CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ten months after his sudden and somber spring departure in an empty building, Roy Williams stood at center court at the Smith Center, bathed not only in a spotlight, but the applause of an arena filled with happy fans.
He waited almost a year for this, doing it Saturday at the suggestion of two of his most loyal staffers, and this was a far more appropriate farewell. Not that North Carolina has failed to appropriately recognize Williams over the years — he and his family had to walk across his own name as they entered the court — but there was clearly a need for something more than that afternoon of tears and self-deprecation.
Even with a new coach and several new players on the bench and, shortly, a new banner, there was still also something so familiar seeing him out there and hearing Williams speak. Almost as familiar as North Carolina holding a giant halftime lead on N.C. State.
