A year and one day ago, Roy Williams shocked the college basketball world and announced his retirement. The news came just a few weeks after the North Carolina Tar Heels lost in the First Round of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
There are still a few questions as to why Williams decided to retire when he did. After all, Coach K made the same decision but opted to go on a retirement tour this season rather than end it all during the offseason.
In an interview with Sporting News, Williams revealed the pandemic played a big role in his retirement. The college basketball legend no longer felt like he was doing the best job he could as a basketball coach coaching during a pandemic.
“I’ve never had that feeling of helplessness, and it just made me feel like I hadn’t done a very good job,” Williams said, via Sporting News. “If you take away the COVID and you take away the Wisconsin game, I really do believe I’d still be sitting here. But I just felt like, ‘Did I coach this team at all? Did I accomplish anything at all?’”
Roy Williams’ decision also had to do plenty with Hubert Davis.
Davis was more than ready for the opportunity to be a head coach. Williams didn’t want to get in the way of that.
“The more I delayed it, it made all of those things more difficult,” Williams told The Sporting News. “I really wanted to wait and do it a little later myself, for me personally. But if you’re talking about the next guy coming, it wasn’t going to be nearly as smooth if I waited longer.”
It all worked out pretty well.
Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels are in the Final Four. They’ll take on Coach K and the Duke Blue Devils tonight in what’s shaping up to be the biggest game in the rivalry’s history.
Williams, meanwhile, will no doubt be watching closely.
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