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Going Home Again: Roy Williams, the North Carolina Tar Heels, and a Season to Remember
As he traveled across the state of North Carolina in the summer of 2003, Roy Williams delivered a repetitive refrain to the thousands of University of North Carolina basketball fans who packed his public "Ol' Roy ain't that good."
Carolina fans didn't care to hear it, because they firmly believed that ol' Roy was, indeed, more than good-he was great. He was the prodigal son who served as Dean Smith's assistant coach, turned down the Carolina job in 2000, and finally accepted it in April of 2003. Williams became the Tar Heels' head coach after fifteen spectacular years at Kansas, and the immediate expectation was that he would find similar success in Chapel Hill, a once-proud program that had stumbled under former head coach Matt Doherty. But Williams knew something that it would take casual fans months to Teaching the team of moody basketball players to play winning basketball would be about much more than simply what happened on the court. Williams had established a successful program at Kansas by connecting with the players he recruited over their four-year careers. At Carolina, he had less than twelve months to turn a group of talented individuals into a basketball team that could function at the highest level of NCAA competition, the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In the tradition of John Feinstein's A Season on the Brink comes GOING HOME AGAIN, the story of Roy Williams's first season as North Carolina's head basketball coach. Author Adam Lucas takes you inside the locker room and behind the scenes with the nation's most revered basketball program, in a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the country's most secretive college sports dynasties.
Carolina fans didn't care to hear it, because they firmly believed that ol' Roy was, indeed, more than good-he was great. He was the prodigal son who served as Dean Smith's assistant coach, turned down the Carolina job in 2000, and finally accepted it in April of 2003. Williams became the Tar Heels' head coach after fifteen spectacular years at Kansas, and the immediate expectation was that he would find similar success in Chapel Hill, a once-proud program that had stumbled under former head coach Matt Doherty. But Williams knew something that it would take casual fans months to Teaching the team of moody basketball players to play winning basketball would be about much more than simply what happened on the court. Williams had established a successful program at Kansas by connecting with the players he recruited over their four-year careers. At Carolina, he had less than twelve months to turn a group of talented individuals into a basketball team that could function at the highest level of NCAA competition, the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In the tradition of John Feinstein's A Season on the Brink comes GOING HOME AGAIN, the story of Roy Williams's first season as North Carolina's head basketball coach. Author Adam Lucas takes you inside the locker room and behind the scenes with the nation's most revered basketball program, in a rare glimpse into the inner workings of one of the country's most secretive college sports dynasties.
- GenresBasketballSports
252 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 2, 2026
Read a lot of Coaches books. This one gives some insights into what went on during this time periods with UNC. I liked the blow by blow stuff and the behind the scenes things I learned.
April 25, 2016
I'm slogging my way through Anna Kerenina right now, so I decided to finish this book off on the side, whenever I needed a break. I had started reading it probably five years ago, but abandoned it soon after. It was one of those books where it's fun to have on your shelf, but without much literary value. Luckily, I never took the bookmark out of it.
I generally like Adam Lucas's writing, and I read his columns throughout the basketball season. Those are better than this book. Nonetheless, I still learned a decent amount from this book. I now better understand McCants, who has been a central figure in the academic scandal. I now understand some of the episodes that shaped the defense Roy called in the last seconds of the NCAA championship game a few weeks ago. And I learned how Donald Trump was once celebrated by the Cameron Crazies back in the day. All worthwhile insights.
I generally like Adam Lucas's writing, and I read his columns throughout the basketball season. Those are better than this book. Nonetheless, I still learned a decent amount from this book. I now better understand McCants, who has been a central figure in the academic scandal. I now understand some of the episodes that shaped the defense Roy called in the last seconds of the NCAA championship game a few weeks ago. And I learned how Donald Trump was once celebrated by the Cameron Crazies back in the day. All worthwhile insights.
June 16, 2008
LOVE the Tar Heels. LOVED Roy Williams. LOVED this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews