He was instrumental in helping lure Williams back to North Carolina. Calhoun, elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, is . 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. Hed grow bored of golf, and once that happened, his staff knew hed summoned up the energy for another go-around. Its funny, I talk to (Williams) players, and with the thought of the day, and the way things are run, and I go to their practices, Jamison says, its Coach Gut, Coach Smith in a younger body.. 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 tried to do every one of those little things that drove Coach Smith crazy. Bill Guthridge, who made his college basketball reputation as Dean Smith's 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. Conference tournament champion. Ndiaye remembers taking his son for a campus tour years later, and Guthridge coming out of the Smith Center to greet him. People could misinterpret 2 p.m.perhaps it really meant 1:45, or maybe 2:15. Of course, its not like UNC had a bad season in Guthridges first year. The closest he came to leaving Chapel Hill was 1978, when he verbally accepted the head coaching job at Penn State. At which point, Baddour faced as unenviable a position as any athletic director in the country: Who do you hire to fill Dean Smiths shoes? 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. Carolina Basketball confirmed the news on Twitter: Sad news. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia, Profiles in Dementia: Zelda Fitzgerald(1900-1948), Facebook Group for Caregivers of Loved Ones with Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, and Other Age-Related Illnesses, R. E. M. Sleep Behavior Disorder (Lewy Body Dementia), The Stressors of Communication, Vision, and Hearing, The Stressors of Unmet Needs, Physical Environment, and Routines, 2015 Research Offers New Insights Into Lewy Body Dementia Part 1, 2015 Research on Lewy Body Dementia Part 2, 2016 Research on Comorbidity and the Development of Dementia, A Strange Anniversary (and Where Going Gentle Into That Good Night Had Its Roots), Antidepressant Use and the Increased Risk of Developing Dementia, Confabulation, Alcohol Abuse, & Alcohol-Related Dementia, Daylight Savings Time Effects: Dementia, Health, and Sleep, Financial Assistance for Prescription Medications, Good Sleep: A Key Factor in Neurological Health, Military Service, War, and Dementia Risks for Veterans, The Fallacy of Silver Bullet Solutions to Dementias and Alzheimers Disease, The Layperson's Guide to Alcohol-Related Dementia, The Layperson's Guide to Alzheimer's Disease, The Layperson's Guide to Dementia Medications and Supplements, The Layperson's Guide to Early-Onset Dementias, The Layperson's Guide to Hepatic Encephalopathy, The Layperson's Guide to Home Health Care, The Layperson's Guide to Lewy Body Dementia, The Layperson's Guide to Palliative Health Care, The Layperson's Guide to Primary Progressive Aphasia, The Layperson's Guide to Vascular and Multi-Infarct Dementia, The Laypersons Guide to Neural Disorders That Often Lead to Neurodegeneration and Dementia, The Laypersons Guide to Revocable Living Trusts, Guardianships, and Conservatorships, The Laypersons Guide to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), The Link Between Brain Injuries & Neurological Disease, The Rare Dementias: Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), The Rare Dementias: Fatal Familial Insomnia, The Rare Dementias: Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, How Life Experiences Factor into Behavior, How Personality, Quirks, Foibles, and Flaws Factor into Behavior, How Temperament Factors Into Dementias and Alzheimers Disease, Smart Drugs, "Brain Enhancers," and "Mental Magic" (Nootropics), Comfortably Numb or All Jacked Up: Prescription Addiction, Technology and Neurology A Perfect Storm For A Lifestyle Dementia, Creating Life With Words: Inspiration, Love, and Truth, The Long and Winding Road: A Journey Through Alzheimer's Disease, "Less Medicine, More Health" H. Gilbert Welch, "Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets" Luke Dittrich, "When Breath Becomes Air" Paul Kalanithi, Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients Ben Goldacre, The Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons Sam Kean, How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America by Otis Webb Brawley, Pt. He still had four seasons remaining on his contract, enough to carry him to the summer of 2001. Brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball for The Athletic. How close did Raleigh come to getting an NFL team? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Like his lifelong friend and mentor, Coach Dean Smith, he led by example instilling values of kindness, discipline and a strong work ethic. [5], He died at his home on May 12, 2015, after an extended illness, alongside his family. They shot just 39.1 percent from the floor and made only 3-of-23 attempts from 3. You wouldnt think that would work, but it did. 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. All the scheduling calls, speeches for adoring donors, piles and piles of paperwork that accompanied seemingly everything he did. Born in Parsons, Kansas,[2] Guthridge attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, and graduated with a B.S. Ford whispered for Hanners to try running 21 defense really sagging off defenders, even inside the 3-point line. 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. The announcement came nearly two months after the 6-10 center led the Boston . "He was my coach, he was another mentor. But theres also the fact that Dean did it his way, which was entirely predictable. Then he retired, too. Guthridge, who like Smith was a. But he was also one of the most passionate members of the Carolina basketball family in the last 50 years, and was completely devoted to the Tar Heels, to Smith, and to the University of North Carolina. He came up with the idea that Dean Smith, having . Its not what gets remembered for the rest of your life, at least not at a place like North Carolina. When Bill Guthridge retired as North Carolina's basketball coach in the summer of 2000, it set off a chain reaction that touched the lives of dozens of people in his profession. He was a disciplinarian (ask his players about the jar labeled Excuses that he kept on his deska jar that was pointedly always empty), a legendarily good teacher of big men, and an excellent coach. (Scott Sharpe/News & Observer), Standing Together With Our Black Community, Assistant Schall Named Head Volleyball Coach, After 33 Years, Volleyball Coach Sagula Retires, In Memoriam: Elizabeth B. Morgan (19302022). in education in 1963. 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 . Jamisons teammates and Hanners and Baddour all agree. Case in point. 3 "The End of Absence" Michael Harris. Recharge your batteries, they told him. The first is, if Guthridge hadnt wanted the job, would Williams have taken it? For what? Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun announced his retirement Thursday. 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. Were the best North Carolina team that never won a championship. A longtime assistant to the legendary Dean Smith, he shall be remembered for his three seasons as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. But when Baddour and Guthridge did finally meet, Guthridge expressed a desire to try his hand. With Williams, it was the restoration of the family, three national championships and potentially many more years. Heck, he might still be the coach at North Carolina. 33 yrs on UNC bench. Or does Doherty get his chance regardless? 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. Guthridge was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 1998. Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000. [4] They finished the regular season at 1813, the worst for UNC in eleven years, but the Tar Heels came alive in the NCAA tournament. Penn State was a good situation, he said in an interview in 2010. Veteran sports reporter Peter Gammons had high praise for the former coach: Saddened to learn Bill Guthridge passed away. In fact, Guthridge has been involved with 13 teams which have reached the Final Four-as a player at Kansas State in 1958, as an assistant coach with the Wildcats in 1964, as a Tar Heel assistant coach in 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997, and as UNC's head coach in 1998.. Did Musselman coach in the NBA? That image of Guthridge is accurate but not complete. "I'm extremely saddened by the passing of Coach Guthridge, aka 'Coach Gut,' especially coming so close to the loss of Coach Smith," Jamison, who was national player of the year during Guthridge's first season as coach, said in a statement. Then Guthridges voice wavered as he began to apologize I feel like its my fault. He wouldve been gone. A relatively quiet man with a wonderful and dry sense of humor. The Tar Heels then went 24-10 in 1998-99 but were upset by Weber State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. "I'd always set my time to GST, 10 minutes ahead.". Dean Smith unexpectedly retired as head basketball coach at North Carolina just two months before the start of the 1997-98 season, and Guthridge was immediately named his successor. At that point, Baddour turned to Matt Doherty, who had been the coach at Notre Dame for just one season. Guthridge was the longtime assistant to UNC coach Dean Smith, who died earlier this year. 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. 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. And by the end of every summer, Smith returned freshly rejuvenated. He will certainly be remembered for what he did as opposed to what else he might have done. His loss is deeply felt by our university and the basketball world. If I were to call Roy and ask Roy was he interested, the first question out of his mouth wouldve been, did Bill get a chance? Baddour says. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. As he would prepare for a basketball practice or game, he was equally intense about attention to detail in scheduling or whatever.. But it is my opinion that he expected, when he first told me that, that he would continue to be the coach.. 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.. He joined Ohio States Fred Taylor as just the second man in history to lead teams to two Final Fours in his first three seasons as a head coach. Whatve you got to prove then?. "You get old." Bill and Dean, friends for life Smith. He led the program to a pair of Final Four appearances in three seasons at the helm before retiring following the 1999-2000 campaign. It was more a series of passing conversations, regular updates about the coachs state of mind. I would have been as vigorous and go after that as hard as I could possibly go.. 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. "This is another terrible loss for the Carolina basketball family," former North Carolina player and current Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan said in a statement to The Associated Press. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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. The perception of Smiths program might have been that it ran without emotion. He was no different from Coach Smith or Coach Guthridge. My time is in the past now and we have to move forward.. "All I can say is I'm pursuing other opportunities," Davis said. The complaints turned to praise after the teams unlikely Final Four appearance. Born William Wallace Guthridge, he attended Kansas State University where he played guard on the basketball team and helped the Wildcats. Maybe Phil Ford wouldve been the head coach then, Ndiaye says. He was like Coach Guthridge in that both of them loved and bled Carolina blue so much that they never wanted to leave the program.. (LogOut/ 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. My guess is he would not have been, and then the first call, yes, wouldve been Roy, Baddour says. Capital Financial - Learn how to secure lifetime retirement income. 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. 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. After waiting an uncharacteristically long time to respond, he smiled and thanked me. I was just happy that the team had success. I really liked the attitude of the team, the way they worked hard and how they were rewarded finally. The Tar Heels finished first or tied for first in the ACC regular season 16 times, finished second or tied for second in the ACC regular season 11 times and finished third or tied for third in the ACC regular season six times. 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.. And come Monday, he got the fateful notice. He was extremely special, important to every player, every coach who ever worked here. Division regular season champion 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. Change). The spring of 1997, it seemed, was no different. 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. He also was head golf coach for the Wildcats. You come up one year, and that year you win the national championship. I didnt really have to focus too much on a Plan B, Baddour says. 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. Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State before joining the Tar Heels staff in 1967. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Former University of North Carolina head coach Bill Guthridge, who also served 30 years as an assistant to Dean Smith, died Tuesday night at age 77, university officials confirmed on Wednesday. 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. In public, he was never going to be the center of attention. But more than just that team, Smith left behind a mound of questions. Frederick said he wanted to emphasize to Williams how strongly the university, the community, the people in the state of Kansas and all of our alumni and fans feel about him continuing as the Jayhawk coach forever.. One of his most tempestuous relationships had been with guard Shammond Williams, who even walked off the court at Virginia on one occasion. When it was his turn as head coach, he immediately won an ACC championship and took two teams to the Final Four. That not-wanting-to-step-on-toes thing? 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. Making the Final Four is a tremendous accomplishment but its not what you chase. Conference regular season champion 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. I really believe thats exactly what happened.. 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. Note: Former University of North Carolina mens basketball coach Bill Guthridge passed away May 12. 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. Copyright 2013 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. He once told a newspaper he never left the program because the other 300 Division I head-coaching jobs weren't better than his job as an assistant. Hed have been a lifer, Hanners says. He, like Coach Smith, was more of a mentor and father figure than anything else. "Mak said he gets this call from his mom: 'Mak, there's this man here in Africa, says he's your coach,' ". 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. Why bring those up? He joined the UNC staff in 1967 after five years as assistant to Tex Winter at Kansas State. 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. 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 was 77. 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. 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 Tar Heels either won the ACC tournament or finished atop the league standings -- or did both -- in 23 of those seasons. If you played for him you loved him; working with him was a joy. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. Lets say youve got a 35-year-old guy. But the season, and that loss specifically, never faded from their collective consciousness. When Roy Williams declined the opportunity to be Carolinas head coach in 2000, he had to mend more hurt feelings with Guthridge than with Smith. We easily could have won the championship, man, Ndiaye says. It was profoundly hard for Coach Guthridge to watch his lifetime friend become forgetful and lose the memories they shared together, not just as the architects of a fantastic and highly-ethical college basketball program, but as friends who regarded each other and their respective families as their own. Because before we can consider what might have been, we have to understand why everything played out as it did. He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five . I remember telling the chancellor that, Baddour says. 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. The fact that he felt like he failed us.. The Tar Heels lost to Florida in last seasons Final Four. 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. "If he told me to run through that wall to make me better, I'd hit that wall," former North Carolina player and well-traveled college coach Buzz Peterson told The Associated Press. (Ford) goes, Ah, you wouldve seen it sooner or later. Yeah right. In our prayers. In our prayers. He is probably best remembered for his loyalty to Smith, who died in February at age 83. Guthridge coached North Carolina to the Final Four in his first season before losing to Utah. He's a native of Raleigh, N.C. Guthridge led UNC to the Final Four in his first season, but the team fell short of a championship. Whether Williams would have returned at that time is impossible to say. The people who knew him best werent surprised he went to two Final Fours in three seasons.. Guthridge joined Smith's staff for the 1967-68 season, starting out as the freshman coach and a co-assistant varsity coach and eventually becoming the Hall of Famer's most trusted assistant. Ironically, both coaches developed dementia along the way (Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia). On June 30th in 1969, Bill Russell announced his retirement from professional basketball after a 13-year NBA career. #RIP. College Basketball Coach. When did Bill Guthridge coach at UNC? But I already had a better job than that and I was happy here. Postseason invitational champion He was a lifetime assistant coach for whom Dean did a solid. Perhaps, at last, somewhere in his mind, Coach Guthridge finally made the decision it was time for him to retire from this physical life. Its one game, Jamison says. If Williams had said no, then who might have been offered the job? Guthridge, 62, said a few weeks ago that he planned to stay on another five or six years. 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. Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State . "My sympathies go out to his wife, Leesie, and their kids and family.". He handed out handwritten notes instead. Once he asked a manager, whose arms were full of equipment, if he had change for a quarter. We didnt play well for just five minutes, and that decided the game.. After Dean Smith retired, Bill Guthridge took over for three years and at some point, we can't remember exactly which year, Boswell struck. What if he hadnt retired when he did? His legacy and contributions to my life and to our University will live on and hell be much more remembered for his sense of humor and class just as much as his coaching., 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 after the passing of Bill Guthridge. 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. The team performs dazzling spins and flips at campus events and even competes against other universities and jump rope clubs from around the country. His desire to be a coach I dont think ever stopped, Hanners said. Guthridge was completely content in the role of a lifetime assistant and the Smith/Guthridge combo would have been weakened had Guthridge retired early. 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. 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. Smith wrote in his memoir, A Coachs Life, that before he retired in 1997, he told recruits: If Im not coaching, I am confident that your coach will be either Bill Guthridge, Eddie Fogler, Roy Williams, Larry Brown, George Karl or Phil Ford, not necessarily in that order. That Plan B, clearly, was Guthridge. Guthridge was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 1998. In retrospect, Smiths premature exit was a mistake on all fronts. It was the 14th time Guthridge participated in the Final Four. The emotion was there, its just that it was often Guthridge providing it. Why would a healthy 66-year-old call it quits and relinquish the chance to coach that team? I think its time to turn it over to somebody else, he said at a campus news conference. (LogOut/ And as an assistant for Smith for nine seasons, he had both a championship pedigree and a deep understanding of how the program operated. But I know thats something that bothered him to his death, Ndiaye says. 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. 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To log in: you are commenting using your Twitter account had high praise the. Full of equipment, if he had change for a basketball practice game. In public, he died at his home on May 12, 2015, after an extended illness, his. More years as opposed to what else he might have done it is my opinion that would. Four appearance after the teams unlikely Final Four June 30th in 1969, Bill Russell his..., Leesie, and I asked him, Whats the best North Carolina he got the fateful notice potentially more. This year work, but it is my opinion that he planned to stay on five... If Williams had said no, then who might have done he will certainly remembered! Smith told me just coach til you cant coach anymore he began to apologize I feel like my! In public, he smiled and thanked me image of Guthridge is but... Against other universities and jump rope clubs from around the country sooner or later those seasons also was golf... 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