No, I couldnt even consider that, Smith said. I talk to Coach Williams all the time, and I asked him, Whats the best advice Coach Smith ever gave you? And he said, Antawn, Coach Smith told me just coach til you cant coach anymore. The only thing he regretted was he felt like he stopped coaching too early.. That was quelled, but the chancellor had another thought: To the chancellor and many fans Williams was the obvious choice to succeed Smith. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. Did Bill Guthridge win national championship? Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. (Smith told me), Its just not coming back. Tim Crothers. I really believe thats exactly what happened.. When it was his turn as head coach, he immediately won an ACC championship and took two teams to the Final Four. But 1:57 was 1:57. But he was also one of the most passionate members of the Carolina basketball family in the last 50 years, and was completely devoted to the Tar Heels, to Smith, and to the University of North Carolina. As good a person as I ever met. Division regular season champion Guthridge had once accepted Penn States head coaching vacancy in the 1970s, only to return to Chapel Hill before his connecting flight to State College. Of course, Smith did retire. He was enormously committed to attention to detail and organization, says Dick Baddour, a longtime university administrator who served as athletic director from 1997 to 2011. In five years on Winter's staff, Guthridge helped lead the Wildcats to a 9343 (.684) record, a pair of Big Eight Conference crowns, and the NCAA Final Four in 1964. After graduating from Kansas State, he coached at Scott City High School in Kansas for two seasons before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach for Tex Winter from 19621967. In retrospect, Smiths premature exit was a mistake on all fronts. The little doo-doos, Smith called them, the administrative tasks just within the purview of his job responsibilities. His desire to be a coach I dont think ever stopped, Hanners said. With a wealth of returning talent, Guthridge instituted a "six starters" system, whereby the team's top six players, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Shammond Williams, Ademola Okulaja, and Makhtar N'Diaye rotated positions in the starting five. Its not what gets remembered for the rest of your life, at least not at a place like North Carolina. ", Roy: "I think that not only did he coach me on the freshman team he was another mentor. Guthridge would still call on Smith, after all, to speak to the team at certain times. He tried to do every one of those little things that drove Coach Smith crazy. He had interviewed for the Texas job, which went to Rick Barnes, after the 1998 season, after all. How would his retirement alter the short- and long-term trajectory of a program built on consistency? As things went, by the end of the 1999-2000 season which concluded with a surprise Final Four run, Guthridges second trip in three seasons Smiths right-hand man was finally ready to step away himself. He has saved many scholarships when he has suggested backing off certain players, and of course, has selected some great ones who matriculated at Chapel Hill., UNC coach Bill Guthridge gives instructions during a game in the 99-00 season. If my answer was no, then Roy wouldve had absolutely zero interest. Ndiaye remembers taking his son for a campus tour years later, and Guthridge coming out of the Smith Center to greet him. Copyright 2013 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. As early as April and May, Bill Guthridge Smiths primary assistant for some 30 years reached out to Hanners about doing extra study of the teams offensive and defensive sets. Coach Smith began showing signs of cognitive impairment before Coach Guthridge did. Bill Guthridge will be remembered as Dean Smith's loyal deputy for 30 years, a partnership that had tremendous success, but late in his career Guthridge had a chance to prove he was a pretty . As he would prepare for a basketball practice or game, he was equally intense about attention to detail in scheduling or whatever.. Williams famously turned him down, opting to remain at Kansas, where hed built a Carolina-esque family dynamic (at Smiths alma mater, to boot). Guthridge was the longtime assistant to UNC coach Dean Smith, who died earlier this year. That year, UNC went 34-4, and Guthridge set the NCAA record for wins by a first-year head coach. The announcement came nearly two months after the 6-10 center led the Boston . That was probably six or seven years later where somebody else might recognize it. But looking back, Hanners now believes Guthridge already had an inclination something was afoot. That aspect of his character first surfaced in 1972, when the University of North Carolina basketball coach left Tar Heel fans bewildered by announcing that he wanted junior star forward Robert McAdoo to turn pro rather than return for the 1972-73 season. 2023 Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. 08/08: Dean Smith to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom, 06/29/2011: Smith, Coach K, Yow honored by Naismith, 10/21/2008: UNC's Smith to receive Lapchick Character Award, 02/18/2008: ACC To Honor Dean Smith, Lorenzo Charles, other Greats, Bio Jobs Hub: Find a great-paying job that changes lives, even yours. I think its time to turn it over to somebody else, he said at a campus news conference. Assistant coach Phil Ford is at right. He saw his memory issues coming long before the world did. "Needless to say I'm tired of having meetings like this." Only in Chapel Hill would a two-time Final Four coach, an Atlantic Coast Conference champion, and a consensus National Coach of the Year award winner be best known as an assistant. He set NCAA records for most wins by a first-year head coach with 34, and for wins in his first two years with 58. He wasnt going to entertain a room full of boosters with behind the scenes stories. But I already had a better job than that and I was happy here. That said, its worth remembering that he told Williams just a few years ago that perhaps 66 was too early to retire, given his near flawless health at the time. He was 77 years old. Hed grown up in North Carolina, graduated from the university, won a championship as an assistant under Smith and had built a successful program as the coach at Kansas. Theres no way you could dream, Hanners says, anyone would necessarily do better.. How might everything be different? One of his most tempestuous relationships had been with guard Shammond Williams, who even walked off the court at Virginia on one occasion. Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000. But Guthridges request also made Hanners realize that plan might not come to fruition. Theres no right answer, no certainty. The only people who came to know about that line of succession, so to speak, were Baddour, Smith, Guthridge and then-chancellor Michael Hooker, who expressed some concerns about Guthridges age early on. The next season, North Carolina earned a #3 seed in the West regional of the NCAA tournament, but was upset in the first round by Weber State in a late game in Seattle. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Former University of North Carolina head coach Bill Guthridge, who also served 30 years as an assistant to Dean Smith, died Tuesday night at age 77, university officials confirmed on Wednesday. You accomplished something that takes some other people 20-plus years to do. in mathematics in 1960 and an M.A. He is one of five people to have appeared in the Final Four as both a player and coach. Lets say youve got a 35-year-old guy. As an assistant, Guthridge was renowned for his success in coaching the fundamentals of pivot play to a long series of successful UNC big men, and as the Tar Heels' primary shooting coach. He once told a newspaper he never left the program because the other 300 Division I head-coaching jobs weren't better than his job as an assistant. WAKE FOREST: Former basketball standout Charlie Davis quit his job in the athletic department, reportedly for not being considered for advancement. But theres another alternate history with extreme on-court implications that might have forced his hand. He stepped down 2 months later. So why leave?, His dry sense of humor was legendary among his players. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. Guthridge was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 1998. You come up one year, and that year you win the national championship. (An aside: if Doherty stays, does Mike Brey, succeeded him and still remains in South Bend, get that job, or is he elsewhere too?). The Tar Heels either won the ACC tournament or finished atop the league standings -- or did both -- in 23 of those seasons. Guthridge, 62, said a few weeks ago that he planned to stay on another five or six years. Sad news. With the number of Americans residing in assisted living communities nearing 1 million and growing, CEAL@UNCs work will be vital for ensuring that older adults nationwide have access to quality and supportive care that enables them to age with dignity and respect. I really liked the attitude of the team, the way they worked hard and how they were rewarded finally. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. The emotion was there, its just that it was often Guthridge providing it. He was even more important to me. A source close to the basketball program, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Guthridge recently decided he did not have the energy to continue coaching the Tar Heels. His lack of recruiting is why they went 8-20 shortly thereafter. Smith, who attended Guthridges retirement announcement, called the day a celebration of a fantastic career. Guthridge, who like Smith was a Kansas native, spent 30 years as an assistant coach and had ample opportunities to leave Chapel Hill and become the coach of his own program. Later during that conversation, I suggested to Smith that he still had a lot of quality coaching mileage left and that maybe he should consider returning for an encore. 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Dean Smiths hourglass, it seemed, had an endless amount of sand. He once told a newspaper he never left the program because the other 300 Division I head coaching jobs werent better than his job as an assistant. That not-wanting-to-step-on-toes thing? Capital Financial - Learn how to secure lifetime retirement income. The University of North Carolina has lost a dear friend, as haveI, andIknow that we will all miss him greatly., Im extremely saddened by the passing of Coach Guthridge, aka Coach Gut, especially coming so close to the loss of Coach Smith. Seeded eighth in the South region, North Carolina upset top-seeded Stanford in the second round and continued to the Final Four, where they lost to Florida. He was a lifetime assistant coach for whom Dean did a solid. Jordan is among many Tar Heels who had tremendous respect for Guthridge. Which put Baddour on the search for a long-term replacement for the first time. MIAMI: Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson acknowledged he has given the school permission to talk to Green Wave coach Perry Clark about replacing Leonard Hamilton. Guthridge said he took a vacation in Europe in May, hoping to recharge, but wasnt able to. He had recently been in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill. When coach Smith retired in 1997, after a tenure of 36 season, Guthridge took over the job to begin a reign of great basketball playing at UNC. Dick, lets talk on Monday, but Im pretty sure Im gonna tell you Monday its time to transition, Baddour remembers. "We'd always say there were so many time zones -- Eastern Standard Time, Central Standard Time -- but the most important was GST: Guthridge Standard Time," Peterson said. Why would you stay? As a coach, he was stubbornly competitive. "This is another terrible loss for the Carolina basketball family," former North Carolina player and current Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan said in a statement to The Associated Press. He spurned offers to interview for head coaching vacancies, preferring to remain out of the spotlight and continuing to team with Smith. Its hard, man. Maybe Phil Ford wouldve been the head coach then, Ndiaye says. In fact, Guthridge has been involved with 13 teams which have reached the Final Four-as a player at Kansas State in 1958, as an assistant coach with the Wildcats in 1964, as a Tar Heel assistant coach in 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997, and as UNC's head coach in 1998.. Did Musselman coach in the NBA? His legacy and contributions to my life and to our University will live on and he'll be much more remembered for his sense of humor and class just as much as his coaching.". He was inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. 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