UNC Basketball: Roy Williams wins extraordinary award

Former UNC basketball head coach Roy Williams is this year’s recipient of a major award, one that recognizes his contributions to the sport of basketball.

Roy Williams made a major impact on the sport of basketball throughout his coaching career.

We could go on for hours talking about the impact he not only made at the University of Kansas and for the UNC basketball program but on the sport of basketball as a whole. Not even two years removed from the sidelines, Williams has earned a prestigious award to recognize everything that he has accomplished.

Williams has been named the recipient of the 2023 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Men’s Basketball Award by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The former Tar Heels head coach will be honored with Texas Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director Chris Plonsky, the 2023 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Women’s Basketball recipient, at this year’s Final Four.

This will be the third time that a UNC basketball head coach has received this honor. Frank McGuire first earned the award in 1990, while Williams’ mentor Dean Smith took home the honors in 1998.

This award, which was first presented in 1982, is given annually to individuals whose extraordinary efforts have made outstanding contributions while creating a long-lasting positive impact on the game of basketball. The recipients of the award are those who display character, integrity, and dignity while contributing to the growth, success, and viability of the sport of basketball.

In a statement to Go Heels, Williams spoke about receiving this award:

"I am very flattered. The list of previous Naismith Outstanding Contributor winners is amazing, an exceptional and highly respected group of people that have done so much for the game of basketball,” said Williams.  “I am lucky that I loved to do what I was able to do. I never went to work a day in my life as long as I was coaching basketball. To me the key was having great players and great assistant coaches. That carried me a long way and I’m just so happy with that.”"

Williams is someone who will always bleed Carolina blue, even with his coaching days behind him. It’s very often to see Williams, alongside his wife Wanda, attending North Carolina sporting events, supporting the current generation of coaches and student-athletes.

The University of North Carolina is a better place because Roy Williams was, and still is, a part of it. His impact on the UNC basketball program and the sport as a whole is something that will continue to help the game move in the right direction.

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