UNC Basketball: Mark Few would be dream replacement for Roy Williams
By Lee Vowell
![Mar 22, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few reacts after a play against the Oklahoma Sooners during the first half in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports Mar 22, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few reacts after a play against the Oklahoma Sooners during the first half in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/2831488515252a97ebb8644a256bae58eee152f325dd396f80535522fd32dc52.jpg)
Following the retirement of head coach Roy Williams, the UNC Basketball program is now in search of a new man to take over the program.
Mark Few would be the perfect fit for the job. I do not say this simply because Gonzaga is really good currently and has been since Few became the coach there in the 1999-2000 season. But Few builds teams in a very Carolina kind of way.
Instead of taking the mantel of someone like Duke who has become the ACC’s Kentucky where they churn and burn through one-season-and-done players in hopes of finding temporary success, Few adds good players to his program and grooms them for a couple or more seasons and his teams are the better for it.
Yes, Gonzaga has had lots of talent in Few’s seasons but he believes in a team concept and that the team is great than the sum of its pieces instead of getting one or two potentially great players and building the team around them for a year.
For most of the years of success with UNC basketball, this is how Carolina was built. Sure, recently the Tar Heels have had more than their usual one-year players but it took a while for Roy Williams to get there and that hasn’t worked out for the best.
Mark Few’s style works perfectly with UNC basketball
Tar Heel fans want and deserve a winner. We are loyalists and we like our players to stick around, not because they are good but because a team that has cohesion is nearly always better than a team that does not.
Of Gonzaga’s current top four scores and top four rebounders, just one is a freshman. Two others are a junior and a senior. Mark Few attracts talent to his program but attracts talent that can be improved instead of players who show up for classes and play basketball for one year and then move. Gonzaga is better for this.
If you need proof, just know that in Few’s 22 seasons at Gonzaga, he has had two seasons with 10 losses or more (the most he has had is 11) and has averaged 6 losses a season.
Kenny Smith would be a great fit for Tar Heels too. dark. Next
The question isn’t whether Mark Few can bring his style to UNC basketball and make it extremely successful because he can. Carolina recruits itself and Few would target the players he wants. The question is would Few leave the safety of Gonzaga?
If he would, UNC basketball needs to be his new home as immediately after Monday as possible.