UNC Basketball: The Biggest NCAA Tournament Moments under Roy Williams
By Chris Ward
2005
The 2005 Tar Heels had all of the pieces to make their present felt in the tournament, and make a run for Roy’s first national title.
With a stacked team UNC made a run in the NCAA Tournament that we wont forget and delivered Roy’s first title.
Villanova called for a travel takes UNC to the Elite 8
The trip to the Final Four in St. Louis was certainly not an easy one. After two blowouts of Oakland and Iowa State, the No. 1 seed Tar Heels took the floor vs. No. 5 seeded Villanova Wildcats.
The Wildcats came out blazing and Randy Foye had 11 points with 15 minutes left in the first half.
After getting down by 11 in the first half, UNC went into the half down 33-29. The Heels were the ones to come out hot in the 2nd half, and once they took the lead it felt like they were back to cruising.
This was then quickly halted by Bob Cousy winner and starting point guard Raymond Felton picking up his fifth foul with 2:11 left in the game. Senior Melvin Scott was tagged to run the offense, and UNC fans held their breath.
With 11 seconds left and the Tar Heels up 66-63, Allen Ray drove to the hoop and made a layup as the official’s whistle blew. Fortunately for the Heels, the referee called traveling, went down and hit a free throw to get the lead to four and the rest was history.
Raymond Felton’s steal vs Illinois
After beating Wisconsin and Michigan State to reach the National Championship Game, the Tar Heels faced the favorite and one-loss Illinois in nearby St. Louis.
The Tar Heels started off hot and took a 13 point lead into halftime; holding Illinois to only 27 percent from the field. The Fighting Illini would not go quietly into the night, however, and made a run in the second half to get it to a one-possession game. With 2:40 left Illinois tied the game at 70 on a Luther Head three-pointer on the wing.
With 1:30 left Marvin Williams put the Tar Heels up 72-70, and the nerves continued. After a few good looks for Illinois from three, Luther Head drove into the key and went to kick it out to a shooter as Raymond Felton got his hand on a pass and took it down the floor to be fouled with 33 seconds to play.
Felton split the free throws, Luther Head had a look to tie and missed, and the Tar Heels were National Champions.
Roy Williams winning his first NCAA title
Roy Williams has always been viewed as the “lucky” coach. He didn’t have to cut his teeth at the low-level school, or earn his way to the blue-blood program; he was given the Kansas job as his first career head coaching position.
He certainly had great seasons with Jayhawks, but after his four Final Four appearances could never bring home the title.
Fast forward to 2003, the Tar Heels had missed the tournament in back to back seasons and were only a season removed from an 8-20 season. Williams decided to make the move to his alma-mater even after losing in the championship at Kansas.
The championship in 2005 took Williams from the coach who couldn’t win the big one, to a Hall-of-Famer just like his mentor Dean Smith. For Tar Heels fans it meant that the dark seasons were truly behind them, and they were in great hands moving forward.