why did bill guthridge retire
When it was his turn as head coach, he immediately won an ACC championship and took two teams to the Final Four. 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. in mathematics in 1960 and an M.A. Division regular season champion He also coached 66 players who were selected in the NBA and/or ABA drafts. 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. Calhoun, elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, is . 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. He was a perfect sidekick for Coach Smith. I tell people that Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge are my light-skinned fathers, said Antawn Jamison, who was the National Player of the Year for the 1998 team that Guthridge guided to the Final Four. Its not what gets remembered for the rest of your life, at least not at a place like North Carolina. 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. Former University of North Carolina basketball coach Bill Guthridge, 77, died Tuesday from a heart condition. (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. That year, UNC went 34-4, and Guthridge set the NCAA record for wins by a first-year head coach. One year against Laurinburg, Hanners squad was down about 18 with under nine minutes to play; suddenly, he felt Ford come up behind him. He led the program to a pair of Final Four appearances in three seasons at the helm before retiring following the 1999-2000 campaign. 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. Ironically, both coaches developed dementia along the way (Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia). Which put Baddour on the search for a long-term replacement for the first time. The guys worked hard and didnt lose confidence, Guthridge said after the season. Guthridge, his wife said, suffers from vascular dementia - a condition that's a result of reduced blood supply to the brain. We ended up beating em easily, and I thanked him later for it, Hanners says. I didnt really have to focus too much on a Plan B, Baddour says. 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. But he decided he did not have the energy to continue coaching, the AP reported. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. "He, like Coach Smith, was more of a mentor and father figure than anything else. Guthridge also gave to the University away from basketball. Sad news. As a coach, he was stubbornly competitive. After waiting an uncharacteristically long time to respond, he smiled and thanked me. Guthridge was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 1998. But the season, and that loss specifically, never faded from their collective consciousness. He also was an assistant to Smith on the 1976 U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in Montreal. 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. Hed have retired with a championship trophy, and then let someone else step right in, Ndiaye says. Then he retired, too. We easily could have won the championship, man, Ndiaye says. 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. In Guthridge's final season, he went 18-13 -- at the time, the program's worst finish in decades -- but bounced back in the postseason to reach North Carolina's 15th Final Four before losing in the national semifinals to Florida. After Dean Smith retired, Bill Guthridge took over for three years and at some point, we can't remember exactly which year, Boswell struck. Baddour was scheduled to travel with the football program that day for a game at TCU, but before leaving he spoke to Smith on the phone. Together, they taught us basketball is secondary. Carolina Jump Rope is making their fellow Tar Heel rethink what it means to jump rope. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. If you played for him you loved him; working with him was a joy. But it is my opinion that he expected, when he first told me that, that he would continue to be the coach.. I will miss his kindness and wisdom. He got his taste. (An aside: if Doherty stays, does Mike Brey, succeeded him and still remains in South Bend, get that job, or is he elsewhere too?). But the Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four. Baddour says he never got that far down the line because of Guthridges interest. Guthridge retired after the season, having spent the first 43 years of his adult life as a player, high school coach, and college coach. 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. School officials stressed that Guthridge was not merely a placeholder for then-Kansas coach Roy Williams, signing him to a five-year contract. 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 didn't bother to recruit Jason Williams, conceding him to K, even though Jason reportedly had an interest in UNC. Guthridge coached North Carolina to the Final Four in his first season before losing to Utah. 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. Its one game, Jamison says. Copyright 2013 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. He was known to answer a question such as Coach, do you know what time it is? with a Yes as he walked away. And I said, I cant say to you with certainty what Bills gonna do, but this is how we have to approach it. The University is currently operating under normal conditions. As good a person as I ever met. He was a lifetime assistant coach for whom Dean did a solid. North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour has refused to comment directly on Guthridge's contract, saying the school's board of trustees discourages him from talking publicly about such personnel issues. Ill just say this, says Dave Hanners, one of Smiths longtime assistants. 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. He spurned offers to interview for head coaching vacancies, preferring to remain out of the spotlight and continuing to team with Smith. 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. He came up with the idea that Dean Smith, having . A tremendously loyal person with an ego that was seemingly non-existent. Because that was supposed to be something that we accomplished together.. [5], He died at his home on May 12, 2015, after an extended illness, alongside his family. His desire to be a coach I dont think ever stopped, Hanners said. And had Smith gone until age 71 or 72, as did Kentuckys Adolph Rupp, Carolina would have won another 50-60 games and the transition to Roy Williams might have happened seamlessly. 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. But it was as if the whole contraption was tilted, resting at an incline so that the sand would never get to the bottom. Bill Guthridge is best known in Chapel Hill as an assistant coach to Dean Smith, but that isn't the complete picture of the legendary coach. Elizabeth A. Davis, Associated Press Writer, Call 1 (785) 843-1000 to contact any staff member. The little doo-doos, Smith called them, the administrative tasks just within the purview of his job responsibilities. Guthridge also took a less talented team to the Final Four in 2000. He had recently been in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill. 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Matt Doherty, who played at UNC while Guthridge was an assistant and then became the school's head coach after Guthridge retired, sent along his condolences: Thank you Coach Gut for the many lessons you taught us at UNC. Ndiaye remembers taking his son for a campus tour years later, and Guthridge coming out of the Smith Center to greet him. Ironically, both coaches developed dementia along the way (Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia). But if Williams had said no, as he did two years later, would Ford have been tapped for the job then? For what? He was extremely special, important to every player, every coach who ever worked here. He tried to do every one of those little things that drove Coach Smith crazy. "Mak said he gets this call from his mom: 'Mak, there's this man here in Africa, says he's your coach,' ". Meanwhile, Creighton coach Dana Altman withdrew his name from consideration. Coach Guthridge was the right choice to lead the transition to another, younger leader of the famed basketball program at the University of North Carolina. Following the 199798 season, several organizations named him National Coach of the Year and he received the Naismith College Coach of the Year award. 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. For 30 of his 33 years at Carolina, Guthridge was the behind-the-scenes guy scouting opponents, making sure players got to class on time, disciplining players, getting the players on the bus or airplane and into the hotel, working with office staff on the smallest of details, and recruiting the latter, unlike many coaches, he said he enjoyed immensely. It has to be one of those., Williams talked Thursday night with Kansas athletic director Bob Frederick. And then Bill can decide along the way what he wants to do.. Guthridge coached three years and took the Tar Heels to two Final Fours. Coach Smith began showing signs of cognitive impairment before Coach Guthridge did. 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. Jordan is among many Tar Heels who had tremendous respect for Guthridge. Think about it: Youve been an assistant coach for 30-plus years. My guess is he would not have been, and then the first call, yes, wouldve been Roy, Baddour says. He held tight. He was no different from Coach Smith or Coach Guthridge. Its very much a possibility, everyone admits. #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. Coach Guthridge is the best I have ever seen in selecting potential in high school players, Smith once said, according to the teams website. But if Smith was selfless in his handling of McAdoo, it was nothing compared to Smiths shocking retirement on Oct. 9, 1997. Only different alternate realities. For starters, Baddour says he still would have offered Guthridge the job first. Unfortunately, it took UNC two tries to find that leader. But theres another alternate history with extreme on-court implications that might have forced his hand. The ones he did have Coach Guthridge tried to fill. 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. 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. He was 77 years old. Even 22 years after turning down the Nittany Lions, Guthridge still couldnt quite bear to leave. "Though he was a head coach for a short time, he gracefully carried on a culture and legacy that many thought could not be perpetuated.". . His lack of recruiting is why they went 8-20 shortly thereafter. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. 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If he had, then thats where the what-ifs really go wild. 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. Williams famously turned him down, opting to remain at Kansas, where hed built a Carolina-esque family dynamic (at Smiths alma mater, to boot). Coach Guthridge made his retirement official on May 13, 2015. The possibilities were endless, but Baddour is certain of one thing: keeping things in the family was a must. After Coach Guthridges retirement in 2003, he and Coach Smith stayed in close contact, visiting each other frequently. For more than three decades, Coach Guthridge served this University he loved so much with a deep commitment to academic and athletic excellence. 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. He directed UNC to the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship and was named the ACC Coach of the Year. 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. The team bus never left at 2 p.m. 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. Jamisons teammates and Hanners and Baddour all agree. Guthridge did it all with a dry wit and style. He stopped when he did because he was afraid his memory wasnt as good as it was or had been. He wouldve been gone. 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. It was Guthridge who was the creator of the well-known and slightly strange departure times for Carolina travel parties. After that loss, Carter and Jamison turned pro. The fact that he felt like he failed us.. Baddour and Smith never had a lengthy sitdown to discuss the future. 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. "I'd always set my time to GST, 10 minutes ahead.". 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. Coach Smith had so many strengths and very few weaknesses. Ndiaye comforted his coach, who had become a friend in time. 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. What happened, happened. Coach Smith began showing signs of cognitive impairment before Coach Guthridge did. 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. "When Coach Smith announced he was retiring and that Coach Guthridge was taking over, then it all clicked into place for me," Hanners says. And with Guthridge having gotten his shot, there would have been no issues of whose turn it was. In his three seasons as head coach Guthridge led the Tar Heels to the NCAA final Four twice, in 1998 and again in 2000. That possibility isnt one Baddour had previously considered. As they were chatting, Guthridge, who died in 2015, grabbed Ndiayes arm. [6], National champion I really believe thats exactly what happened.. He saw his memory issues coming long before the world did. Guthridge spent 31 seasons as an assistant to Smith, the winningest coach in college basketball history. He also was head golf coach for the Wildcats. Maybe Phil Ford wouldve been the head coach then, Ndiaye says. And everything that happened, for better or worse, led the program to where it is today. School officials stressed that Guthridge was not merely a placeholder for then-Kansas coach Roy Williams, signing him to a five-year contract. 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.". And so even as the coachs hair changed from dark brown to gray to white, his position never did. The closest he came to leaving Chapel Hill was 1978, when he verbally accepted the head coaching job at Penn State. Coach Smith had so many strengths and very few weaknesses, and the weaknesses that he did have Coach Guthridge tried to fill. All the things he couldnt do during the daunting in-season months. It was the 14th time Guthridge participated in the Final Four. In retrospect, Smiths premature exit was a mistake on all fronts. Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Smith is now 82 and with some health issues. 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. The spring of 1997, it seemed, was no different. Who will win each 2023 conference tournament? The careers and lives of the two coaches from Kansas were solidly intertwined. He formed a successful partnership with Dean Smith that lasted three decades until Smith retired in 1997. "He was an unbelievable assistant to Coach Smith. 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. Bill and Dean, friends for life. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. When Smith was needlessly ejected from the 1991 Final Four, it was Guthridge who was furious in the tunnel after the game. After 36 years as the coach at North Carolina, it kept trickling down, grain by grain. He previously worked at The Charlotte Observer as a Carolina Panthers beat reporter, and his writing has also appeared in Sports Illustrated, The Boston Globe and The Baltimore Sun. Whether Williams would have returned at that time is impossible to say. Guthridge could deal with Dean's irritability, his need to control the smallest things. He bought into everything. In that scenario, Williams never leaves Kansas and Ford probably never leaves North Carolina. He is probably best remembered for his loyalty to Smith, who died in February at age 83. I mean, the Plan B was there.. In 1998, the Bill Guthridge Distinguished Professorship in mathematics was established. In Williams second season in Chapel Hill, he won his first national championship the one the 97 team witnessed. That not-wanting-to-step-on-toes thing? In other words, why Smith walked away at the exact moment he did. In 1998, Guthridge inherited a team that had been to the 1997 Final Four the previous year under Smith. 2 "The End of Absence" Michael Harris, Pt. Coaches, both within the program and across the country, still came calling to Chapel Hill every summer to pick his brains about Xs and Os. He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five . 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. Really, a championship or not is the only major differentiator between Smith and Guthridge. Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000. How might everything be different? The 1971-72 Tar Heels had finished 26-5 but were upset by Florida State (not an ACC member at the time) in the NCAA Final Four semifinals. He was on the sidelines for a record 73 NCAA Tournament victories, including 71 at Carolina and two at Kansas State. He has a keen sense of which ones will be very good players and which ones may be overrated. 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. 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. 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.. When he retired as head coach in 2000, he knew he wouldnt be able to get through telling his staff about his departure. All the scheduling calls, speeches for adoring donors, piles and piles of paperwork that accompanied seemingly everything he did. That was probably six or seven years later where somebody else might recognize it. Now Guthridge, 77, is enduring a similarly cruel fate . No, I couldnt even consider that, Smith said. 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