Its hard, man. We offer our deepest sympathies to Bills family, friends and the entire North Carolina basketball community.. 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. Go play golf. Tim Crothers. 2023 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Improving child and adolescent mental health, A message from the chancellor: We are a global university, Carolina Engagement Week Returns for a Second Year, Feb. 27 Through March 3, Book Publishing I: The Process with Christopher Ahn, Parr|Bioethics Joint Lecture: Elizabeth Barnes (University of Virginia), Disability and Health: An Its Complicated Relationship, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Former University of North Carolina mens basketball coach Bill Guthridge passed away May 12. At age 66 and in sound health, Smith easily could have coached another five or more seasons and done so with the same recruiting success that allowed him to turn over a team with Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota and Shammond Williams to Guthridge. Bill and Dean, friends for life. "Coach Guthridge was instrumental in recruiting me to UNC and I have so many great memories of him and the lessons he taught me. Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000. Bill Guthridge was a gentleman coach, but a fierce competitor, and an incredibly loyal member of Dean Smiths staff for three decades, said UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. Then he retired, too. It was an admirable, honorable action for Smith to take and Guthridge went on to win 80 games in three seasons. Thats impossible to know, but Williams was also returning a top-five team, one that was expected to compete for a championship in its own right. Smith was fresh off his 11th Final Four and had just passed Adolph Rupp for the most wins by any college basketball coach in history. The emotion was there, its just that it was often Guthridge providing it. It left at 1:57 p.m. His reasoning? Bill Guthridge, who led North Carolina to two Final Four appearances in his three seasons as basketball coach of the Tar Heels, will announce his retirement today, the Associated Press reported. Smith, who attended Guthridges retirement announcement, called the day a celebration of a fantastic career. Think about it: Youve been an assistant coach for 30-plus years. Some fans criticized Guthridge last season when the Tar Heels went through a four-game losing streak in January and entered the post-season with 13 losses. In our prayers. I dont think he went in that summer thinking, Im not gonna be the basketball coach by fall, Baddour says. Its very much a possibility, everyone admits. That group, fresh off a Final Four appearance, was tabbed as the preseason No. How might everything be different? All the things he couldnt do during the daunting in-season months. End of conversation.. Guthridge also gave to the University away from basketball. He needed to hear that from Guthridge. That was the presumption Baddour and the basketball program operated under. Smith is now 82 and with some health issues. If Bill Guthridge doesnt look familiar to you as a UNC-Chapel Hill head basketball coach, theres a very good reason for that. He is one of five people to have appeared in the Final Four as both a player and coach. What Smith left behind was arguably the most talented team hed ever assembled: a pair of future NBA All-Stars, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison; the programs all-time assists leader, point guard Ed Cota; a lights-out shooter, Shammond Williams; a frontcourt enforcer, Makhtar Ndiaye; and much more. He also coached 66 players who were selected in the NBA and/or ABA drafts. The inconsistent season came on the heels of a first-round NCAA Tournament loss in 1999. William Wallace Guthridge (July 27, 1937 May 12, 2015) was an American college basketball coach. You wouldnt think that would work, but it did. 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. He is probably best remembered for his loyalty to Smith, who died in February at age 83. He said that although he was impressed with the athletic department personnel and basketball program, withdrawing his name was "in the best interest of myself and my family.". Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun announced his retirement Thursday. If he had, then thats where the what-ifs really go wild. Try a week on us. He was 77. 1 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25, earned the ACC Coach of the Year award and guided North Carolina to the Final Four before losing to Utah. The first is, if Guthridge hadnt wanted the job, would Williams have taken it? 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. (An aside: if Doherty stays, does Mike Brey, succeeded him and still remains in South Bend, get that job, or is he elsewhere too?). Which 16 teams should you buy or fade ahead of March Madness? The team fundamentally changed, that opportunity disappearing into the ether. 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Im like, Coach, we won it, congrats! Jamison remembers. In fact, he communicated as much to Baddour after Baddour was tapped in late June to replace John Swofford as athletic director. He also was head golf coach for the Wildcats. Division regular season champion SCNext Top 25: Ranking the best high school boys' basketball teams in the 2022-23 season, Brown: There will never be another Bill Guthridge. In our prayers. He got his taste. Smith and Guthridge had long maintained theyd retire together, the natural conclusion to a three-decade partnership in Chapel Hill. Because that was supposed to be something that we accomplished together.. "I'd always set my time to GST, 10 minutes ahead.". Meanwhile, Creighton coach Dana Altman withdrew his name from consideration. I needed Bill to tell me, Dick, yes, I want to do this, Baddour says, and he was clear that he wanted to.. It didnt bother me that I was a lousy coach, and when we started winning I was a better coach. Perhaps, at last, somewhere in his mind, Coach Guthridge finally made the decision it was time for him to retire from this physical life. Guthridge, who like Smith was a. But more than just that team, Smith left behind a mound of questions. The fact that he felt like he failed us.. And I think he probably had second thoughts, because at what point was it really a danger? Suggestion to Return DismissedWhen Guthridge retired after leading his third team to another Final Four, I interviewed Smith about the amazingly long and successful partnership the two coaches -- Smith a Kansas grad and Guthridge from Kansas State -- had enjoyed. "All I can say is I'm pursuing other opportunities," Davis said. The next day, Kenny Smith said, assistant coach Bill Guthridge wasn't at practice. Veteran sports reporter Peter Gammons had high praise for the former coach: Saddened to learn Bill Guthridge passed away. The Parsons, Kan., native posted an 80-28 record in three seasons as Carolinas head coach, leading the 1998 and 2000 teams to the Final Four. Guthridge was completely content in the role of a lifetime assistant and the Smith/Guthridge combo would have been weakened had Guthridge retired early. And althoug he believes that scenario puts more emphasis on winning than it does on building relationships and teaching the things Guthridge and Smith both loved its not out of the question. On Oct. 9, 1997, Smith called it quits. Ndiaye even tried cracking the ice by joking that Guthridges years as head coach probably hadnt hurt his wallet. 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. Then there are the other options from Smiths tree: Karl and Fogler and even Larry Brown. 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 . Following Smith's retirement in 1997, Guthridge was head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons. Doherty was criticized from the moment he was hired, for breaking somewhat from Smith and Guthridges family dynamic; that scrutiny only intensified in his second season, when UNC bottomed out to a program-worst record of 8-20. Why bring those up? Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. Or does Doherty get his chance regardless? While a student at Kansas State, Guthridge played guard under head coach Fred "Tex" Winter, and helped the team advance to the 1958 Final Four. He competed in one as a player at Kansas State in 1958, was an assistant coach at 11 before directing the Tar Heels at two as head coach. Guthridge also handled many day-to-day responsibilities in the program and oversaw UNC's summer basketball camps. Now Guthridge, 77, is enduring a similarly cruel fate . Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. One of the best testaments to Guthridges impact came on that retirement day, June 30. In 1998, the Bill Guthridge Distinguished Professorship in mathematics was established. Guthridge said a few weeks ago he planned to stay another five or six years despite intense criticism from fans and alumni after the teams worst regular-season record in decades. As he famously said at Smiths retirement news conference, I always thought we would ride off into the sun together.. He was and has been overshadowed and a bit lost in the shuffle of UNC basketball coaches by his lifelong friend, former UNC head coach Dean Smith (1961 to 1997), and current UNC head coach Roy Williams, who was an assistant coach along with Guthridge at UNC from 1978 to 1988. Guthridge coached that team to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship, a school record-tying 34 wins (including 30 wins going into the NCAA Tournament the most in school history at the time) and an appearance in the Final Four, where they lost to Utah. A longtime assistant to the legendary Dean Smith, he shall be remembered for his three seasons as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. 3 "The End of Absence" Michael Harris. I would lean a little bit toward the side of Bill saying, Look, Im not on the front end of my career, its great to have done this, what a way to go out, Baddour says. He took the team to the NCAA final Four twice and was named national coach of the year in 1998, before retiring in 2000.[1]. As good a person as I ever met. It was Guthridge who was the creator of the well-known and slightly strange departure times for Carolina travel parties. When his Tar Heels defeated Tulsa to earn a Final Four berth, the postgame locker room was one of the most emotional in the modern era, due at least partially to the devotion his players had for Guthridge and their joy in relievingat least for a momentthe criticism hed taken during the season. #RIP, "It has been a trying time for the University of North Carolina basketball program over the past four months, and our thoughts and prayers are with them again today," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five . He was an unbelievable assistant to Coach Smith. Fast-forward to present day, and he has surpassed Smith in both national championships and wins. Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Frederick said he wanted to emphasize to Williams how strongly the university, the community, the people in the state of Kansas and all of our alumni and fans feel about him continuing as the Jayhawk coach forever.. The Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program is one of the first research programs focused exclusively on addressing the gap in child and adolescent mental health services. He said to me, I have felt this way before, but in the early fall, Ive always gotten the energy back, and I expect that thats gonna happen, but I do want to alert you to the possibility that it might not. Whether or not deep down inside he thought that energy wouldnt come back, I dont know the answer to that. Change). Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State before joining the Tar Heels staff in 1967. I wouldve never thought of that in a million years.. (Robert Willett / Tribune News Service via Getty). On the day of Smiths retirement, The Washington Post reported Smith wants his other longtime assistant, former Tar Heels point guard Phil Ford, eventually to become the coach, a source said. Ford was arguably Smiths best player ever, and UNCs all-time leading scorer at the time. He wasnt going to entertain a room full of boosters with behind the scenes stories. The death of Guthridges mother, Betty, 96, two days before the Tar Heels played Tennessee at Knoxville in the NCAA South Regional semifinals also contributed to a difficult season. 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. If I were to call Roy and ask Roy was he interested, the first question out of his mouth wouldve been, did Bill get a chance? Baddour says. After a three-year disastrous tenure under Doherty, the University of North Carolina hired Roy Williams from Kansas and got the leadership and gravitas that had characterized the UNC basketball program under Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge. To combat that fatigue, every summer, Smiths assistant coaches urged him to get out and enjoy life. He was a perfect sidekick for Coach Smith. Smith wrote in his memoir, A Coachs Life, that before he retired in 1997, he told recruits: If Im not coaching, I am confident that your coach will be either Bill Guthridge, Eddie Fogler, Roy Williams, Larry Brown, George Karl or Phil Ford, not necessarily in that order. He has a keen sense of which ones will be very good players and which ones may be overrated. A relatively quiet man with a wonderful and dry sense of humor. He wasnt an electric radio show guest. Baddour and Smith never had a lengthy sitdown to discuss the future. He spurned offers to interview for head coaching vacancies, preferring to remain out of the spotlight and continuing to team with Smith. Guthridge, his wife said, suffers from vascular dementia - a condition that's a result of reduced blood supply to the brain. Of course, its not like UNC had a bad season in Guthridges first year. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. He handed out handwritten notes instead. That includes two as a head coach at Carolina, 10 as a Tar Heel assistant coach and one each as a player and assistant coach at his alma mater, Kansas State. The announcement came nearly two months after the 6-10 center led the Boston . The little doo-doos got him in the end, Hanners says. He bought into everything. In that scenario, Williams never leaves Kansas and Ford probably never leaves North Carolina. In his first year as head coach, he led the the team . That startling decision equated to the ultimate professional sacrifice. Sad news. He was my friend, a father figure, a big brother for me just like he was for so many players," current UNC coach Roy Williams said. And so even as the coachs hair changed from dark brown to gray to white, his position never did. Buffalo Brothers - 1/2 Price Appetizers 4:30pm-6:00pm Monday - Friday, Holliday: State and Carolina headed in different directions for the final two weeks, Brownlow: Angst will be at an all-time high as NC State hosts hated rival UNC, Holliday: Miami puts the Heels back on the bubble, Brownlow: NC State, Duke and UNC all seek to avoid two losses in a row as crunch time hits, Holliday: Pivotal road trips for NC State and Duke, Brownlow: Saturday's matchup marks the beginning of a new Carolina-Duke era, Holliday: Could this be Keatts' best ACC season? Its often forgotten that he helped engineer the 2000 Final Four run by keeping his team in Charlotte overnight after a disappointing quarterfinal ACC Tournament loss, and pushing them hard in practice on Saturday. 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? What you saw was the quiet assistant sitting on the bench. 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. Ndiaye remembers taking his son for a campus tour years later, and Guthridge coming out of the Smith Center to greet him. Hed been given a five-year contract when he took over for Smith, because the administration feared recruits would stop coming if they thought Guthridge could retire at any moment. But if Williams had said no, as he did two years later, would Ford have been tapped for the job then? 1 team in America. "If he told me to run through that wall to make me better, I'd hit that wall," former North Carolina player and well-traveled college coach Buzz Peterson told The Associated Press. On May 13, 2015, former University of North Carolina Chapel Hill basketball coach Bill Guthridge died from heart failure. Coach Guthridge is the best I have ever seen in selecting potential in high school players, Smith once said, according to the teams website. Copyright 2013 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. 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. 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