In Defense of Roy Williams

This comment may draw the ire of many Kansas Jayhawk basketball fans, but I will say it anyway: I am a Roy Williams fan. Now, the vast majority of KU fans have moved on, and retain fond memories of Mr. Williams's time at KU. Sadly, there are still a sizable minority that have not forgiven Williams for leaving. How sad. I am thankful for all the wonderful things he did for the KU program. KU would not have near the program it has today were it not for Roy Williams. For that, KU fans should be grateful and should honor Mr. Williams accordingly.

My gratitude to Mr. Williams dates back to October 31, 1988, before he ever coached a game for KU. That was the day the NCAA leveled sanctions against the KU program for violations that occured during Larry Brown's tenure. KU was prohibited from defending its 1988 NCAA Championship, having a post-season ban placed on it. However, that was not the worst penalty. The NCAA also leveled the KU program by prohibiting the university from hosting on campus recruiting visits for the entire 1989 calendar year. The NCAA designed these penalties to cripple the KU program for at least 5 years. In other words, it would be a long time before KU would contend for the national championship, right? Wrong, thanks to Mr. Williams, and a little bit of luck.

KU entered the 1988-89 season with just 9 eligible scholarship players, so the recruiting restrictions were particularly harsh at a time when KU needed players. But Mr. Williams refused to feel sorry for himself or for the KU program. He vowed that KU would win under his guidance and that they would win the right way. Now, it needs to be remembered that his hiring was not universally welcome at KU. Many KU boosters thought that the Jayhawks, as defending national champions, could hire a big time coach to come in and continue the winning ways re-established by Larry Brown. Hiring the #2 assistant coach off the North Carolina staff was not what the KU faithful had in mind. More than a few KU boosters complained that the Jayhawks went from having the best coach in the country to having the third best in the state of Kansas. KU wound up the 1988-89 season with a 19-12 record, going 6-8 in the Big 8 Conference.

Predictably, after the NCAA sanctions were announced, Williams's first recruiting class fell apart. Thomas Hill changed his mind and went to Duke. Harold Miner changed his mind and went to USC. Only Adonis Jordan kept his commitment to KU (thank you Adonis!). Coach Williams did sign Terry Brown and Pekka Markannen in the spring 1989 class. Then, for the fall 1989 recruiting season, Williams did find some luck. Kansas City and Wichita were both loaded with talent. Kansas City had Jevon Crudup (who went to Missouri), Chris Lindley and Patrick Richey (who both went to KU) while Wichita had Cortez Barnes and Steve Woodbury (who both signed with KU). Williams also signed a power forward from Little Rock named Richard Scott who never saw the KU campus before signing. In a bit of bad luck, Barnes did not qualify academically and Lindley lost a foot in a train accident; neither ever played a game at KU.

So what happened over the next four years, in which the NCAA had targeted the KU program for erosion? KU won 113 games, three Big 8 championships, went 43-13 overall in Big 8 Conference games and went to two Final Fours! Williams would go on to win 418 games, 9 conference championships and appear in four Final Fours, finishing runner-up twice. Only Phog Allen himself has hung more banners in Allen Fieldhouse than Williams. But in those moments, in those days after KU was sanctioned by the NCAA, Williams saved the KU program from inevitable decline, and in fact enhanced the program. That took a lot of doing, and for what he did during that time KU fans should be forever grateful.

But KU fans turned on Williams after he left. Of course, some of the hurt is natural when someone of such public importance leaves. He told the world that he couldn't turn down Coach Smith twice. But think about this. In 2000, he stayed. Dr. Bob Frederick was still KU's Athletic Director, the man who took a chance and hired Williams in 1988. Williams always maintained his loyalty to Frederick, and by extension to KU. In 2001, Frederick was forced out, and KU hired Al Bohl to replace him. Williams did not get along with Bohl. Ultimately, KU fired Bohl in a last ditch effort to keep Williams. At that point the KU athletic department was a great big circus. If you found yourself working for a person you could not stand, and a longtime friend came calling with a job offer, wouldn't you look hard at taking the new job? That's where Williams was in April 2003. And if my employer was a circus, I would look for exits fast! When long time friend Dick Baddour (North Carolina's AD) came with an offer of more money, a bigger basketball budget a great deal of stability and the opportunity to return home, Williams would have been a fool to say no

Meanwhile, KU was damn lucky to get Bill Self. After KU fired Al Bohl, former Kansas City Power & Light CEO Drue Jennings was hired as the interim AD. How many of you would take a job not knowing who your boss would be? Yet Bill Self took the KU job not knowing who his boss at KU would be. Self also had the pieces in place at Illinois, the nucleus of a team that would eventually be the national runner-up in 2005 (ironically to Roy Williams's North Carolina team).

So why do KU fans still carry a grudge against Williams? This is obviously insulting to Williams, but also insulting to the KU basketball program and to man who succeeded Williams, Bill Self. For to carry the grudge means that you believe the KU program suffered, and is still suffering, because Williams departed. In fact, KU has won 8 consecutive Big 12 Conference championships, and an NCAA Tournament championship since Williams left. I also find it interesting that when KU met North Carolina in the 2008 Final Four, Williams's former KU players were all Jayhawks that day. I believe this is testament to the character of Williams that instilled a sense of loyalty to the institution in his players. The loyalty was not to Roy Williams, but to KU.

On a more personal level, Mr. Williams may have saved my Dad's life. In 1999, after my Dad retired, my Dad and his wife thought it would be fun to take road trips to watch KU play basketball games in other conference venues. Coach Williams gave my Dad some time and they discussed the various venues in the Big 12. For the record, Williams's favorite road venue was Oklahoma State, but he did also strongly advise my Dad to never see a KU game at Missouri. Williams just flat out told my Dad that he would be taking his life into his own hands if he attended a game at Missouri. Thank you Roy Williams for keeping my Dad and his wife from harm!

Bill Self has taken the KU program to the mountaintop. But let KU fans not forget to take the time to honor Williams for stepping up and keeping the KU program on top when a lesser man would have slip down the slippery slope the NCAA had set up for him. Does anyone really believe that Bill Self would be the KU coach today if Roy Williams had failed in those first five years? I do not. Does anyone believe that KU would be the perrenial national championship contender that it is today if Roy Williams had failed in his first five years? I do not. Thank you and God bless you Roy Williams. Oh, one more thing...on Sunday, it is Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!!

March Madness

It's Selection Sunday as I write this, the day the NCAA men's basketball tournament field is announced. I love filling out my bracket after the field has been announced. Something about matching wits with other "experts" in the field, whether they are co-workers, family members or the million who will play the ESPN Bracket Challenge for an opportunity to win $1 million that brings out the competitive juices in me (and apparently, many others). However, by the end of that first weekend, my bracket has been shredded by the on-court results (I am usually good for about 20-22 correct calls out of 32 first round games), and I can just enjoy the rest of tournament. But it sure is fun to fill out that bracket. I do believe there some simple rules to follow to fill out a successful bracket.

Calling the Upsets
Predicting the first round upset is the most enjoyable, and challenging, part of filling out the bracket. Upsets happen every year, but correctly calling the upsets is quite difficult. First, the easy rule to follow: Do not ever pick a #16 seed to defeat a #1 seed. It has never happened. In the 27 previous tournaments with the modern format, the #1 seed is 108-0 against the #16 seed. Do not count on it happening anytime soon. Next, do not pick the #15 seed to beat the #2 seed. In the modern format, this has happened 4 times, none since 2001. Do not count on it happening again. The most common upset usually occurs in the 5-12 first round match-up. Why? This match-up usually matches a low ranking member of a power conference (the #12 seed) against a mid major or against a team that posted a glossy record in an overrated power conference. Look for your opportunities here. Other upsets occur when an underrated mid major team is playing against an overrated power conference team. In any event, do not predict your first round upsets to win in the second round. This could save your bracket.

Who Do You Pick To Go Deep?
This is always a dilemma because some highly ranked teams inevitably fall early in the tournament and picking which ones will survive can be tricky. Here, you have to look at coaches. Some coaches seem to do very well no matter what while others have consistently disappointed. In this day and age, the coaches who regularly perform well in the tournament are Coach K at Duke (11 Final Fours), Roy Williams at North Carolina (7 Final Fours), Tom Izzo at Michigan State (6 Final Fours) and Rick Pitino at Louisville (5 Final Fours). For my money, Izzo is the best tournament coach in the field. At a minimum, you are safe to pick these coaches teams to "play to their seed". All coaches have their tournament disappointments, but these coaches are not likely to ruin your brackets with early round defeats. Coaches who have consistently disappointed are Bill Self at Kansas, Fran Dunphy at Temple and Tom Crean at Indiana. I would not pick these guys to go deep into the tournament.

The next factor to look at is experience. Teams that are junior and senior dominated tend to go farther than freshman and sophomore laden teams. When looking particularly at the mid majors, those with lots of experience can win games and go deep in tournament. Another factor that play into a deep tournament run is the strength of a team's guard play. A strong point guard can control the tempo of the game and will always get the ball into the hands of his teams best scorers at crunch time. As I look at the 2012 tournament, I believe that strong guard play and experience can take a team like Missouri far into the tournament while weak guard play can leave a team like Kansas vulnerable to an early round upset. Experience could work against a team like Kentucky, but help a team like Syracuse.

Sizing Up 2012
Overall, the top two teams are Kentucky and Syracuse. I do not see any noticeable differences between the two. Syracuse has more experience, but Kentucky has more talent and they have a coach who has been to two Final Fours. What are some of the possible upsets in the first round? Well since I spotlighted the 5-12 match up, I really like Long Beach State to beat New Mexico. Other possible upsets include NC State over San Diego State. If California makes it past South Florida, then I could see Cal beating Temple (another 5-12 match up). Another underdog that no one on TV is talking about is St. Mary's, which I think could give Kansas a lot of trouble in the second round. South Dakota State will give Baylor trouble in their match up, but I think BU pulls out an ugly win. Of the Big 12 teams, Missouri will go the farthest in this tournament. I think the Tigers will meet their match in Michigan State. As I said earlier, Tom Izzo is the best tournament coach out there right now.

In the end, the Final Four could be like 2008, with all four #1's making the Final Four. Back in December, I predicted that North Carolina would win it all. I have changed my mind. In the end, Syracuse will be cutting down the nets in New Orleans.