University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Kansas A Matchup Of Friends
November 27, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2002
By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Roy Williams of Kansas and Matt Doherty of North Carolina go back almost 25 years.
One recruited the other. One worked for the other. Their programs, cornerstones of college basketball, are intertwined. That makes Wednesday night's Preseason NIT between the schools particularly intriguing.
The No. 2 Jayhawks go against Carolina in the second game of the doubleheader. In the opener, No. 8 Florida faces Stanford.
"You never like to coach against your brother," Doherty said. "That's what this feels like."
Williams was a longtime assistant to coach Dean Smith (who played at Kansas) at North Carolina when he recruited Doherty for the Michael Jordan Tar Heels. "He had a simple job," Williams cracked. "Just pass the ball to Michael."
Later, Williams hired Doherty as his assistant at Kansas, where the two spent seven years together. After Doherty moved on to Notre Dame, the North Carolina job opened and he thought Williams would return to Chapel Hill. So did Williams.
"I was so messed up, I didn't know if the sun would come up the next morning," Williams said. "Until I made the decision to stay at Kansas, it was the worst seven days I could have experienced."
Meanwhile, Doherty's life was about to take a dramatic turn.
"I was on a golf course at South Bend, 15th hole, on the fringe," Doherty said. He got a call about the opening and promptly hit into a sand trap.
The next day, he signed a new contract at Notre Dame that contained two escape clauses - one for Kansas, the other for North Carolina. Then he left on vacation.
"My first thought was that Coach Williams would definitely take that job," Doherty said. "It was a no-brainer."
He called Smith and asked what he should do if Kansas called. Smith told him he was still on North Carolina's list, that Williams-to-Chapel Hill was not a done deal.
Two days later, Doherty was offered the job. He hesitated, saying he wanted to talk to his wife. "Coach Smith looked at me and said, `Two days ago, you told me it was a no-brainer."'
Doherty returned to his basketball roots and was Coach of the Year in his first season when the Tar Heels won 26 games. Then came an 8-20 disaster last season.
Williams stayed in touch.
"I called him a lot more last year than I did the year before," he said. "I let him know I supported him and what he was trying to do."
Now they get to renew acquaintances up close. North Carolina (3-0) equipped with a team of mostly freshmen and sophomores, the youngest team in the country, and Kansas (2-0) coming off a Final Four with great expectations. It is a dilemma for Williams.
"We are very similar," Williams said. "Our terminology is the same. We can't call out plays. They'll know them."
Kansas starts seniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich with three sophomores - Keith Langford, Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien. North Carolina's reconstruction centers on three freshmen starters - Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton and Sean May.
Florida (3-0) is similar to the Tar Heels, starting two freshmen, Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson, and sophomore David Lee alongside seniors Matt Bonner and Justin Hamilton.
"This tournament can do nothing but help our team," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "We'll walk out of the Garden Friday night finding out a whole lot more about our team."
Stanford coach Mike Montgomery comes in four wins away from 500 for his career. The Cardinal (3-0) expect a foot race with the Gators.
"Florida presents a difficult task," Montgomery said. "They love to run. That may be a problem for us. It's a difficult test. It will be a great experience to see what we need to work on and do better."
