean it’s the best for everybody. I don’t think it’s the death sign of college basketball or anything close to that ... if those guys want do that (the G League program) that’s fine, we’ll find enough players that want to go play college basketball and enjoy the pageantry and teams and unity and fun of college basketball, we’ll have enough of those.”
