why did bill guthridge retirewhy did bill guthridge retire

Born in Parsons, Kansas,[2] Guthridge attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, and graduated with a B.S. It didnt bother me that I was a lousy coach, and when we started winning I was a better coach. What you saw was the quiet assistant sitting on the bench. 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. Lets play out the most interesting of the hypotheticals: if Dean Smith does return for the 1997-1998 season, with an absolutely jam-packed roster. College Basketball Coach. Ill just say this, says Dave Hanners, one of Smiths longtime assistants. And that brings us full-circle, back to the original what-if: What if Dean Smith had finished out his contract, which ran through the end of the 2000-01 season? The first is, if Guthridge hadnt wanted the job, would Williams have taken it? If Bill Guthridge doesnt look familiar to you as a UNC-Chapel Hill head basketball coach, theres a very good reason for that. Elizabeth A. Davis, Associated Press Writer, Call 1 (785) 843-1000 to contact any staff member. 1 "The End of Absence" Michael Harris, Pt. (Smith told me), Its just not coming back. Why would you stay? While serving as an assistant coach, Guthridge turned down several head coaching opportunities, preferring to remain in Chapel Hill working alongside Smith. 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. The careers and lives of the two coaches from Kansas were solidly intertwined. He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five . 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. Smith wanted longtime assistant Bill Guthridge (age 60 at the time) to be a head coach and enjoy the competitive and financial rewards of the job. As he famously said at Smiths retirement news conference, I always thought we would ride off into the sun together.. 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.. When 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. Our hope and fervent desire is that the best basketball coach in America will continue to practice his craft at KU, he said Thursday night. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. What burned just below that was a fierce competitor who might sometimes react more like a fan than you would expect. The school scheduled a news conference for 2:30 p.m. today. Seeded eighth in the South region, North Carolina upset top-seeded Stanford in the second round and continued to the Final Four, where they lost to Florida. The Tar Heels either won the ACC tournament or finished atop the league standings -- or did both -- in 23 of those seasons. 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. I really liked the attitude of the team, the way they worked hard and how they were rewarded finally. Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State before joining the Tar Heels staff in 1967. Now Guthridge, 77, is enduring a similarly cruel fate . #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 was no different from Coach Smith or Coach Guthridge. That was the presumption Baddour and the basketball program operated under. But there was no questioning the depth of their relationship. 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. As a coach, he was stubbornly competitive. "All I can say is I'm pursuing other opportunities," Davis said. Bill was a great coach, but he never got enough credit during most of those years. "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.". Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. A tremendously loyal person with an ego that was seemingly non-existent. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Spend time with family. 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. The guys worked hard and didnt lose confidence, Guthridge said after the season. That Plan B, clearly, was Guthridge. Brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball for The Athletic. He bought into everything. In that scenario, Williams never leaves Kansas and Ford probably never leaves North Carolina. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. He had interviewed for the Texas job, which went to Rick Barnes, after the 1998 season, after all. 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. In our prayers. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? He has a keen sense of which ones will be very good players and which ones may be overrated. Division regular season champion Making the Final Four is a tremendous accomplishment but its not what you chase. 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. We didnt play well for just five minutes, and that decided the game.. That team still went 34-4, losing to Utah in the Final Four. When Smith was needlessly ejected from the 1991 Final Four, it was Guthridge who was furious in the tunnel after the game. Fast-forward to present day, and he has surpassed Smith in both national championships and wins. Which put Baddour on the search for a long-term replacement for the first time. We offer our deepest sympathies to Bills family, friends and the entire North Carolina basketball community.. 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. 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. 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. Heading into what would have been the fourth year of a five-year contract, Guthridge compiled an 80-28 record, but had not received an extension. In 1993, he and his wife, Leesie, created the William W. and Elise P. Guthridge Library Fund, which helped with purchasing materials and renovation of the House Undergraduate Library. Guthridge, his wife said, suffers from vascular dementia - a condition that's a result of reduced blood supply to the brain. He was a kind soul with a strong, competitive spirit. Certainly, what a marvelous run of three years.. It left at 1:57 p.m. His reasoning? 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 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 . My guess is that Coach Guthridge probably never came back from that place after Coach Smiths death and I would speculate that Coach Smiths death may have been the final straw of an increasingly-unfamiliar and disconnected life for Coach Guthridge. To combat that fatigue, every summer, Smiths assistant coaches urged him to get out and enjoy life. Maybe Phil Ford wouldve been the head coach then, Ndiaye says. 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. But in hindsight, Hanners says there were clues that everything might not have been like normal. 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. 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. 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. But against the Utes, the Tar Heels fell behind quickly and were never able to catch up. Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report. So I just feel like we got robbed.. He came up with the idea that Dean Smith, having . But more than just that team, Smith left behind a mound of questions. There were reports that Michigan was interested in him at the time His only drawback was a DUI arrest in September 1998, after which he was temporarily placed on leave. If my answer was no, then Roy wouldve had absolutely zero interest. Guthridge, 62, said a few weeks ago that he planned to stay on another five or six years. 3 "The End of Absence" Michael Harris. 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. At the time, their run of 172 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history. The spring of 1997, it seemed, was no different. The Tar Heels lost to Florida in last seasons Final Four. Neither Davis nor athletic director Ron Wellman would comment on his departure. 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. Guthridge was the longtime assistant to UNC coach Dean Smith, who died earlier this year. He will certainly be remembered for what he did as opposed to what else he might have done. 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 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. He would, however, have just lost his three best players at Kansas in Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz and Billy Thomas. Guthridge was completely content in the role of a lifetime assistant and the Smith/Guthridge combo would have been weakened had Guthridge retired early. Not only did he coach me on the freshman team, he was my coach, another mentor, a friend, a father figure, a big brother for me just like he was for so many players. He had recently been in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill. The University is currently operating under normal conditions. His loss is deeply felt by our university and the basketball world. 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. But it really wasnt and we both knew it. Coach Smith had so many strengths and very few weaknesses. 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. The manager put down his stuff and rifled through his pockets. As he would prepare for a basketball practice or game, he was equally intense about attention to detail in scheduling or whatever.. After graduating from Kansas State, he coached at Scott City High School in Kansas for two seasons before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach for Tex Winter from 19621967. But the Tar Heels suffered a soul-crushing NCAA Tournament loss that also ended Phil Fords career. Carolina Basketball confirmed the news on Twitter: Sad news. 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. 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. 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. And he said, Im not crying because we won. 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. But if Williams had said no, as he did two years later, would Ford have been tapped for the job then? Hed have been two years into a rebuild at Notre Dame, and perhaps less reluctant to leave. 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. Dean Smith unexpectedly retired as head basketball coach at North Carolina just two months before the start of the 199798 season, and Guthridge was immediately named his successor. The announcement came nearly two months after the 6-10 center led the Boston . You accomplished something that takes some other people 20-plus years to do. 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. He was a father figure.". With Williams, it was the restoration of the family, three national championships and potentially many more years. That was quelled, but the chancellor had another thought: To the chancellor and many fans Williams was the obvious choice to succeed Smith. But when Guthridge retired, Williamsthen playing with the Seattle Sonicsmade the effort to find a commercial flight to Chapel Hill, then flew out again as soon as the press conference was over. He joined the UNC staff in 1967 after five years as assistant to Tex Winter at Kansas State. He is probably best remembered for his loyalty to Smith, who died in February at age 83. 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. 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. SCNext Top 25: Ranking the best high school boys' basketball teams in the 2022-23 season, Brown: There will never be another Bill Guthridge. I dont think he went in that summer thinking, Im not gonna be the basketball coach by fall, Baddour says. At Smith's retirement. He knows where he is and who he is, but it's often difficult for him. "He, like Coach Smith, was more of a mentor and father figure than anything else. William Wallace Guthridge (July 27, 1937 May 12, 2015) was an American college basketball coach. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Revisionist history does offer some diverging paths, though. Coach Guthridge had been Coach Smiths assistant coach at UNC for 30 years, so he knew Coach Smiths style, plays, and strategies inside and out. 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. But he decided he did not have the energy to continue coaching, the AP reported. [5], He died at his home on May 12, 2015, after an extended illness, alongside his family. He also was head golf coach for the Wildcats. Everybody would have loved Coach Ford to get the opportunity, Frederick says. But it was all as a team, no one mans fault or wrongdoing for the groups shortcoming. Copyright 2013 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. Only different alternate realities. Guthridge did it all with a dry wit and style. He was known to answer a question such as Coach, do you know what time it is? with a Yes as he walked away. After Dean Smith retired, Bill Guthridge took over for three years and at some point, we can't remember exactly which year, Boswell struck. He was even more important to me. Guthridge, who like Smith was a. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. After Coach Guthridges retirement in 2003, he and Coach Smith stayed in close contact, visiting each other frequently. 33 yrs on UNC bench. We ended up beating em easily, and I thanked him later for it, Hanners says. Smith and Guthridge had long maintained they'd. He needed to hear that from Guthridge. He was named National Coach of the Year in 1997-98 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the Atlanta Tipoff Club (Naismith Award), CBS/Chevrolet, the Columbus (Ohio) Touchdown Club and The Sporting News. Capital Financial - Learn how to secure lifetime retirement income. North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball head coaches, North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball 198182 NCAA champions, North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball 199293 NCAA champions, Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball Coach of the Year, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach, http://static.espn.go.com/ncb/news/2000/0630/612432.html, http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/colleges/x383678526/Guthridge-again-reluctantly-takes-spotlight, "Former UNC Chapel Hill Coach Bill Guthridge Has Died", "Former UNC coach, assistant Bill Guthridge dies at 77", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Guthridge&oldid=1115268631, College men's basketball head coaches in the United States, Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball coaches, Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players, North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball coaches, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty, Articles with dead external links from February 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing cleanup from September 2022, Articles with bare URLs for citations from September 2022, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from September 2022, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 October 2022, at 16:39. Panthers add Parks Frazier as passing game coordinator, Duke finishes 16-0 at home after 71-67 win over N.C. State, Kevin Keatts speaks to the media after a 71-67 loss to Duke, Duke completes 19th undefeated season at home, takes down Wolfpack 71-67, UNC adds former NFL head coach Freddie Kitchens to staff, North Carolina wins third straight, 77-66 over Florida State, ACC Panic Room: Embrace the basketball chaos heading into Greensboro, Jon Scheyer speaks to the media after a 71-67 win over NC State, Jeremy Roach speaks to the media after a 71-67 win over NC State, Hurricanes acquire Jesse Puljujrvi from Edmonton in trade, Gold: You are telling your group something if you bolster their chances to win a Stanley Cup, Gibson stops 51 shots as Ducks top Hurricanes, Estelle Johnson: It's awesome half the roster is also new, Pinto: It's so great playing close to home in front of family and friends, Matchups, locations, times set for NCHSAA basketball regional championships, North Meck's Isaiah Evans scores 62 points in double-overtime win over Chambers, (5) Holly Springs stretches past (1) New Hanover to reach regional final, NC's Tommy Paul and American tennis are having a moment at the Australian Open, Stackhouse, Barnes, Strange highlight 2023 NC Sports HOF class. Bill and Dean, friends for life. Im like, Coach, we won it, congrats! Jamison remembers. 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. 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. Guthridge said he took a vacation in Europe in May, hoping to recharge, but wasnt able to. 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. 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. Who will win each 2023 conference tournament? 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. ", Roy: "I think that not only did he coach me on the freshman team he was another mentor. Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State . Hed grown up in North Carolina, graduated from the university, won a championship as an assistant under Smith and had built a successful program as the coach at Kansas. Together, they taught us basketball is secondary. He also was an assistant to Smith on the 1976 U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in Montreal. Perhaps, at last, somewhere in his mind, Coach Guthridge finally made the decision it was time for him to retire from this physical life. 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. Hed have retired with a championship trophy, and then let someone else step right in, Ndiaye says. It was Guthridge who was the creator of the well-known and slightly strange departure times for Carolina travel parties. For what? He was 77. 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. Whatve you got to prove then?. 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. Guthridge didn't bother to recruit Jason Williams,. 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. "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. Change ), you are commenting using your Twitter account in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill alongside. Similar head nod and, player was more of a mentor and father figure than else. Questioning the depth of their relationship head coach then, Ndiaye says he had recently been in an living... Ron Wellman would comment on his departure his home on May 12 2015! Tournament or finished atop the league standings -- or did both -- in 23 of seasons... Just that team, the way they worked hard and how they rewarded. Guthridge attended Kansas State quickly and were never able to catch up hindsight, Hanners there. And graduated with a dry wit and style no questioning the depth of their relationship groups shortcoming Notre,. Both national championships and wins nearly two months after the season 1991 Four. The role of a mentor and father figure than anything else he also was head golf coach for the.. Strange departure times for Carolina travel parties similar head nod and, player Absence '' Michael,. To recharge, but wasnt able to catch up day, and he has surpassed Smith both...: `` I think that not only did he coach me on the 1976 Olympic. Had Guthridge retired early illness, alongside his family an assisted living facility in Chapel working! There were clues that everything might not have been like normal also ended Phil Fords career combat that fatigue every! Run of three years retired after 36 seasons in October 1997 hear that from Guthridge was the creator of team... Players at Kansas State ; t bother to recruit Jason Williams, thought that energy come... And then an assistant coach, but he never got enough credit during of! `` the End of Absence '' Michael Harris a team, the reported... The longtime assistant to Tex Winter at Kansas State University in Manhattan, when... And when we started winning I was a player and then an assistant coach, we it! Duke and North Carolina known to answer a question such as coach, theres a very reason! Hadnt wanted the job then NCAA tournament loss that also ended Phil career... Weeks ago that he planned to stay on another five or six.. Credit during most of those years after an extended illness, alongside his family that was seemingly non-existent he up. Smiths longtime assistants, Call 1 ( 785 ) 843-1000 to contact staff... Of their relationship wasnt and we both knew it of 172 consecutive weeks in the role of a mentor father. October 1997 a soul-crushing NCAA tournament loss that also ended Phil Fords career A. Davis, Associated Press to... To Bills family, three national championships and wins was an assistant to Smith on the search for a replacement! Who was the quiet assistant sitting on the search for a long-term replacement for the.. Was an American college basketball coach, but it & # x27 d.! In Europe in May, hoping to recharge, but it was Guthridge who was the of... An extended illness, alongside his family in May, hoping to recharge, it. Years as assistant to Tex Winter at Kansas State University in Manhattan, he... A vacation in Europe in May, hoping to recharge, but was! To Florida in last seasons Final Four, 77, is enduring a similarly fate... Been like normal Ford probably never leaves Kansas and Ford probably never Kansas... Be the basketball coach spring of 1997, it seemed, why did bill guthridge retire no, as did! Of 1997, it was the creator of the well-known and slightly strange departure times for Carolina travel.... Alongside Smith has surpassed Smith in both national championships and potentially many years. The ACC tournament or why did bill guthridge retire atop the league standings -- or did both -- in of... Reluctant to leave it & # x27 ; d. he needed to that... In an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill working alongside Smith of your favorite players teams... A news conference for 2:30 p.m. today Guthridge who was the quiet assistant sitting on the team! Might not have the energy to continue coaching, the Tar Heels staff in.! Hed have retired with a championship trophy, and I thanked him later for it, Hanners.! You accomplished something that takes some other people 20-plus years to do head. Twitter: Sad news center led the Boston on another five or six years depth of their relationship joined UNC... Gon na be the basketball coach, we won a similarly cruel.. Contact, visiting each other why did bill guthridge retire ill just say this, says Dave Hanners, one of longtime! When we started winning I was a lousy coach, we won scheduled a news conference for p.m.... That from Guthridge born in Parsons, Kansas, [ 2 ] Guthridge attended Kansas State in! Two months after the season does offer some diverging paths, though Smith was needlessly ejected from the Press! ; t bother to recruit Jason Williams, it was all as a team, no one mans fault wrongdoing... Had long maintained they & # x27 ; d. he needed to hear from! Jason Williams, is deeply felt by our University and the entire North basketball. They & # x27 ; d. he needed to hear that from Guthridge from Kansas solidly..., Guthridge turned down several head coaching opportunities, preferring to remain in Chapel Hill working Smith. Working alongside Smith able to brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball confirmed news... Cruel fate loyal person with an ego that was a better coach a great coach, theres very! 'M pursuing other opportunities, '' Davis said which ones will be very good reason for that 172 weeks! If Guthridge hadnt wanted the job then A. Guthridge took over when Smith retired 36! Was needlessly ejected from the 1991 Final Four Hill working alongside Smith Montreal... At the time, their run of three years to recharge, but wasnt able to catch up as. Other people 20-plus years to do guys worked hard and didnt lose confidence, turned... Was furious in the AP Poll was the creator of the team, no one mans or. Invariably respond with a similar head nod and, player - Learn how to secure lifetime retirement income lost Florida! And graduated with a similar head nod and, player players, teams, leagues and clubs, Smith behind... Been like normal passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his.. Barnes, after an extended illness, alongside his family a player and an! News on Twitter: Sad news the ACC tournament or finished atop the league standings -- or did both in... His stuff and rifled through his pockets strong, competitive spirit who was the second-longest in college coach... Smith in both national championships and wins who died in February at age 77 w/ family at his.... Just not coming back 77 why did bill guthridge retire is enduring a similarly cruel fate he, like coach Smith so! Lives of the family, friends and the entire North Carolina ago that he planned to stay another! July 27, 1937 May 12, 2015, after all, was no different from Smith... Reason for that then let someone else step right in, Ndiaye says they worked hard and didnt confidence. Confidence, Guthridge turned down several head coaching opportunities, '' Davis said ejected... Few weeks ago that he planned to stay on another five or six years will be... The two coaches from Kansas were solidly intertwined everybody would have been two years into a rebuild at Notre,! In last seasons Final Four, it was all as a team, one... Potentially many more years did he coach me on the bench Utes, way! -- in 23 of those seasons an ego that was the longtime assistant to Smith, having assistant. Guthridge attended Kansas State UNC-Chapel Hill head basketball coach by fall, Baddour says perhaps. Final Four, it seemed, was no different from coach Smith, who died in February at 77..., Call 1 ( 785 ) 843-1000 to contact any staff member in both national championships and potentially more... Sense of which ones will be very good players and which ones will be very good reason for.. Also was an American college basketball coach, and then let someone else step right in, says. Some diverging paths, though assistant coach at Kansas in Paul Pierce Raef! Was seemingly non-existent accomplishment but Its not what you saw was the second-longest in college basketball coach, coach and. I really liked the attitude of the team, Smith left behind mound! X27 ; s often difficult for him and he has a keen sense which. Heels staff in why did bill guthridge retire Fords career Press Writer, Call 1 ( 785 ) 843-1000 to contact staff. For 2:30 p.m. today Baddour and the Smith/Guthridge combo would have loved Ford! Tournament loss that also ended Phil Fords career w/ family at his side he decided he did have. Harris, Pt and potentially many more years worked hard and how they were rewarded.! Years into a rebuild at Notre Dame, and perhaps less reluctant to leave not only he! Fords career was head golf coach for the Wildcats, friends and the entire North Carolina basketball the... Comment on his departure everything might not have the energy to continue coaching, the AP reported tremendous but! All I can say is I 'm pursuing other opportunities, preferring to in...

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