Tag: Roy Williams

Hubert Davis first season ‘a dream’ start for UNC basketball

Hubert Davis took UNC basketball to the National Championship in what is called ‘a dream’ first season from one college basketball analyst.

The UNC basketball program ushered in a new era just a little over 12 months ago with the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams and the first head coaching gig for [autotag]Hubert Davis[/autotag].

It wasn’t all easy for Davis and the Tar Heels — especially at the beginning of the season. But, it’s what he did following that which made his first season so special.

Davis helped turn around a season that wasn’t going anywhere and led them to the NCAA National Championship game. Despite losing to Kansas, it was ‘a dream’ start for the Tar Heels in the Davis era, says Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy.

The debut season of the Hubert Davis era was a dream forNorth Carolina fans. A slow start, especially defensively, caused some early concern but the ship righted itself to the tune of a run to the national title game that made everyone forget any early-season trouble. Davis followed that up by landing the commitment of No.1 overall prospect in the 2023 class

GG Jackson, capitalizing on his early success on the court. As far as the Tar Heels’ 2022-23 outlook goes, things are intriguing to say the least. Davis returns almost everyone from last year’s squad and the Tar Heels 2022 class is a well-rounded, three-member haul headlined by talented point guard

Seth Tremble.
UNC finished last season 29-10 and 15-5 in the ACC.
As Cassidy mentioned, the Tar Heels have still be hot, getting a commitment from No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2023 GG Jackson as well as getting four starters to return from last season.
The Tar Heels have their sights on another run at a National Championship this upcoming season, but for now, all is well in Chapel Hill and things look very bright for Davis on the North Carolina bench.

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Roy Williams to be inducted into National Collegiate Basketball Hall-of-Fame

Former UNC basketball head coach Roy Williams will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall-of-Fame.

Former North Carolina head coach [autotag]Roy Williams[/autotag] is heading to the Hall of Fame.

On Wednesday, the 2022 National Collegiate Basketball Hall-of-Fame class was announced and Williams was one of 9 inductees featuring former players and coaches for the upcoming 2022 class. Joining Williams in the class is: Richard Hamilton, Larry Miller, Frank Selvy, Jimmy Walker, John Beilein, Jerry Krause, Lon Kruger, and Jim Calhoun.

In 33 seasons, Williams racked up 903 total wins spending the first 15 years at Kansas and then the final 18 years at North Carolina before retiring after the 2020-21 season. Williams won three national championships in his career, all while with the Tar Heels.

The class will officially be inducted in November but no official date has been set. Traditionally, it takes place during the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri. This year’s event is slated for Nov. 21-22.

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3 Sooners named to 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

Former Sooners Dewey Selmon, Rocky Calmus, and Josh Heupel were named to the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot.

On Monday, the National Football Foundation announced that three former Oklahoma Sooners have been nominated for the College Football Hall of Fame.

Sooners legends [autotag]Dewey Selmon[/autotag], [autotag]Rocky Calmus[/autotag], and [autotag]Josh Heupel[/autotag] have been put on the ballot that was sent out to the 12,000 members of the NFF and College Football Hall of Fame members.

From 1972 to 1975 Dewey Selmon, along with his brothers Lucious and Lee Roy, ran roughshod over the Big 8 as part of Oklahoma’s dominating defenses under Barry Switzer. During Dewey’s tenure, the Sooners won four Big 8 titles and two national championships.

One of the key pieces to the late-90s rebirth of the Sooners was linebacker Rocky Calmus who exploded onto the scene in 1999 and helped the Oklahoma Sooners win a national championship in 2000. He was the AP Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2000 and a first-team All-American. In 2001, Calmus won the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker and was a finalist for the Bednarik, Nagurski, and Lombardi awards.

Josh Heupel can be credited as the godfather of Oklahoma’s modern quarterback legacy. While the Sooners had great running quarterbacks during the Bud Wilkinson and Barry Switzer eras, Heupel helped usher in a new era of Oklahoma quarterbacks with his passing ability.

In addition to leading the Sooners to their 2000 national championship, Heupel was the runner-up for the Heisman, and Oklahoma’s first consensus All-American quarterback.

The 2023 College Football Hall of Fame class will be announced in early 2023 and inducted in December of next year. Joining the 2022 class is Oklahoma legend, [autotag]Roy Williams[/autotag]. The former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year will be inducted on December 6, 2022.

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Roy Williams comments on Jay Wright retiring

Former UNC basketball head coach Roy Williams commented on Jay Wright’s sudden retirement from Villanova.

Roy Williams made the decision to retire in 2021 after 48 years of coaching, including 18 at North Carolina. Shortly after his announcement, Coach K decided that this past 2021-22 season would be his last.

And now another really good coach is deciding to step away from the game.

Villanova’s Jay Wright shocked the college basketball world on Wednesday night when it was announced he would be stepping down as head coach and will be replaced by Fordham’s Kyle Neptune. Following the announcement, college basketball writer Adam Zagoria talked to Williams about the news and the legendary coach was shocked.

Here’s what he told Zagoria in the New York Times’ article:

“I’m definitely surprised,” Williams, whose Tar Heels lost to Villanova in the 2016 N.C.A.A. championship game on a last-second 3-pointer by Kris Jenkins, said in a telephone interview.

He added: “Jay is just 60, he’s got so much more time for the game, but I love it because he made the decision for what was right for him and his family and I can live with that. Jay’s one of the giants of our game, he’s a great friend.”

The two do have a history and are close. Most recently, Wright and Villanova knocked off UNC in the 2016 title game backed by Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beater following a great shot by Marcus Paige. UNC would get redemption a year later beating Gonzaga to capture the title.

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Snickers sends UNC basketball team candy bars to pay homage to Roy Williams

The UNC basketball program received over 400 Snickers bars at their hotel to pay homage to Roy Williams and the 1982 title team.

Before UNC basketball’s 1982 NCAA Tournament run that concluded with a national championship, assistant coach [autotag]Roy Williams[/autotag] ate a Snickers bar before every game. It brought UNC good luck as they went through the tournament and eventually beat Georgetown thanks to a game-winning bucket by Michael Jordan.

Williams ate a Snickers bar before every game and the one home game he didn’t, UNC lost bad that season. Before the 1982 title game, Williams couldn’t find a Snickers bar in the arena and left to go to a convenience store to find one but almost missed tip off as he recalls via Sporting News:

 “In the New Orleans Superdome in 1982, they had no candy in the arena … none,” Williams said, his voice rising four decades later at the very thought.

Assessing the situation — find a Snickers bar or risk losing the national championship because of him — Williams made his way to an exit, cleared it with security at the door to leave and come back then headed to a nearby convenience story for the Snickers.

Plot twist No. 2 for dramatic effect: “The (security) guy had left the door, the other guy wasn’t going to let me in,” Williams recalled. “I said, ‘I’ll be damned, this is the national championship game and somebody’s going to let my butt in.’ I’m standing there, I’m pleading, I’m down on my knees, I’m offering him money. … I said, ‘Get a program. I’m in the program.’ Finally, the supervisor came in and let me in.

“I was one supervisor away from not even being able to get into the dadgum arena,” Williams said, chuckling at the thought that one supervisor — OK, one supervisor and one Snickers bar — almost prevented a date with destiny.

Now the candy bar company is paying homage to Williams 40 years later with the Tar Heels in the Final Four.

Snickers sent more than 400 candy bars to the UNC hotel in New Orleans, hoping to inspire the team to a title run again this year:

With Williams in attendance, Snickers bars and the rivalry, there’s a lot at stake here on Saturday.

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Oklahoma defensive back Roy Williams reportedly named as part of College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class

At long last, Oklahoma defensive back Roy Williams is reportedly set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class.

At long last, one of Oklahoma’s best defensive players in program history is set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported that OU defensive back Roy Williams is one of the Class of 2022 inductees into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Williams was one of the key defensive cogs on Oklahoma’s 2000 national championship team. He also helped co-author one of the most memorable plays in Red River Showdown history during the 2001 OU-Texas game.

With 2:06 to play and Oklahoma holding a 7-3 lead over the Longhorns, Williams made Cotton Bowl history.

Known fondly by Sooner fans as “The Play,” Williams famously blitzed, leapt over the line of scrimmage and hit Texas quarterback Chris Simms. It sprung the football loose from Simms up into the air and into the waiting arms of linebacker Teddy Lehman who raced in for the game-clinching score.

In the 2001 season, Williams became the first college player to win the Bronko Nagurski Award (nation’s best defensive player) and Jim Thorpe Award (nation’s best defensive back) in the same season. Williams recorded 107 tackles and 22 pass breakups in that 2001 season to become a unanimous All-American. Williams is just one of four defensive backs to win the Nagurski. That group includes Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson, and fellow Sooner Derrick Strait.

According to SoonerStats.com, Williams’ 22 pass breakups in 2001 still stands as the Sooners’ single-season record.

Williams finished his OU career with 287 tackles and 44 pass breakups. His 44 pass breakups only trails Derrick Strait’s 55 career pass breakups in Oklahoma history.

After his junior season, Williams was selected No. 8 overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2002 NFL Draft.

On Dec. 6, the Class of 2022 will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at the 64th annual National Football Foundation Awards Dinner.

He’s reportedly joined in the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame class by former Colorado and Heisman Trophy-winning running back Rashaan Salaam, Oklahoma State running back Terry Miller, Florida State linebacker Marvin Jones and former Toledo and Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel.

In the past decade, four Sooners have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Linebacker Rod Shoate was inducted in 2013, linebacker Brian Bosworth in 2015, safety Rickey Dixon in 2019 and head football coach Bob Stoops in 2021.

OU has placed 22 players and six coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame in its program’s history.

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WATCH: Great view of Xavier Worthy’s record-breaking touchdown reception

He is special.

While there hasn’t been many positives for Texas this season, there is one that comes via freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy.

It’s a reason to be optimistic for the future, as Worthy is the only player that Steve Sarkisian recruited to Texas before taking the job. He has been an absolute star for the Longhorns and is already one of the best receivers in the nation.

The Fresno native burst onto the college football scene this season, and along with breaking records, is amongst the top receivers in terms of statistics. He is tied for first in the nation with 11 touchdown catches this season, a margin that helped him surpass Texas legend Roy Williams for most touchdown receptions by a freshman in school history.

Worthy’s career day against Kansas was not enough as the Longhorns would go on to lose in overtime, but nonetheless was still an impressive individual performance. Worthy finished the game with a career-high 14 catches, 152 yards, and three touchdowns.

Texas will need to rely on the rising star heavily in their last two matchups in order to become bowl eligible.

Texas WR Xavier Worthy approaching all-time great Roy Williams’ freshman records

Xavier Worthy is closing in on a record-breaking season.

Freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy has been nothing short of sensational for the Longhorns this season. The former Michigan signee arrived on campus late in the summer and has wasted no time becoming one of the best wideouts in the Big 12.

Worthy has the chance to break Texas legend Roy Williams’ freshman touchdown and receiving yards record. He only needs one touchdown and 130 yards to hold both records to himself.

Williams is the programs all-time receiving leader and was the last Texas wide receiver to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft back in 2004.

Worthy burst onto the college football scene when he hauled in three touchdowns on 100 yards receiving against Texas Tech. He followed that up with an all-time performance against Oklahoma two weeks later. It was one of his best outings to date, as he torched the Sooners defense for 261 yards and two touchdowns in the heartbreaking loss.

Here is his mid-season highlight reel courtesy of Texas football:

Look for Worthy to continue building on a fantastic freshman season and potentially ink his name in University of Texas record books.

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WATCH: Hudson Card flips it to Xavier Worthy for the Touchdown

WATCH: Hudson Card flips a pitch to Xavier Worthy for Texas’ first touchdown of the game

The Longhorns offense got off to a lethargic start, and was looking quite bleak against Iowa State.

Steve Sarkisian decided it was time for a switch, after Casey Thompson came out and threw nothing but errant passes, and was unable to move the offense down the field. Hudson Card, who was benched during the Arkansas game, made a few nice plays from the pocket to get Texas down the field.

It seemed like the type of move that Sarkisian was hesitant to make, but now seeing the difference between he and Thompson, it is safe to say it is the right choice for this game today. Whether Thompson was hurt or not, he just wasn’t cutting it.

With the Longhorns in the red zone, Xavier Worthy went into motion and Card flipped it to him for his eighth touchdown catch of the season, and to take a 7-3 lead over Iowa State.

The touchdown catch for  Worthy tied Roy Williams for most touchdown catches by a Texas freshman receiver in school history.

Final thoughts on the Red River Showdown and some favorite memories

Now just hours from kickoff, here are some final thoughts and favorite memories from the Red River Showdown.

As the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns get set to kick off in a pivotal Big 12 matchup, the Oklahoma Sooners are getting some good news with the return of Marcus Major. It’s possible that Marcus Major could play for the Sooners in the Red River Showdown, but how much remains to be seen.

Oklahoma comes into the game after a nice win over Kansas State. It was as good a win as they’ve had all season, even if the scoreboard reflects another narrow victory. The defense was active and got the stops when they needed to. The offense was efficient and scored on seven of their eight drives.

Coming into this week, the Sooners had things to work on, namely tackling, as they missed 15 tackles last week per Pro Football Focus. The Sooners can’t afford another tackling effort like that against Texas. It will be an incredibly long day if it is.

While tackling was an issue for the defense, the offense seemed to figure some things out. Spencer Rattler had arguably his best game of the season, throwing just three incompletions. He was accurate and decisive, getting the ball out quickly and hitting receivers in stride. Though there appeared to be a couple of miscommunications between Rattler and his receivers on deep routes, he looked fantastic. Hopefully, that’s a sign of things to come for the Sooners’ quarterback.

Another positive sign from last week was the way the offensive line played in the running game. If they can build off of that performance against Kansas State today in the Cotton Bowl, it will go a long way to securing a win for Oklahoma.

With that, let’s take a look at a couple more keys to the game and some of my favorite memories from the Red River Showdown.