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. (LogOut/ He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five . In his 33 seasons at Carolina, the Tar Heels won two NCAA championships, in 1982 and 1993; played in 12 Final Fours; won the ACC Tournament championship 13 times; and played in the ACC Tournament championship game a total of 22 times. Following the 199798 season, several organizations named him National Coach of the Year and he received the Naismith College Coach of the Year award. Guthridge also took a less talented team to the Final Four in 2000. Think about it: Youve been an assistant coach for 30-plus years. Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000. 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. That was quelled, but the chancellor had another thought: To the chancellor and many fans Williams was the obvious choice to succeed Smith. After that loss, Carter and Jamison turned pro. 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. I needed Bill to tell me, Dick, yes, I want to do this, Baddour says, and he was clear that he wanted to.. Its not what gets remembered for the rest of your life, at least not at a place like North Carolina. 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. Chapel Hill, N.C. For all of his wins and championships, the Olympic gold medal, tactical innovations, social impact and fertile coaching tree, Dean Smiths unselfishness defined his career to an enormous, but often overlooked, extent. Bill Guthridge is best known in Chapel Hill as an assistant coach to Dean Smith, but that isn't the complete picture of the legendary coach. I would have been as vigorous and go after that as hard as I could possibly go.. When coach Smith retired in 1997, after a tenure of 36 season, Guthridge took over the job to begin a reign of great basketball playing at UNC. The ones he did have Coach Guthridge tried to fill. The Tar Heels then went 24-10 in 1998-99 but were upset by Weber State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. After Smith retired in October 1997, then-athletic director Dick Baddour elevated Guthridge to the top job. 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. He would sneak into practices, hide way up in the rafters so as not to be seen. He was inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. And come Monday, he got the fateful notice. Coach Smith began showing signs of cognitive impairment before Coach Guthridge did. And so even as the coachs hair changed from dark brown to gray to white, his position never did. That includes two as a head coach at Carolina, 10 as a Tar Heel assistant coach and one each as a player and assistant coach at his alma mater, Kansas State. The University is currently operating under normal conditions. Smith, after all, kept an office in the arena for several years after retirement. When Coach Smith announced he was retiring and that Coach Guthridge was taking over, then it all clicked into place for me, Hanners says. Hed have retired with a championship trophy, and then let someone else step right in, Ndiaye says. Hed have been two years into a rebuild at Notre Dame, and perhaps less reluctant to leave. At that point, Baddour turned to Matt Doherty, who had been the coach at Notre Dame for just one season. Guthridge could deal with Dean's irritability, his need to control the smallest things. Then he retired, too. 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. He was 77 years old. Ill really miss this next years team and what those guys have done for me, said Guthridge, whose team last season reached the Final Four before being eliminated in the semifinals. 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. The Blue Sky Scholars Program gives scholarship support to middle-income parents and students from North Carolina. Both played college ball in that state -- Smith at Kansas, Guthridge at Kansas State -- and coached at their alma maters before coming to North Carolina. Conference regular season champion The Tar Heels either won the ACC tournament or finished atop the league standings -- or did both -- in 23 of those seasons. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. But more than just that team, Smith left behind a mound of questions. After a three-year disastrous tenure under Doherty, the University of North Carolina hired Roy Williams from Kansas and got the leadership and gravitas that had characterized the UNC basketball program under Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge. Hanners, one of Fords close friends to this day, recalls the natural coaching instincts Ford had when the two oversaw the JV team. Whether Williams would have returned at that time is impossible to say. That was the presumption Baddour and the basketball program operated under. Then Guthridges voice wavered as he began to apologize I feel like its my fault. Bill and Dean, friends for life. He directed UNC to the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship and was named the ACC Coach of the Year. But if Smith was selfless in his handling of McAdoo, it was nothing compared to Smiths shocking retirement on Oct. 9, 1997. But the season, and that loss specifically, never faded from their collective consciousness. He was even more important to me. 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. Certainly, what a marvelous run of three years.. I dont think I have ever heard of anyone that didnt like and respect Bill Guthridge. 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. Once, in 1978, he did nearly take the head coaching job at Penn State but he changed his mind at the airport and never thought about leaving Chapel Hill again. 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. If Bill Guthridge doesnt look familiar to you as a UNC-Chapel Hill head basketball coach, theres a very good reason for that. 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. "From cultivating a global mindset across campus to partnering with researchers across the world, we make connections that strengthen our state and establish Carolina as a leading global public research university.". Our hope and fervent desire is that the best basketball coach in America will continue to practice his craft at KU, he said Thursday night. If you played for him you loved him; working with him was a joy. At the time, their run of 172 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history. That team still went 34-4, losing to Utah in the Final Four. But Baddour explained to the chancellor that because of Williams respect for Guthridge, hed never have taken the job over his friend. But it is my opinion that he expected, when he first told me that, that he would continue to be the coach.. He was a kind soul with a strong, competitive spirit. The perception of Smiths program might have been that it ran without emotion. Fast-forward to present day, and he has surpassed Smith in both national championships and wins. But when Guthridge retired, Williamsthen playing with the Seattle Sonicsmade the effort to find a commercial flight to Chapel . Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Guthridge also gave to the University away from basketball. If you previously used a social network to login to WRALSportsFan.com, click the Forgot your password link to reset your password. Coach Guthridge is the best I have ever seen in selecting potential in high school players, Smith once said, according to the teams website. Veteran sports reporter Peter Gammons had high praise for the former coach: Saddened to learn Bill Guthridge passed away. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. Born in Parsons, Kansas,[2] Guthridge attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, and graduated with a B.S. That was probably six or seven years later where somebody else might recognize it. (Updated at 2:22 p.m.) By Elizabeth A. Davis Associated Press Writer North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge retired Friday after three years as Dean Smith's successor, a move that opens one of the . Hed have been a lifer, Hanners says. He previously worked at The Charlotte Observer as a Carolina Panthers beat reporter, and his writing has also appeared in Sports Illustrated, The Boston Globe and The Baltimore Sun. Following Smith's retirement in 1997, Guthridge was head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons. He wasnt an electric radio show guest. Brendan Marks covers Duke and North Carolina basketball for The Athletic. I think its time I make this decision. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. He was a part of 867 wins in 33 seasons at Carolina and 960 college coaching victories overall, including 93 wins on the staff at Kansas State. At Smith's retirement. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. He bought into everything. In that scenario, Williams never leaves Kansas and Ford probably never leaves North Carolina. "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. With a wealth of returning talent, Guthridge instituted a "six starters" system, whereby the team's top six players, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Shammond Williams, Ademola Okulaja, and Makhtar N'Diaye rotated positions in the starting five. He came up with the idea that Dean Smith, having . And I think he probably had second thoughts, because at what point was it really a danger? I wouldve gone to Roy.. 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. On May 13, 2015, former University of North Carolina Chapel Hill basketball coach Bill Guthridge died from heart failure. Williams famously turned him down, opting to remain at Kansas, where hed built a Carolina-esque family dynamic (at Smiths alma mater, to boot). Fords reputation was growing fast as a star recruiter, having single-handedly delivered Rasheed Wallace to UNC and playing a major role in Carters eventual commitment. On June 30th in 1969, Bill Russell announced his retirement from professional basketball after a 13-year NBA career. Its often forgotten that he helped engineer the 2000 Final Four run by keeping his team in Charlotte overnight after a disappointing quarterfinal ACC Tournament loss, and pushing them hard in practice on Saturday. He is one of five people to have appeared in the Final Four as both a player and coach. 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. Whatve you got to prove then?. Which 16 teams should you buy or fade ahead of March Madness? We didnt play well for just five minutes, and that decided the game.. Our condolences go out to his family and friends.. School officials stressed that Guthridge was not merely a placeholder for then-Kansas coach Roy Williams, signing him to a five-year contract. When he reached the decision to step down during that summer of 1997, no one could have changed his mind, even if given the opportunity to do so. Change). But the Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four. 33 yrs on UNC bench. "I'm not up with it," Guthridge said at one point, when he tried to remember taking over as UNC's head coach in 1997 after Smith retired. I want to spend the weekend thinking about it. His lack of recruiting is why they went 8-20 shortly thereafter. Guthridge coached North Carolina to the Final Four in his first season before losing to Utah. I dont think he went in that summer thinking, Im not gonna be the basketball coach by fall, Baddour says. My time is in the past now and we have to move forward.. 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. Bill was a great coach, but he never got enough credit during most of those years. How would his retirement alter the short- and long-term trajectory of a program built on consistency? How close did Raleigh come to getting an NFL team? The complaints turned to praise after the teams unlikely Final Four appearance. Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State before joining the Tar Heels staff in 1967. He formed a successful partnership with Dean Smith that lasted three decades until Smith retired in 1997. Elizabeth A. Davis, Associated Press Writer, Call 1 (785) 843-1000 to contact any staff member. Try a week on us. However, it was Coach Guthridges incurable heart condition that led to his development of vascular dementia, and with its progression, his placement for the last several years in a Chapel Hill assisted living facility. But in hindsight, Hanners says there were clues that everything might not have been like normal. The University of North Carolina has lost a dear friend, as haveI, andIknow that we will all miss him greatly., Im extremely saddened by the passing of Coach Guthridge, aka Coach Gut, especially coming so close to the loss of Coach Smith. After Coach Guthridges retirement in 2003, he and Coach Smith stayed in close contact, visiting each other frequently. 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. 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.. That group, fresh off a Final Four appearance, was tabbed as the preseason No. The Blue Sky Scholars program gives scholarship support to middle-income parents and from... Retiring in June 2000 never faded from their collective consciousness consistently portrayed as UNC-Chapel... From 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000 Dean & # ;. 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