UNC set to honor Roy Williams in game against NC State. Will Michael Jordan be there, too?
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina will honor legendary coach Roy Williams with a halftime ceremony Saturday afternoon, during the Tar Heels’ home game against rival North Carolina State in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball.
Michael Jordan could be on hand for the special festivities, too.
North Carolina’s 1982 national championship team is holding a reunion this weekend as part of the 40th anniversary of that immortal season, and the group also will be recognized during Saturday’s game.
It was Jordan’s jumper and James Worthy’s steal that lifted the Tar Heels past Georgetown and Patrick Ewing in the epic final seconds of the 1982 NCAA final, delivering iconic coach Dean Smith his first college basketball title after a number of near misses.
North Carolina first-year coach Hubert Davis said Friday he wasn’t certain if all the living members of the 1981-82 team will be able to return to Chapel Hill and attend Saturday. The preeminent Jordan owns the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, who had a high-profile game at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
“I’m not sure, but I hope so,” Davis said Friday, grinning at the thought of Jordan and the other Tar Heels heroes making it back to town. “That would be great. I’d like them to play tomorrow.”
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Davis was two months shy of his 12th birthday in March 1982, when the star power of Worthy and Sam Perkins and the blossoming talent of Jordan, then a freshman, helped steer North Carolina to the national championship in New Orleans. The Tar Heels defeated Houston, featuring the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, in the Final Four, before encountering another clash of titans in the NCAA final against Georgetown, headlined by Ewing, Sleepy Floyd and coach John Thompson.
Davis, the nephew of former North Carolina great Walter Davis, said Friday he remembers being particularly displeased with his parents for insisting on him attending a Boy Scouts meeting on the night of the 1982 national championship game. Hubert Davis said he wanted to skip the meeting and hunker down for what unfolded as one of the NCAA Tournament’s all-time classics.
“My parents said, no, you made a commitment,” Hubert Davis said Friday. “So since you made a commitment to be a part of the Boy Scouts, regardless of how much you want to cheer on the Tar Heels and watch the game, if you say that you’re going to do something, then you have to live up to it.”
Davis said he got home that night in time to watch the second half. So he didn’t miss the high drama and breathtaking ending that included Smith instructing Jordan during a late timeout huddle to be ready to shoot if the ball and opportunity found him. Moments later, the magic happened, as Jordan’s game-winner connected with 17 seconds remaining.
“I was very upset with my parents for teaching me what integrity meant,” Davis said Friday, tongue in cheek. “And I got there at halftime and saw the second half. And I saw North Carolina beat Georgetown.”
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The 1981-82 Tar Heels team last held a major reunion in 2007 at the Smith Center, to celebrate its 25-year anniversary season. Jordan planted a kiss on the top of Smith’s head that day to a standing ovation, an unforgettable scene to be forever cherished for those connected to the Tar Heels. Smith and assistant coach Bill Guthridge, his longtime trusted lieutenant, both died in 2015.
Williams was a young assistant coach under Smith on the 1981-82 team. Now 71, he has become a regular spectator at nearly every North Carolina game home or away this season, with his wife, Wanda Williams, alongside in their seats overlooking the Tar Heels bench area.
Smith and Guthridge are honored with banners hanging in the Smith Center rafters. A similar banner saluting Roy Williams will be unveiled during Saturday’s halftime event, which will include a video tribute for Williams, the Hall of Famer.
“It’s not just a ceremony at halftime, it’s for lifetime,” Davis said Friday. “I think it’s great that we’re celebrating him tomorrow. But he deserves to be celebrated every day, and every day he steps in this gym. It’ll be a great ceremony, and we’re very, very proud of him.”
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The floor at the Smith Center is named Roy Williams Court. He retired in April 2021 after 18 years in charge of the Tar Heels, a run that included three NCAA titles, six Final Four appearances and nine ACC regular-season crowns. His 903 career coaching victories rank fifth in NCAA Division I history, behind only Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun and Bob Huggins.
N.C. State makes for an appropriate opponent Saturday. Williams placed exceeding importance on matchups with the nearby rival Wolfpack, and relished the victories, which were many.
Williams’ North Carolina teams piled up a 33-5 record against N.C. State. Before taking the Tar Heels coaching job in April 2003, his Kansas teams went 5-0 against N.C. State. Former North Carolina standouts such as Joel Berry and Cameron Johnson remarked during past seasons that Williams delighted in beating the Wolfpack and quieting its fans.
Tip-off
Who: N.C. State (10-11, 3-7) at North Carolina (14-6, 6-3)
When: 2 p.m. Saturday (ACC Network)
Where: Smith Center, Chapel Hill
Series: North Carolina leads 161-79, including 79-23 in Chapel Hill and 28-7 at the Smith Center. The Tar Heels have won 33 of the last 38 meetings in this rivalry.
Up next: North Carolina plays at Louisville on Tuesday night. It’s the first of two regular-season meetings between the teams in February.
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Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC basketball to honor Roy Williams. Will Michael Jordan be there?
