Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams retiring
North Carolina announced Thursday that Hall of Fame basketball coach Roy Williams is retiring after a 33-year career that includes three national championships.
The decision comes two weeks after the 70-year-old Williams closed his 18th season with the Tar Heels after a highly successful run at Kansas. In all, Williams won 903 games in a career that included those three titles, all with the Tar Heels, in 2005, 2009 and 2017.
North Carolina scheduled a campus news conference for Thursday afternoon on the Smith Center court bearing his name.
The Tar Heels lost to Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in his final game, which was Williams' only first-round loss in 30 tournaments.
"It's been a difficult year, but everybody's had the problems with COVID that we've had," an emotional Williams said after the game. "It's been a hard year to push and pull, push and pull every other day to try to get something done. But how can you be any luckier than Roy Williams is coaching basketball?"
Williams spent 10 seasons at his alma mater as an assistant coach to late mentor Dean Smith before leaving to take over the Jayhawks program in 1988. He spent 15 seasons there, taking Kansas to four Final Fours and two national title games.
Williams time as an assistant included the Tar Heels' run to the 1982 NCAA championship for Smith's first title, a game that memorably featured a freshman named Michael Jordan making the go-ahead jumper late to beat Georgetown.
"Roy Williams is and always will be a Carolina basketball legend," Jordan said in a statement through his business manager.