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. 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. We ended up beating em easily, and I thanked him later for it, Hanners says. That startling decision equated to the ultimate professional sacrifice. Guthridge took over when Smith retired after 36 seasons in October 1997. But if Williams had said no, as he did two years later, would Ford have been tapped for the job then? Dean Smiths hourglass, it seemed, had an endless amount of sand. 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. The death of Guthridges mother, Betty, 96, two days before the Tar Heels played Tennessee at Knoxville in the NCAA South Regional semifinals also contributed to a difficult season. 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. When it was his turn as head coach, he immediately won an ACC championship and took two teams to the Final Four. Guthridge coached three years and took the Tar Heels to two Final Fours. 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. At the time, their run of 172 consecutive weeks in the AP Poll was the second-longest in college basketball history. I needed Bill to tell me, Dick, yes, I want to do this, Baddour says, and he was clear that he wanted to.. Guthridge also took a less talented team to the Final Four in 2000. Thank you Coach Gut for the many lessons you taught us at UNC. He handed out handwritten notes instead. in mathematics in 1960 and an M.A. 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. When Smith was needlessly ejected from the 1991 Final Four, it was Guthridge who was furious in the tunnel after the game. 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. 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. That was quelled, but the chancellor had another thought: To the chancellor and many fans Williams was the obvious choice to succeed Smith. Guthridge was the longtime assistant to UNC coach Dean Smith, who died earlier this year. Certainly, what a marvelous run of three years.. My guess is he would not have been, and then the first call, yes, wouldve been Roy, Baddour says. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. He was instrumental in helping lure Williams back to North Carolina. At Smith's retirement. [6], National champion #RIP. "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. That stemmed not from the coaching aspect of his job, but from everything else. To combat that fatigue, every summer, Smiths assistant coaches urged him to get out and enjoy life. Guthridge was Smiths assistant for 30 years. He wasnt an electric radio show guest. Why would a healthy 66-year-old call it quits and relinquish the chance to coach that team? 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. 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. Guthridge was an assistant coach along with Hall of Famer John Thompson under Smith in 1976 when the U.S. won the Olympic gold medal in Montreal. His legacy lives on in each of the players who were privileged to call him Coach and countless Tar Heels and people across the nation who admired him. 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. "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 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. That was the presumption Baddour and the basketball program operated under. He once told a newspaper he never left the program because the other 300 Division I head coaching jobs werent better than his job as an assistant. Smith and Guthridge had long maintained they'd. He is probably best remembered for his loyalty to Smith, who died in February at age 83. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. He led the program to a pair of Final Four appearances in three seasons at the helm before retiring following the 1999-2000 campaign. Smith, after all, kept an office in the arena for several years after retirement. What you saw was the quiet assistant sitting on the bench. As good a person as I ever met. He was 77. He was on the sidelines for a record 73 NCAA Tournament victories, including 71 at Carolina and two at Kansas State. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. Change). 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. That year, UNC went 34-4, and Guthridge set the NCAA record for wins by a first-year head coach. Bill and Dean, friends for life. The possibilities were endless, but Baddour is certain of one thing: keeping things in the family was a must. Baddour was scheduled to travel with the football program that day for a game at TCU, but before leaving he spoke to Smith on the phone. But Baddour explained to the chancellor that because of Williams respect for Guthridge, hed never have taken the job over his friend. 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? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. If you played for him you loved him; working with him was a joy. 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 team bus never left at 2 p.m. Capital Financial - Learn how to secure lifetime retirement income. There were reports that Michigan was interested in him at the time His only drawback was a DUI arrest in September 1998, after which he was temporarily placed on leave. 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. He spurned offers to interview for head coaching vacancies, preferring to remain out of the spotlight and continuing to team with Smith. No, I couldnt even consider that, Smith said. Theres no right answer, no certainty. In his three seasons as head coach Guthridge led the Tar Heels to the NCAA final Four twice, in 1998 and again in 2000. Yeah, Id say that was more likely than unlikely., I wouldve gone to where I went two years later, he says. Or perhaps someone else from Smiths coaching tree, such as George Karl or Eddie Fogler? 33 yrs on UNC bench. 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. 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. As early as April and May, Bill Guthridge Smiths primary assistant for some 30 years reached out to Hanners about doing extra study of the teams offensive and defensive sets. But if Williams had declined the opportunity, as he initially did a year prior? Now Guthridge, 77, is enduring a similarly cruel fate . He came up with the idea that Dean Smith, having . I think its time I make this decision. Because I know Coach Smiths plan long-term, at least at that time, was to prepare the team for Phil to take over.. Coach Smith had so many strengths and very few weaknesses. North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge retired Friday after three years as Dean Smiths successor, a move that opens one of the most prestigious jobs in college sports. But theres another alternate history with extreme on-court implications that might have forced his hand. Im crying because I failed you guys. He is probably best remembered for his loyalty to Smith, who died in February at age 83. Guthridge was criticized last season by alumni and fans for losing five games at home the most since World War II and for a record that dropped to 18-13 after a first-round defeat in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Fast-forward to present day, and he has surpassed Smith in both national championships and wins. He needed to hear that from Guthridge. In retrospect, Smiths premature exit was a mistake on all fronts. 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. People could misinterpret 2 p.m.perhaps it really meant 1:45, or maybe 2:15. 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. Guthridge retired after the season, having spent the first 43 years of his adult life as a player, high school coach, and college coach. But in hindsight, Hanners says there were clues that everything might not have been like normal. He tried to do every one of those little things that drove Coach Smith crazy. 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