If Williams had said no, then who might have been offered the job? He spurned offers to interview for head coaching vacancies, preferring to remain out of the spotlight and continuing to team with Smith. The University is currently operating under normal conditions. Coach Guthridge made his retirement official on May 13, 2015. Revisionist history does offer some diverging paths, though. In his first year as head coach, he led the the team . Following the 199798 season, several organizations named him National Coach of the Year and he received the Naismith College Coach of the Year award. Former University of North Carolina basketball coach Bill Guthridge, 77, died Tuesday from a heart condition. While serving as an assistant coach, Guthridge turned down several head coaching opportunities, preferring to remain in Chapel Hill working alongside Smith. You will be missed. Its one game, Jamison says. He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five picks of the NBA draft. In public, he was never going to be the center of attention. At that point, Baddour turned to Matt Doherty, who had been the coach at Notre Dame for just one season. "All I can say is I'm pursuing other opportunities," Davis said. As they were chatting, Guthridge, who died in 2015, grabbed Ndiayes arm. But if Williams had declined the opportunity, as he initially did a year prior? And everything that happened, for better or worse, led the program to where it is today. Following Smith's retirement in 1997, Guthridge was head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons. Why would you stay? Im like, Coach, we won it, congrats! Jamison remembers. Brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball for The Athletic. 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. Just a really good man who made Carolina, the ACC and college basketball better.. Ndiaye remembers taking his son for a campus tour years later, and Guthridge coming out of the Smith Center to greet him. But I already had a better job than that and I was happy here. Fords reputation was growing fast as a star recruiter, having single-handedly delivered Rasheed Wallace to UNC and playing a major role in Carters eventual commitment. Whether Williams would have returned at that time is impossible to say. 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. ", Roy: "I think that not only did he coach me on the freshman team he was another mentor. (Jed Jacobsohn / ALLSPORT via Getty), Theres a world where Ford got his chance to be UNCs head coach, and maybe still would be in that position. Looking around at his devastated players in the locker room, Guthridge realized he simply couldnt leave. 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. A Tar Heel passing him in the hallway might greet him with a quick head nod and a greeting of, Coach. Guthridge would invariably respond with a similar head nod and, Player.. The careers and lives of the two coaches from Kansas were solidly intertwined. Guthridge was completely content in the role of a lifetime assistant and the Smith/Guthridge combo would have been weakened had Guthridge retired early. Assistant coach Phil Ford is at right. Guthridge spent 31 seasons as an assistant to Smith, the winningest coach in college basketball history. Ndiaye comforted his coach, who had become a friend in time. He was a part of 867 wins in 33 seasons at Carolina and 960 college coaching victories overall, including 93 wins on the staff at Kansas State. 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.. In 1998, the Bill Guthridge Distinguished Professorship in mathematics was established. Think about it: Youve been an assistant coach for 30-plus years. SCNext Top 25: Ranking the best high school boys' basketball teams in the 2022-23 season, Brown: There will never be another Bill Guthridge. From 1972 onward, he was Smith's top assistant. Bill was a great coach, but he never got enough credit during most of those years. Graduate of the University of North Carolina. "He was my coach, he was another mentor. When employees came to work at the GAA on a rainy day, Elizabeth Morgan, warm, Bill Guthridge, who made his college basketball reputation as Dean Smiths trusted right-hand man then took Carolina to two Final Fours in three years as head coach after his mentor retired has died after a long illness. Conference regular season champion Fast-forward to present day, and he has surpassed Smith in both national championships and wins. . One of the best testaments to Guthridges impact came on that retirement day, June 30. Postseason invitational champion Now Guthridge, 77, is enduring a similarly cruel fate . The announcement came nearly two months after the 6-10 center led the Boston . Guthridge coached three years and took the Tar Heels to two Final Fours. My time is in the past now and we have to move forward.. And by the end of every summer, Smith returned freshly rejuvenated. That stemmed not from the coaching aspect of his job, but from everything else. He tried to do every one of those little things that drove Coach Smith crazy. 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. When he reached the decision to step down during that summer of 1997, no one could have changed his mind, even if given the opportunity to do so. The first is, if Guthridge hadnt wanted the job, would Williams have taken it? At Smith's retirement. But theres also the fact that Dean did it his way, which was entirely predictable. After those brief flirtations with head coaching positions, Guthridge settled in as UNC's top assistant, right up until Dean Smith suddenly retired in October of 1997. One of the things that made (Smith) so special was his ability to be innovative so certainly, I think we would have had some other ways to attack in a game that we struggled, against Utah in the Final Four.. So was Williams always fated to end up back at North Carolina? He was a father figure.". (LogOut/ Coach Guthridge played an instrumental role in the programs success as an assistant under Dean Smith for three decades before making his own name as a head coach in leading North Carolina to a pair of Final Four appearances in three seasons. 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. After Dean Smith retired, Bill Guthridge took over for three years and at some point, we can't remember exactly which year, Boswell struck. 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. When it was announced last week that Smith would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom award, I could not help but think back to that interview in 2000 while also thinking about what might have been. Certainly, what a marvelous run of three years.. However, it was Coach Guthridges incurable heart condition that led to his development of vascular dementia, and with its progression, his placement for the last several years in a Chapel Hill assisted living facility. 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. The family told team spokesman Steve Kirschner that Guthridge died of heart failure and that the coach had lived with a heart condition the past seven years. For more than three decades, Coach Guthridge served this University he loved so much with a deep commitment to academic and athletic excellence. Coach Smith always had a plan. He was 77. Only different alternate realities. His lack of recruiting is why they went 8-20 shortly thereafter. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. The picture most Tar Heel fans will have of him is sitting slightly behind Dean Smith, perhaps leaning over to make a point to the head coach. He was even more important to me. Of course, its not like UNC had a bad season in Guthridges first year. Just like Smith, Guthridge found a way to impact his players beyond teaching them offensive and defensive principles. Showdown in Durham: NC State and Duke battle for ACC, NCAA seeding, Brownlow: NC State, Duke and Carolina all look to avenge ACC losses on busy basketball Saturday, Welter: I'm not mad, Carolina, just disappointed, AP source: Panthers to meet with QB Derek Carr at combine. North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge retired Friday after three years as Dean Smiths successor, a move that opens one of the most prestigious jobs in college sports. Only, given Guthridges age at the time (60) and the fact that hed always said hed retire when Smith did, Baddour wasnt totally sure Guthridge was interested. Dean Smith unexpectedly retired as head basketball coach at North Carolina just two months before the start of the 1997-98 season, and Guthridge was immediately named his successor. "This is a tremendous loss for our basketball program and entire community.". But theres another alternate history with extreme on-court implications that might have forced his hand. "You get old." Bill and Dean, friends for life Smith. Guthridge, who like Smith was a. As a coach, he was stubbornly competitive. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. Well if hes got a five-year contract, you know hes gonna coach five years. 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But it really wasnt and we both knew it. Why bring those up? Smith is now 82 and with some health issues. But Guthridge, who died Tuesday at 77 of heart failure, was not just one of the best college basketball coaches of all time, he was an unfailingly decent man who displayed a rare degree of. "I'm not up with it," Guthridge said at one point, when he tried to remember taking over as UNC's head coach in 1997 after Smith retired. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia, Profiles in Dementia: Zelda Fitzgerald(1900-1948), Facebook Group for Caregivers of Loved Ones with Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, and Other Age-Related Illnesses, R. E. M. 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Gilbert Welch, "Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets" Luke Dittrich, "When Breath Becomes Air" Paul Kalanithi, Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients Ben Goldacre, The Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons Sam Kean, How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America by Otis Webb Brawley, Pt. Born William Wallace Guthridge, he attended Kansas State University where he played guard on the basketball team and helped the Wildcats. when UNC named longtime assistant Bill Guthridge as his successor. He was a perfect sidekick for Coach Smith. That group, fresh off a Final Four appearance, was tabbed as the preseason No. 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. "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. And for as much as he did enjoy those three seasons, the same obligations that wore Smith down got to Guthridge as well. That was quelled, but the chancellor had another thought: To the chancellor and many fans Williams was the obvious choice to succeed Smith. And as an assistant for Smith for nine seasons, he had both a championship pedigree and a deep understanding of how the program operated. At the time, their run of 172 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history. If he had, then thats where the what-ifs really go wild. 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. 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. Or does Doherty get his chance regardless? 33 yrs on UNC bench. I dont think he went in that summer thinking, Im not gonna be the basketball coach by fall, Baddour says. He was an unbelievable assistant to Coach Smith. 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 didnt really have to focus too much on a Plan B, Baddour says. Ford whispered for Hanners to try running 21 defense really sagging off defenders, even inside the 3-point line. It was more a series of passing conversations, regular updates about the coachs state of mind. However, Coach Guthridge served as the perfect replacement as head basketball coach when Coach Smith unexpectantly announced his retirement from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997. Student-run Chapel Thrill Escapes brings its newest escape room to life Rameses in Wonderland continuing to provide an outlet for student creativity, entrepreneurship and collaboration on Carolina's campus. But he decided he did not have the energy to continue coaching, the AP reported. He needed to hear that from Guthridge. The manager put down his stuff and rifled through his pockets. 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. 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. Ill just say this, says Dave Hanners, one of Smiths longtime assistants. Why would a healthy 66-year-old call it quits and relinquish the chance to coach that team? Bill Guthridge, who led North Carolina to two Final Four appearances in his three seasons as coach of the Tar Heels, will announce his retirement at a news conference Friday, The Associated Press has learned. No, I couldnt even consider that, Smith said. The team bus never left at 2 p.m. A relatively quiet man with a wonderful and dry sense of humor. Guthridge was the longtime assistant to UNC coach Dean Smith, who died earlier this year. Because before we can consider what might have been, we have to understand why everything played out as it did. Perhaps, at last, somewhere in his mind, Coach Guthridge finally made the decision it was time for him to retire from this physical life. For starters, Baddour says he still would have offered Guthridge the job first. If you played for him you loved him; working with him was a joy. Theres no way you could dream, Hanners says, anyone would necessarily do better.. The perception of Smiths program might have been that it ran without emotion. 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. His calm demeanorhe could sometimes be found sitting in the stands an hour before road games eating popcorn or a hot dogmasked a passionate love for the Tar Heels. He saw his memory issues coming long before the world did. As he famously said at Smiths retirement news conference, I always thought we would ride off into the sun together.. Because I know Coach Smiths plan long-term, at least at that time, was to prepare the team for Phil to take over.. End of conversation.. And so even as the coachs hair changed from dark brown to gray to white, his position never did. What about Ford? 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.". Its another tremendous loss for our University, our basketball program and our entire community. To combat that fatigue, every summer, Smiths assistant coaches urged him to get out and enjoy life. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. Ill really miss this next years team and what those guys have done for me, said Guthridge, whose team last season reached the Final Four before being eliminated in the semifinals. There is one final thing, though, that seems to be consensus, the one aspect of this entire hypothetical that no one can seem to get over: that the reason there are still enduring questions about what Smith could have accomplished in those extra four seasons is because those are the same questions Smith himself always carried. The Tar Heels lost to Florida in last seasons Final Four. When Smith was needlessly ejected from the 1991 Final Four, it was Guthridge who was furious in the tunnel after the game. In fact, he communicated as much to Baddour after Baddour was tapped in late June to replace John Swofford as athletic director. He had interviewed for the Texas job, which went to Rick Barnes, after the 1998 season, after all. Longtime North Carolina basketball coach Bill Guthridge died Tuesday night. That first five minutes, you can have all the confidence in the world, but if you go down 23-8 or 13-4, you just put so much pressure on yourself. 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