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. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. 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. 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.. 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. He was a friend. Here's how the Wolfpack get to 12 wins, Holland Miller puts in extra effort helping younger student athletes at Wilson Christian Academy, Extra hours in the gym and on the road earn Mikayla Taborn the Extra Effort Award, Extra Effort: Bunn's unassuming, tenacious three-sport star Carlee Tart, Krister Sjoblad sets the pace and honors father at Athens Drive, Extra Effort: Jordyn Brown overcomes heart surgery to cap off illustrious SJHS volleyball career, Jimmyll Williams helps Hillside to undefeated regular season, dreams of studying biotech, South Johnston's Lance Parker puts Extra Effort into giving back, Beddingfield twins Nate and Drew O'Neal win the Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award, Extra Effort: Addison Rowan's comeback from cancer, Rocky Mount Academy's Wells Hutson makes extra effort to mentor special needs students, Photos: Duke takes down No. Veteran sports reporter Peter Gammons had high praise for the former coach: Saddened to learn Bill Guthridge passed away. In 1998, the Bill Guthridge Distinguished Professorship in mathematics was established. He stopped when he did because he was afraid his memory wasnt as good as it was or had been. Sad news. 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. Were the best North Carolina team that never won a championship. Guthridge was criticized last season by alumni and fans for losing five games at home the most since World War II and for a record that dropped to 18-13 after a first-round defeat in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. By the way, Dean Smith basically forced UNC to hire Guthridge, his long-time assistant, when El Deano suddenly retired in October 1997, just before the beginning of the hoops season. At one point he thought he wanted to be a head coach, but he also decided that he really enjoyed Coach Smith and the program here and why should he leave when he has what he thought was the perfect job., Bill was uniquely special. Its hard, man. Guthridge retired after the season, having spent the first 43 years of his adult life as a player, high school coach, and college coach. In our prayers. He was a perfect sidekick for Coach Smith. Coach Guthridge is the best I have ever seen in selecting potential in high school players, Smith once said, according to the teams website. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. Now Guthridge, 77, is enduring a similarly cruel fate . Because that was supposed to be something that we accomplished together.. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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 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. 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. Hed have retired with a championship trophy, and then let someone else step right in, Ndiaye says. 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. ? He was known to answer a question such as Coach, do you know what time it is? with a Yes as he walked away. "My sympathies go out to his wife, Leesie, and their kids and family.". But theres another alternate history with extreme on-court implications that might have forced his hand. And with Guthridge having gotten his shot, there would have been no issues of whose turn it was. 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. Smith died on Feb. 7 after suffering for years from a neurological disorder that robbed him of his memories. Hed told reporters he expected to honor the remaining four years on his deal. (An aside: if Doherty stays, does Mike Brey, succeeded him and still remains in South Bend, get that job, or is he elsewhere too?). Division regular season champion 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. 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.. He was even more important to me. Matt Doherty, who succeeded Guthridge as Tar Heels coach and served in that capacity for three seasons, tweeted his condolences Wednesday. He was extremely special, important to every player, every coach who ever worked here. Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun announced his retirement Thursday. Guthridge was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 1998. All rights reserved. Guthridge was Smiths assistant for 30 years. 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. It was the 14th time Guthridge participated in the Final Four. Its not fair, but thats just the way it is for assistant coaches, Smith said. But if Williams had declined the opportunity, as he initially did a year prior? Maybe Phil Ford wouldve been the head coach then, Ndiaye says. Had Smith made the logical move and coached on until his 70th birthday -- the route likely to be taken by Dukes Mike Krzyzewski (66) and Syracuses Jim Boeheim (68) -- he would have finished with at least 1,000 wins and possibly two more national titles. Once, in 1978, he did nearly take the head coaching job at Penn State but he changed his mind at the airport and never thought about leaving Chapel Hill again. But I already had a better job than that and I was happy here. He tried to do every one of those little things that drove Coach Smith crazy. At the time, their run of 172 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history. As they were chatting, Guthridge, who died in 2015, grabbed Ndiayes arm. He was 77 years old. Im like, Coach, we won it, congrats! Jamison remembers. 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. All the things he couldnt do during the daunting in-season months. It was Guthridge who was the creator of the well-known and slightly strange departure times for Carolina travel parties. The announcement came nearly two months after the 6-10 center led the Boston . Bill Guthridge, who made his college basketball reputation as Dean Smith's 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. Guthridge was involved in a total of fourteen Final Fours as either a player or coach, more than any other person in historyone each as a player and assistant at Kansas State, ten as a North Carolina assistant, and two as North Carolina head coach. In his 33 seasons at Carolina, the Tar Heels won two NCAA championships, in 1982 and 1993; played in 12 Final Fours; won the ACC Tournament championship 13 times; and played in the ACC Tournament championship game a total of 22 times. In 1998, Guthridge inherited a team that had been to the 1997 Final Four the previous year under Smith. Conference regular season champion But it is my opinion that he expected, when he first told me that, that he would continue to be the coach.. How close did Raleigh come to getting an NFL team? Revisionist history does offer some diverging paths, though. He directed UNC to the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship and was named the ACC Coach of the Year. Just like Smith, Guthridge found a way to impact his players beyond teaching them offensive and defensive principles. You will be missed. He won more games than any college head coach in history after just two seasons and tied N.C. States Everett Case for most coaching victories after three years. When it was his turn as head coach, he immediately won an ACC championship and took two teams to the Final Four. 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? Hed grow bored of golf, and once that happened, his staff knew hed summoned up the energy for another go-around. Neither Davis nor athletic director Ron Wellman would comment on his departure. William Wallace Guthridge (July 27, 1937 May 12, 2015) was an American college basketball coach. Born in Parsons, Kansas,[2] Guthridge attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, and graduated with a B.S. 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. In public, he was never going to be the center of attention. Guthridge coached three years and took the Tar Heels to two Final Fours. Brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball for The Athletic. 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 would, however, have just lost his three best players at Kansas in Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz and Billy Thomas. 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. I mean, the Plan B was there.. When did Bill Guthridge coach at UNC? 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. #RIP. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. That image of Guthridge is accurate but not complete. And he said, Im not crying because we won. I think its time I make this decision. Guthridge became head coach after Smith retired in 1997 and coached the team for three seasons.UNC coach Roy Williams called Guthridge a key . 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. . Both played college ball in that state -- Smith at Kansas, Guthridge at Kansas State -- and coached at their alma maters before coming to North Carolina. Guthridge coached North Carolina to the Final Four in his first season before losing to Utah. You will be missed. Why would you stay? His lack of recruiting is why they went 8-20 shortly thereafter. Prior to that, Guthridge served as Smith's assistant coach for 30 years. 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. Baddour says he never got that far down the line because of Guthridges interest. Thank you Coach Gut for the many lessons you taught us at UNC. He wouldve been gone. 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. They shot just 39.1 percent from the floor and made only 3-of-23 attempts from 3. He was 77. When Lefty Driesell declined to shake Smiths hand in the mid-1980s, it was Guthridge who was incensedand had to be prevented from chasing down Driesellnot Smith. Kansas coach Roy Williams, a former North Carolina assistant under Smith, will succeed Guthridge, a source close to the university told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Guthridge, who like Smith was a. 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. And by the end of every summer, Smith returned freshly rejuvenated. Coach Smith always had a plan. But it was as if the whole contraption was tilted, resting at an incline so that the sand would never get to the bottom. Unfortunately, it took UNC two tries to find that leader. He has a keen sense of which ones will be very good players and which ones may be overrated. His loss is deeply felt by our university and the basketball world. Coach Smith would be more likely to draw up something in a timeout, or draw up a play maybe we hadnt worked on, where as Coach Guthridge was going to rely on what wed done in the past, says Brad Frederick, a forward on that team and now a UNC assistant coach. But more than just that team, Smith left behind a mound of questions. That Plan B, clearly, was Guthridge. He will certainly be remembered for what he did as opposed to what else he might have done. Guthridge didn't bother to recruit Jason Williams, conceding him to K, even though Jason reportedly had an interest in UNC. North Carolina made 10 trips to the Final Four and won two national championships during the time Smith and Guthridge spent together. The Tar Heels finished first or tied for first in the ACC regular season 16 times, finished second or tied for second in the ACC regular season 11 times and finished third or tied for third in the ACC regular season six times. Smith, who attended Guthridges retirement announcement, called the day a celebration of a fantastic career. Theyd had their disagreements, yes. What if he hadnt retired when he did? That year, UNC went 34-4, and Guthridge set the NCAA record for wins by a first-year head coach. Guthridge . We ended up beating em easily, and I thanked him later for it, Hanners says. He stayed (rather than leave for a head coaching job at another university) because he was enjoying what he was doing and why leave something you know is good for the unknown. He was instrumental in helping lure Williams back to North Carolina. In his first year as head coach, he led the the team . 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. Then he retired, too. When Bill Guthridge retired as North Carolina's basketball coach in the summer of 2000, it set off a chain reaction that touched the lives of dozens of people in his profession. 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. So was Williams always fated to end up back at North Carolina? And so those players, all of them, kick around the questions to this day. His desire to be a coach I dont think ever stopped, Hanners said. The Kansas native took over the role of head coach following Smith's departure. 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. He was 77 years old, Former UNC basketball coach Bill Guthridge passes away at age 77, UNC School of Social Work becomes new home for CEAL@UNC, expand work to advance assisted living. His legacy and contributions to my life and to our University will live on and hell be much more remembered for his sense of humor and class just as much as his coaching., 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 after the passing of Bill Guthridge. 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. 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? 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. That season, he led the Tar Heels to a 34-4 record and the final No. The complaints turned to praise after the teams unlikely Final Four appearance. He bought into everything. In that scenario, Williams never leaves Kansas and Ford probably never leaves North Carolina. Although four years further down the line, theres skepticism Guthridge, at the age of 64 or 65, would still have been interested in taking a crack. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. Making the Final Four is a tremendous accomplishment but its not what you chase. 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.. Perhaps, at last, somewhere in his mind, Coach Guthridge finally made the decision it was time for him to retire from this physical life. 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. It was profoundly hard for Coach Guthridge to watch his lifetime friend become forgetful and lose the memories they shared together, not just as the architects of a fantastic and highly-ethical college basketball program, but as friends who regarded each other and their respective families as their own. He would sneak into practices, hide way up in the rafters so as not to be seen. Guthridge also handled many day-to-day responsibilities in the program and oversaw UNC's summer basketball camps. Bill and Dean, friends for life. I would have been as vigorous and go after that as hard as I could possibly go.. In his tenure at UNC, Guthridge coached five National Players of the Year, six ACC Players of the Year, five ACC Rookies of the Year and 28 first-team All-ACC players. I dont think he went in that summer thinking, Im not gonna be the basketball coach by fall, Baddour says. 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. "I'm extremely saddened by the passing of Coach Guthridge, aka 'Coach Gut,' especially coming so close to the loss of Coach Smith," Jamison, who was national player of the year during Guthridge's first season as coach, said in a statement. 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. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. 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. Guthridge was the longtime assistant to UNC coach Dean Smith, who died earlier this year. He held tight. 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. In 1976, he also served as an assistant coach to Smith as the United States won the gold medal in men's basketball at the Summer Olympics in Montreal. 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. Having grown up in North Carolina and gone to school here and worked here, I think it was probably just destiny.. In that July or August period, when Coach Smith basically told Coach Guthridge for the very last time in his life, Im not ready, Im not gonna do it again, then I think Coach Guthridge told him at that point that hed really like to try, Hanners says. When Coach Smith died, Coach Guthridge knew that his friend was gone, but he quickly moved back to their time together when they were younger and dementia had not knocked on their doors yet. "Coach Guthridge was instrumental in recruiting me to UNC and I have so many great memories of him and the lessons he taught me. But the Tar Heels suffered a soul-crushing NCAA Tournament loss that also ended Phil Fords career. Ironically, both coaches developed dementia along the way (Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia). Hed have been two years into a rebuild at Notre Dame, and perhaps less reluctant to leave. I want to spend the weekend thinking about it. Chapel Hill, N.C. For all of his wins and championships, the Olympic gold medal, tactical innovations, social impact and fertile coaching tree, Dean Smiths unselfishness defined his career to an enormous, but often overlooked, extent. Kansas chancellor Robert Hemenway said the school was privileged to have Williams. 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. But obviously, the better head coach -- one of four or so best head coaches of all time in his sport -- and the decision to retire was seriously flawed by emotion. The people who knew him best werent surprised he went to two Final Fours in three seasons.. He saw his memory issues coming long before the world did. He was North Carolina basketball, the constant as the new building was built in his honor and the banners in the rafters accumulated, the link from Scott to Ford to Jordan to Stackhouse. Guthridge was the head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons following Dean Smith's retirement in 1997. He was no different from Coach Smith or Coach Guthridge. "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. In retrospect, Smiths premature exit was a mistake on all fronts. He couldnt generate enough energy to get through all of that., Some background: In the years leading up to his retirement specifically every spring after the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament Smith expressed a sense of exhaustion to the people around him. Ndiaye comforted his coach, who had become a friend in time. The inconsistent season came on the heels of a first-round NCAA Tournament loss in 1999. Who will win each 2023 conference tournament? 3 "The End of Absence" Michael Harris. 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