KU’s Nick Collison, Bill Self, Mark Randall and others react on Roy’s retirement day
Roy Williams has said the No. 1 reason he remained the men’s basketball coach at Kansas in the summer of 2000 — instead of accepting a similar post at his alma mater, North Carolina — is because of a promise he made to a certain Jayhawk in recruiting.
“It’s a true story,” Nick Collison, KU’s prize player from Iowa Falls, Iowa, said Thursday, referring to the Hall of Fame coach assuring the 6-foot-10 forward he’d be at KU for the blue-chipper’s entire college career.
Collison had just completed his freshman year at KU when Williams, who announced his retirement from coaching on Thursday at the age of 70, was offered a chance to replace Bill Guthridge in Chapel Hill. Williams declined the offer, citing loyalty to his KU players, specifically Collison.
“I think it meant a lot to me that he felt that way about us. I didn’t necessarily want to be singled out that way. I’ve always seen it as an anecdote about how he felt about all of us (in not wanting to leave them). We were thankful he stayed (at KU). Our college careers were important to us. He was our coach,” Collison added in a phone interview with The Star.
Williams, of course, remained at KU for Collison’s four years in college. The Jayhawks, led by the play of Collison and fellow Iowa native Kirk Hinrich, reached the Final Four in 2002 and 2003. Williams, who went 418-101 in 15 seasons at KU with four Final Fours and nine conference titles, as it turned out headed back to his alma mater to replace Matt Doherty after KU’s 2003 title game loss to Syracuse.
Collison, KU’s second-leading career scorer and third-leading rebounder, went on to have a stellar 14-year career in the NBA. Hinrich played 13 years in the league and Drew Gooden, another member of the 2002 Final Four team, 14 seasons.
“Showing up in college as an 18-year-old kid, which was a transformative time for me, Coach Williams taught me about taking responsibility, pushing myself, turning basketball into what I’d do for my life’s work,” Collison said.
“He was honest with us. He worked incredibly hard at his job to make sure we had a good program. He was tough, very principled, saw things as right and wrong. He was a very good teacher in terms of basketball — being able to teach you the way he wanted you to do it.
“How he ran the program was a great way to learn. For me, the habits I got, the ability to concentrate, focus, to hold myself accountable ... fundamental stuff became habit.”
As far as the timing of Williams’ announcement, Collison, who now works in the front office of the Oklahoma City Thunder, said: “I am shocked, but I think it makes sense. He’s been doing it a long time. I’m happy if he’s happy with it, committing to the next chapter of his life. He has had an incredible career. As someone who cares a lot about him, I want him to be happy.”
Several individuals associated with KU basketball and in the basketball world praised Williams on Thursday.
Current KU coach Bill Self, who replaced Williams and is in his 18th year at KU, said in a statement: “Roy Williams has been an icon in our industry for the last 33 years and his retirement is very well deserved. Roy won at the highest level and projected first-class while doing so. To have the opportunity to follow him here at the University of Kansas and see firsthand the type of program he ran was an honor of a lifetime. Congratulations to him on a Hall of Fame career and for the lasting impact he has had on our sport.”
Mark Randall, a power forward who led Williams’ third KU team to the 1991 Final Four, told The Star on Thursday: “I’m super proud to have been a very small part of his massive legacy. He had an incredible run as Coach (Dean) Smith’s assistant (at UNC for 10 years) as well as when he got hold of the reins himself. I will always be Roy Williams’ biggest fan. Coach was the game changer in my basketball lifetime. I’m happy for him, his family, the Carolina family, the Kansas family and for his about to be a scratch handicap (golfer).”
Rex Walters, a starter on Williams’ 1993 Final Four team, wrote on Twitter: “There are really good men and then there are great men that impact the rest of your life in a way that changes your life forever. That is what Roy Williams did for me. Congrats on your Retirement Coach! Proud to call you My Coach!”
Former KU forward Wayne Simien, a member of the Williams-led 2002 and 2003 Final Four teams, said in a statement: “Coach Williams is a college basketball icon. Who else has led two blueblood programs to perennial success? I am grateful for the amazing impact he has had on my life, the Kansas program and the game of basketball.”
Former KU guard Greg Gurley, a member of the 1993 Final Four team, said in a statement: “In 1989 we could have gone a couple different directions and the direction we went (to replace Larry Brown) wasn’t the popular choice, it was an assistant coach that had no real Kansas ties. His first year was a probation year and in year three he plays for a national championship. Kansas basketball could have gone one of two directions and it went up because of Roy Williams. Kansas fans are forever indebted to him for how he continued the tradition. We would not be where we are at in the annals of college basketball if not for Roy Williams. We should be indebted to Roy Williams for what he meant to this program.”
ESPN announcer Jay Bilas issued a tribute to Williams on Twitter.
“Roy Williams has been one of the great coaches not only in college basketball but in American sports over his career,” Bilas said. “He had a magnificent career at Kansas that was Hall of Fame in itself, then added another Hall of Fame career in his years at North Carolina: three national championships, all the Final Fours, all the wins. He’s been an amazing person. He’s a great guy. If you talk to any player they not only love him but revere him not just for his coaching ability but the way he treats them as people. He has great respect for his players, great love for his players and has shown that over the years,” Bilas added.
ESPN’s Dick Vitale wrote on Twitter: “OMG I thought it was April Fools joke but it is TRUE Hall of Famer ROY WILLIAMS @UNC_Basketball is retiring . He’s been so good that he is one of my MT RUSHMORES OF COACHING in my 40-plus years at ESPN. Bob Knight - Coach K - Dean Smith - ROY WILLIAMS / Thanks for ALL the memories!”
NABC executive director Craig Robinson said Thursday in a statement: “From his beginnings at the high school level through his rise to a three-time national champion at North Carolina, Roy Williams has been a coach we could all admire. He left a lasting mark on countless student-athletes and built a coaching tree that will continue to impact our sport for generations to come. A past president of the NABC and current president of the NABC Foundation, Roy has long been passionate about using his platform to grow college basketball and serve fellow coaches. Our profession and the game itself are better off because of Roy Williams, and on behalf of the NABC, I wish him the best in retirement.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2021 at 1:35 PM with the headline "KU’s Nick Collison, Bill Self, Mark Randall and others react on Roy’s retirement day."
