Guthridge retired after the season, having spent the first 43 years of his adult life as a player, high school coach, and college coach. When he retired as head coach in 2000, he knew he wouldnt be able to get through telling his staff about his departure. Guthridge also took a less talented team to the Final Four in 2000. Coach Smith always had a plan. He would sneak into practices, hide way up in the rafters so as not to be seen. Peterson -- who roomed with Jordan on those early 1980s teams -- said Guthridge kept the program going off the court, with the assistant making him run the school's golf course at 6 a.m. as punishment for once being late. Bill Guthridge, who led North Carolina to two Final Four appearances in his three seasons as basketball coach of the Tar Heels, will announce his retirement today, the Associated Press reported. 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. With the number of Americans residing in assisted living communities nearing 1 million and growing, CEAL@UNCs work will be vital for ensuring that older adults nationwide have access to quality and supportive care that enables them to age with dignity and respect. 33 yrs on UNC bench. At the time, their run of 172 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history. Although his individual achievements showcased his ability as a head coach, Guthridge always seemed content working with Smith to develop a top program at North Carolina. But more than just that team, Smith left behind a mound of questions. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. He coached 1997-98 National Player of the Year Antawn Jamison 99 and 1998-99 NBA Rookie of the Year Vince Carter 99, both of whom entered the NBA draft after their junior seasons. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. He was instrumental in helping lure Williams back to North Carolina. Recharge your batteries, they told him. That year, UNC went 34-4, and Guthridge set the NCAA record for wins by a first-year head coach. What about Ford? No, I couldnt even consider that, Smith said. That Plan B, clearly, was Guthridge. He set NCAA records for most wins by a first-year head coach with 34, and for wins in his first two years with 58. Coach Guthridge is the best I have ever seen in selecting potential in high school players, Smith once said, according to the teams website. From 1972 onward, he was Smith's top assistant. And with Guthridge having gotten his shot, there would have been no issues of whose turn it was. 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. 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? Who will win each 2023 conference tournament? ", Roy: "I think that not only did he coach me on the freshman team he was another mentor. He formed a successful partnership with Dean Smith that lasted three decades until Smith retired in 1997. The ones he did have Coach Guthridge tried to fill. "Needless to say I'm tired of having meetings like this." "He was an unbelievable assistant to Coach Smith. 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. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Perhaps, at last, somewhere in his mind, Coach Guthridge finally made the decision it was time for him to retire from this physical life. Matt Doherty, who succeeded Guthridge as Tar Heels coach and served in that capacity for three seasons, tweeted his condolences Wednesday. But when Baddour and Guthridge did finally meet, Guthridge expressed a desire to try his hand. In Williams second season in Chapel Hill, he won his first national championship the one the 97 team witnessed. Panthers add Parks Frazier as passing game coordinator, Duke finishes 16-0 at home after 71-67 win over N.C. 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Everyone knows what happened next: Williams finally said yes to returning, having seen how quickly things fell off after his mentors left. He had recently been in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill. Go play golf. Why would you stay? Hed grow bored of golf, and once that happened, his staff knew hed summoned up the energy for another go-around. On June 30th in 1969, Bill Russell announced his retirement from professional basketball after a 13-year NBA career. Former University of North Carolina basketball coach Bill Guthridge, 77, died Tuesday from a heart condition. The next day, Kenny Smith said, assistant coach Bill Guthridge wasn't at practice. 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. Dean Smith unexpectedly retired as head basketball coach at North Carolina just two months before the start of the 199798 season, and Guthridge was immediately named his successor. in education in 1963. 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. On one occasion, he actually accepted the head coaching post at Penn State, but stepped down from the post a few days later.[3]. But theres another alternate history with extreme on-court implications that might have forced his hand. "You get old." Bill and Dean, friends for life Smith. What burned just below that was a fierce competitor who might sometimes react more like a fan than you would expect. By the way, Dean Smith basically forced UNC to hire Guthridge, his long-time assistant, when El Deano suddenly retired in October 1997, just before the beginning of the hoops season. Penn State was a good situation, he said in an interview in 2010. Of course, its not like UNC had a bad season in Guthridges first year. In his tenure at UNC, Guthridge coached five National Players of the Year, six ACC Players of the Year, five ACC Rookies of the Year and 28 first-team All-ACC players. The complaints turned to praise after the teams unlikely Final Four appearance. Tim Crothers. When Guthridge retired after leading his third team to another Final Four, I interviewed Smith about the amazingly long and successful partnership the two coaches -- Smith a Kansas grad and. As he would prepare for a basketball practice or game, he was equally intense about attention to detail in scheduling or whatever.. 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. 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. And he said, Im not crying because we won. "Mak said he gets this call from his mom: 'Mak, there's this man here in Africa, says he's your coach,' ". My guess is he would not have been, and then the first call, yes, wouldve been Roy, Baddour says. And for as much as he did enjoy those three seasons, the same obligations that wore Smith down got to Guthridge as well. We certainly had no idea; he was still the smartest guy, could recall everything he was seeing.. I will miss his kindness and wisdom. He was on the sidelines for a record 73 NCAA Tournament victories, including 71 at Carolina and two at Kansas State. You will be missed. Guthridge said he took a vacation in Europe in May, hoping to recharge, but wasnt able to. That stemmed not from the coaching aspect of his job, but from everything else. Coach Smith began showing signs of cognitive impairment before Coach Guthridge did. Theres no way you could dream, Hanners says, anyone would necessarily do better.. He has saved many scholarships when he has suggested backing off certain players, and of course, has selected some great ones who matriculated at Chapel Hill., UNC coach Bill Guthridge gives instructions during a game in the 99-00 season. Just like Smith, Guthridge found a way to impact his players beyond teaching them offensive and defensive principles. The Blue Sky Scholars Program gives scholarship support to middle-income parents and students from North Carolina. He needed to hear that from Guthridge. People could misinterpret 2 p.m.perhaps it really meant 1:45, or maybe 2:15. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In that July or August period, when Coach Smith basically told Coach Guthridge for the very last time in his life, Im not ready, Im not gonna do it again, then I think Coach Guthridge told him at that point that hed really like to try, Hanners says. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. Coaches, both within the program and across the country, still came calling to Chapel Hill every summer to pick his brains about Xs and Os. (Robert Willett / Tribune News Service via Getty). He also coached 66 players who were selected in the NBA and/or ABA drafts. It was more a series of passing conversations, regular updates about the coachs state of mind. He was even more important to me. 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. If you played for him you loved him; working with him was a joy. 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. Conference regular season and conference tournament champion He said Friday he now knows how Smith felt in 1997 when he stepped down. . The protege was named Naismith College Coach of the Year in his first season as Smith's replacement. 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. Guthridge . All rights reserved. Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000. Sometimes react more like a fan than you would expect do better his. The latest in why did bill guthridge retire AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history was on the sidelines a! 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why did bill guthridge retire