And come Monday, he got the fateful notice. Guthridge was completely committed to Carolina basketball, and he wanted to make sure everyone else in the program felt the same way. Think about it: Youve been an assistant coach for 30-plus years. Then Guthridges voice wavered as he began to apologize I feel like its my fault. That possibility isnt one Baddour had previously considered. But the Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four. Certainly, what a marvelous run of three years.. The following year, with the program bordering on a mutiny, Doherty resigned. Theyd had their disagreements, yes. Guthridge also handled many day-to-day responsibilities in the program and oversaw UNC's summer basketball camps. The protege was named Naismith College Coach of the Year in his first season as Smith's replacement. 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. 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. Guthridge was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 1998. That team reached the Final Four and almost reached the title game even though Jamison and Williams missed 22 field-goal attempts in a 65-59 semifinal loss to Utah. But it was as if the whole contraption was tilted, resting at an incline so that the sand would never get to the bottom. Showdown in Durham: NC State and Duke battle for ACC, NCAA seeding, Brownlow: NC State, Duke and Carolina all look to avenge ACC losses on busy basketball Saturday, Welter: I'm not mad, Carolina, just disappointed, AP source: Panthers to meet with QB Derek Carr at combine. He was 77. On one occasion, he actually accepted the head coaching post at Penn State, but stepped down from the post a few days later.[3]. 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.. When Smith was needlessly ejected from the 1991 Final Four, it was Guthridge who was furious in the tunnel after the game. It was very, very much real and something Smith had to balance with the sentiment that maybe he had left too soon. That image of Guthridge is accurate but not complete. I will miss his kindness and wisdom. He was 77 years old, Former UNC basketball coach Bill Guthridge passes away at age 77, UNC School of Social Work becomes new home for CEAL@UNC, expand work to advance assisted living. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. 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. Guthridge could deal with Dean's irritability, his need to control the smallest things. The university made a huge misstep when it hired former UNC player, Matt Doherty, a young, untested coach in the league of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and a 180-degreechange from the coaching styles of Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge, as its head basketball coach in 2000, when Coach Guthridge retired. They made sure we knew it wasnt the most important thing in the world, but that we had been given a talent, and it was our job to use it., The Carolina community mourns the passing of Bill Guthridge, a great coach, devoted friend and loyal Tar Heel. I needed Bill to tell me, Dick, yes, I want to do this, Baddour says, and he was clear that he wanted to.. While serving as an assistant coach, Guthridge turned down several head coaching opportunities, preferring to remain in Chapel Hill working alongside Smith. Hanners, one of Fords close friends to this day, recalls the natural coaching instincts Ford had when the two oversaw the JV team. He said that although he was impressed with the athletic department personnel and basketball program, withdrawing his name was "in the best interest of myself and my family.". You will be missed. But the Tar Heels suffered a soul-crushing NCAA Tournament loss that also ended Phil Fords career. He stepped down 2 months later. Coach Smith began showing signs of cognitive impairment before Coach Guthridge did. That first five minutes, you can have all the confidence in the world, but if you go down 23-8 or 13-4, you just put so much pressure on yourself. Hed been given a five-year contract when he took over for Smith, because the administration feared recruits would stop coming if they thought Guthridge could retire at any moment. 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. 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. 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. (Robert Willett / Tribune News Service via Getty). 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. William Wallace Guthridge (July 27, 1937 May 12, 2015) was an American college basketball coach. The careers and lives of the two coaches from Kansas were solidly intertwined. 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. But when Guthridge retired, Williamsthen playing with the Seattle Sonicsmade the effort to find a commercial flight to Chapel . 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. The possibilities were endless, but Baddour is certain of one thing: keeping things in the family was a must. 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. And so those players, all of them, kick around the questions to this day. It was Guthridge who was the creator of the well-known and slightly strange departure times for Carolina travel parties. 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. Theres no way you could dream, Hanners says, anyone would necessarily do better.. Guthridge . ", Roy: "I think that not only did he coach me on the freshman team he was another mentor. That season, he led the Tar Heels to a 34-4 record and the final No. 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. For more than three decades, Coach Guthridge served this University he loved so much with a deep commitment to academic and athletic excellence. "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.". Guthridge was the head coach of the Tar Heels for three seasons following Dean Smith's retirement in 1997. Smith, who attended Guthridges retirement announcement, called the day a celebration of a fantastic career. We certainly had no idea; he was still the smartest guy, could recall everything he was seeing.. And I think he probably had second thoughts, because at what point was it really a danger? Guthridge did it all with a dry wit and style. He also was head golf coach for the Wildcats. The team performs dazzling spins and flips at campus events and even competes against other universities and jump rope clubs from around the country. Revisionist history does offer some diverging paths, though. 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. Why would you stay? He played or coached in 14 Final Fours, more than any person in NCAA history. On the day of Smiths retirement, The Washington Post reported Smith wants his other longtime assistant, former Tar Heels point guard Phil Ford, eventually to become the coach, a source said. Ford was arguably Smiths best player ever, and UNCs all-time leading scorer at the time. It left at 1:57 p.m. His reasoning? Coach Guthridge played an instrumental role in the programs success as an assistant under Dean Smith for three decades before making his own name as a head coach in leading North Carolina to a pair of Final Four appearances in three seasons. Prior to that, Guthridge served as Smith's assistant coach for 30 years. 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. Ironically, both coaches developed dementia along the way (Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia). Why would a healthy 66-year-old call it quits and relinquish the chance to coach that team? Born William Wallace Guthridge, he attended Kansas State University where he played guard on the basketball team and helped the Wildcats. At that point, Baddour turned to Matt Doherty, who had been the coach at Notre Dame for just one season. He came up with the idea that Dean Smith, having . 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. Capital Financial - Learn how to secure lifetime retirement income. I enjoyed my 30 years as an assistant coach, and Ive enjoyed my three years as a head coach.. 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. Coach Smith always had a plan. In Guthridge's final season, he went 18-13 -- at the time, the program's worst finish in decades -- but bounced back in the postseason to reach North Carolina's 15th Final Four before losing in the national semifinals to Florida. 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. Why bring those up? He was extremely special, important to every player, every coach who ever worked here. Heck, he might still be the coach at North Carolina. 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 was on the sidelines for a record 73 NCAA Tournament victories, including 71 at Carolina and two at Kansas State. His legacy and contributions to my life and to our University will live on and he'll be much more remembered for his sense of humor and class just as much as his coaching.". 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. "We'd always say there were so many time zones -- Eastern Standard Time, Central Standard Time -- but the most important was GST: Guthridge Standard Time," Peterson said. You accomplished something that takes some other people 20-plus years to do. 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. Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State before joining the Tar Heels staff in 1967. Matt Doherty, who succeeded Guthridge as Tar Heels coach and served in that capacity for three seasons, tweeted his condolences Wednesday. Conference tournament champion. His calm demeanorhe could sometimes be found sitting in the stands an hour before road games eating popcorn or a hot dogmasked a passionate love for the Tar Heels. He directed UNC to the 1998 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship and was named the ACC Coach of the Year. Had it worked out where there wasnt a down year or whatever, maybe things end up differently, Frederick says. 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. And with Guthridge having gotten his shot, there would have been no issues of whose turn it was. Suggestion to Return DismissedWhen 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 Guthridge from Kansas State -- had enjoyed. 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. But I know thats something that bothered him to his death, Ndiaye says. I really liked the attitude of the team, the way they worked hard and how they were rewarded finally. 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. He was a perfect sidekick for Coach Smith. I would have been as vigorous and go after that as hard as I could possibly go.. Note: Former University of North Carolina mens basketball coach Bill Guthridge passed away May 12. For 30 of his 33 years at Carolina, Guthridge was the behind-the-scenes guy scouting opponents, making sure players got to class on time, disciplining players, getting the players on the bus or airplane and into the hotel, working with office staff on the smallest of details, and recruiting the latter, unlike many coaches, he said he enjoyed immensely. There is one final thing, though, that seems to be consensus, the one aspect of this entire hypothetical that no one can seem to get over: that the reason there are still enduring questions about what Smith could have accomplished in those extra four seasons is because those are the same questions Smith himself always carried. Only, given Guthridges age at the time (60) and the fact that hed always said hed retire when Smith did, Baddour wasnt totally sure Guthridge was interested. Then there are the other options from Smiths tree: Karl and Fogler and even Larry Brown. Assistant coach Phil Ford is at right. Hed have retired with a championship trophy, and then let someone else step right in, Ndiaye says. That team still went 34-4, losing to Utah in the Final Four. 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. I wouldve gone to Roy.. Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. But he decided he did not have the energy to continue coaching, the AP reported. 3 "The End of Absence" Michael Harris. But it really wasnt and we both knew it. From 1972 onward, he was Smith's top assistant. Smith, after all, kept an office in the arena for several years after retirement. 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. "I'd always set my time to GST, 10 minutes ahead.". North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball head coaches, North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball 198182 NCAA champions, North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball 199293 NCAA champions, Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball Coach of the Year, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach, http://static.espn.go.com/ncb/news/2000/0630/612432.html, http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/colleges/x383678526/Guthridge-again-reluctantly-takes-spotlight, "Former UNC Chapel Hill Coach Bill Guthridge Has Died", "Former UNC coach, assistant Bill Guthridge dies at 77", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Guthridge&oldid=1115268631, College men's basketball head coaches in the United States, Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball coaches, Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players, North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball coaches, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty, Articles with dead external links from February 2018, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing cleanup from September 2022, Articles with bare URLs for citations from September 2022, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from September 2022, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 October 2022, at 16:39. 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