May 1, 2003

By Adam Lucas

Like most basketball coaches, Roy Williams is used to encouraging his players to keep their hands up.

But he's not used to doing it himself.

Williams was just outside of Reagan National Airport in Washington last night when he decided he might be able to catch an earlier flight. To see if it was a possibility, he needed to pull out the Official Airline Guide, a document that lists all regularly-scheduled flights. It's one of the staples of any college coach's briefcase, as they frequently have to juggle their travel plans.

The new Tar Heel head coach pulled his car off the road a couple hundred yards away from the airport to get the OAG out of his trunk when he realized that two patrol cars with their blue lights flashing were just ahead of him. Reagan Airport is presently under intensified security restrictions, and police officers don't usually take kindly to folks pulling off the road within sight of the airport.

"I just wanted to get my OAG out of the trunk," Williams said Thursday morning. "But those two guys didn't take it too nicely that I pulled off the road. I'm standing there with my hands up and the guy puts his hand on his hip, and I'm thinking, 'Whoa.' But they were very nice and one of them told me congratulations and good luck. The amount of response we've gotten like that has been really big."

Williams has seen plenty of airports in the past few days, as recruiting trips have taken him to 11 states in the past six days. Texas over the weekend, Atlanta earlier this week, Washington yesterday--it's the life of a major college basketball coach.

The Carolina head coach is scouring the country for future Tar Heels, including keeping his eyes open for players who can help immediately.

"I'd like to [sign another player]," he said. "I don't know that we can find somebody. I don't want to take somebody who can't really help us. I don't want to take an average guy because you can get too many average guys."

There aren't many average players already on the Tar Heel roster, however. Most of those players have had occasional chances to get to know their new coach, including a pair of tongue-dragging individual workouts in April that reinforced to the returning players that they'll need to be in top physical condition before practice opens in October.

The players are also getting acquainted with the rest of the coaching staff. That staff has been the topic of significant speculation in the past few days as observers try to pin down who will occupy the third assistant's position. Williams' third assistant at Kansas, Ben Miller, is in a holding pattern with new Jayhawks coach Bill Self as he waits to find out if he'll be a part of the new KU staff. The perception was that if Miller stayed in Lawrence, it could have created an opening on the UNC bench.

As it turns out, according to Williams, all anyone had to do was ask him to find out the answer.

"There is only one source for Carolina basketball and that's me," he said. "The third position has been filled. There is no question Jerod Haase is going to be on the floor coaching.

"At Kansas last fall I made a decision to rotate that third spot beginning with the 2003-04 year. I've had those guys with me a long time. I need to get Jerod and C.B. [McGrath] some coaching experience. I informed Jerod at that time he would be coming on the court and Ben would be going off. I made that promise to Jerod and when I came to Carolina I wanted to keep that promise."

Haase, who wrote a book entitled "Floor Burns" after his 1996-97 season with the Jayhawks, has earned Williams' respect while serving as an administrative assistant.

"There's nothing you can give him that he can't do," Williams said. "If you put him in charge of camp, he'll do a great job. If you put him in the gym with a six-year old, he'll do a great job. Our players love him, and he's as competitive a kid as I've ever been around. He's the only player I've ever coached who I thought hurt as badly as I did when we lost, and that includes ten years as an assistant here."

If Miller stays at KU, Williams said he is "considering a couple other options" for his staff. When asked if that included Phil Ford, he said, "Yes."

Williams, Haase, and Carolina assistants Joe Holladay and Steve Robinson will lead the Heels into what should be an extremely competitive schedule. Williams said he expects the slate to include home games with Connecticut, Miami, Maine, and Old Dominion, plus a road trip to Kentucky and a game against Davidson in Charlotte. The Heels will also play in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Carolina is also trying to work out a game near the hometowns of Jawad Williams and Raymond Felton. Williams has a rule that he won't play a game during a player's senior year near that player's hometown, because he once scheduled a senior game for Drew Gooden in Oakland, only to see Gooden leave early for the NBA before his senior year.

Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.