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. Guthridge also gave to the University away from basketball. On June 30th in 1969, Bill Russell announced his retirement from professional basketball after a 13-year NBA career. 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. Guthridge said he took a vacation in Europe in May, hoping to recharge, but wasnt able to. Ironically, both coaches developed dementia along the way (Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia). He was and has been overshadowed and a bit lost in the shuffle of UNC basketball coaches by his lifelong friend, former UNC head coach Dean Smith (1961 to 1997), and current UNC head coach Roy Williams, who was an assistant coach along with Guthridge at UNC from 1978 to 1988. You will be missed. He took the team to the NCAA final Four twice and was named national coach of the year in 1998, before retiring in 2000.[1]. Its very much a possibility, everyone admits. He would sneak into practices, hide way up in the rafters so as not to be seen. 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. They shot just 39.1 percent from the floor and made only 3-of-23 attempts from 3. Heck, he might still be the coach at North Carolina. 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. If my answer was no, then Roy wouldve had absolutely zero interest. That said, its worth remembering that he told Williams just a few years ago that perhaps 66 was too early to retire, given his near flawless health at the time. In his first year as head coach, he led the the team . Its funny that were doing this story, Jamison says. Bill and Dean, friends for life. Williams famously turned him down, opting to remain at Kansas, where hed built a Carolina-esque family dynamic (at Smiths alma mater, to boot). At the time, their run of 172 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history. Before their first-round exit in 2021, this was the only time that the Tar Heels failed to win a game in the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams (and dropped first-round byes) in 1985. He always knew what he was doing.. Coach Smith always had a plan. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. 33 yrs on UNC bench. 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. 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. All rights reserved. He came up with the idea that Dean Smith, having . 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. Smith, who attended Guthridges retirement announcement, called the day a celebration of a fantastic career. Conference regular season champion 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. But when Guthridge retired, Williamsthen playing with the Seattle Sonicsmade the effort to find a commercial flight to Chapel . 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. What you saw was the quiet assistant sitting on the bench. 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. 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. 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. 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. But against the Utes, the Tar Heels fell behind quickly and were never able to catch up. Then he retired, too. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He never called me at home, unless it was something dire, Hanners says, but he said, How would you feel about meeting me in the office early on Monday at 7 to go over some things before everyone gets there? Hanners obliged, trying to ease Guthridges feeling that he was somewhat out of touch. Lets say youve got a 35-year-old guy. The protege was named Naismith College Coach of the Year in his first season as Smith's replacement. Graduate of the University of North Carolina. As a coach, he was stubbornly competitive. He was a perfect sidekick for Coach Smith. And with Guthridge having gotten his shot, there would have been no issues of whose turn it was. 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. SCNext Top 25: Ranking the best high school boys' basketball teams in the 2022-23 season, Brown: There will never be another Bill Guthridge. But if Williams had said no, as he did two years later, would Ford have been tapped for the job then? Doherty was criticized from the moment he was hired, for breaking somewhat from Smith and Guthridges family dynamic; that scrutiny only intensified in his second season, when UNC bottomed out to a program-worst record of 8-20. Everybody would have loved Coach Ford to get the opportunity, Frederick says. Copyright 2013 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. He played or coached in 14 Final Fours, more than any person in NCAA history. Really, a championship or not is the only major differentiator between Smith and Guthridge. He was an unbelievable assistant to Coach Smith. He was instrumental in helping lure Williams back to North Carolina. His legacy lives on in each of the players who were privileged to call him Coach and countless Tar Heels and people across the nation who admired him. We offer our deepest condolences to the Guthridge family as they grieve the loss of a wonderful husband and father.. Guthridge would still call on Smith, after all, to speak to the team at certain times. 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. As good a person as I ever met. It was very, very much real and something Smith had to balance with the sentiment that maybe he had left too soon. 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. 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. 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. The Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program is one of the first research programs focused exclusively on addressing the gap in child and adolescent mental health services. He had recently been in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill. School officials stressed that Guthridge was not merely a placeholder for then-Kansas coach Roy Williams, signing him to a five-year contract. A tremendously loyal person with an ego that was seemingly non-existent. Guthridge was completely content in the role of a lifetime assistant and the Smith/Guthridge combo would have been weakened had Guthridge retired early. Yeah, Id say that was more likely than unlikely., I wouldve gone to where I went two years later, he says. 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. He is one of five people to have appeared in the Final Four as both a player and coach. 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. That's exactly what they did. I mean, the Plan B was there.. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. When his Tar Heels defeated Tulsa to earn a Final Four berth, the postgame locker room was one of the most emotional in the modern era, due at least partially to the devotion his players had for Guthridge and their joy in relievingat least for a momentthe criticism hed taken during the season. Coach Smith began showing signs of cognitive impairment before Coach Guthridge did. 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. And so even as the coachs hair changed from dark brown to gray to white, his position never did. 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. It was more a series of passing conversations, regular updates about the coachs state of mind. 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. That team reached the Final Four and almost reached the title game even though Jamison and Williams missed 22 field-goal attempts in a 65-59 semifinal loss to Utah. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. The people who knew him best werent surprised he went to two Final Fours in three seasons.. He coached 1997-98 National Player of the Year Antawn Jamison 99 and 1998-99 NBA Rookie of the Year Vince Carter 99, both of whom entered the NBA draft after their junior seasons. I dont think I have ever heard of anyone that didnt like and respect Bill Guthridge. "This is a tremendous loss for our basketball program and entire community.". Carolina Jump Rope is making their fellow Tar Heel rethink what it means to jump rope. 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. Guthridge's did, too, and during Smith's funeral and memorial services, Williams, knowing the end could be near, told former players and current ones to spend time with Guthridge. Says losing Guthridge "is another tremendous loss. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. Current coach Roy Williams referenced Smith's death, which occurred on Feb. 7 of this year, when commenting onGuthridge, via Andrew Carter of theCharlotte Observer: Here's Roy. He would, however, have just lost his three best players at Kansas in Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz and Billy Thomas. Just like Smith, Guthridge found a way to impact his players beyond teaching them offensive and defensive principles. 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. He was no different from Coach Smith or Coach Guthridge. He was known to answer a question such as Coach, do you know what time it is? with a Yes as he walked away. In 2000, the Tar Heels struggled in the regular season, falling out of the polls for the first time since the start of the 199091 season. "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.". What happened, happened. North Carolina made 10 trips to the Final Four and won two national championships during the time Smith and Guthridge spent together. Peterson -- who roomed with Jordan on those early 1980s teams -- said Guthridge kept the program going off the court, with the assistant making him run the school's golf course at 6 a.m. as punishment for once being late. Following the 199798 season, several organizations named him National Coach of the Year and he received the Naismith College Coach of the Year award. Ndiaye remembers taking his son for a campus tour years later, and Guthridge coming out of the Smith Center to greet him. In retrospect, Smiths premature exit was a mistake on all fronts. The Tar Heels lost to Florida in last seasons Final Four. Smith is now 82 and with some health issues. 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. 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. Maybe Phil Ford wouldve been the head coach then, Ndiaye says. When Smith retired as Division I's winningest men's coach shortly before the 1997-98 season, Guthridge was promoted to replace him, and he guided the Tar Heels to two Final Fours in three seasons. Thats impossible to know, but Williams was also returning a top-five team, one that was expected to compete for a championship in its own right. That group, fresh off a Final Four appearance, was tabbed as the preseason No. That aspect of his character first surfaced in 1972, when the University of North Carolina basketball coach left Tar Heel fans bewildered by announcing that he wanted junior star forward Robert McAdoo to turn pro rather than return for the 1972-73 season. Because that was supposed to be something that we accomplished together.. 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. 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. (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. Even 22 years after turning down the Nittany Lions, Guthridge still couldnt quite bear to leave. 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. Why would a healthy 66-year-old call it quits and relinquish the chance to coach that team? He wouldve been gone. I would lean a little bit toward the side of Bill saying, Look, Im not on the front end of my career, its great to have done this, what a way to go out, Baddour says. He was even more important to me. 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. And I think he probably had second thoughts, because at what point was it really a danger? 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. Dean Smiths hourglass, it seemed, had an endless amount of sand. 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