Roy Williams was almost Bob Knight’s assistant for IU basketball — until wife shot it down

Roy Williams, Bob Knight’s assistant coach? It was almost a reality, for one season.

Jon Wertheim chronicled Knight’s relationship with legendary Tar Heels coach Dean Smith in an article for Sports Illustrated. He shared an anecdote in which Knight told Smith he was looking to add someone to his coaching staff.

“‘Coach Smith said to Coach Knight, ‘Well, who are you looking for?’” Williams said. “And I think Coach Knight said, ‘Somebody like Roy.’”

Wertheim said Smith offered to lend Williams to Knight for a season. Williams went home to his wife, Wanda, to get her thoughts on joining Indiana’s staff.

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“Williams went home to bounce the idea off his wife, Wanda. She had just read John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink, which portrayed Knight as both a basketball genius and an emotionally turbulent bully,” Wertheim wrote.

"She said, ‘Are you serious?’” Williams recalls. He graciously declined the sabbatical: “When I told Coach Knight that story, he thought that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. But, yeah, that shows you what great friends they were and what trust they had.’”

Read the rest of Wertheim’s article here.

Follow IndyStar trending sports reporter Matthew VanTryon on Twitter @MVanTryon and email him story ideas at matthew.vantryon@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Bob Knight, Dean Smith relationship detailed by Sports Illustrated