Bill Guthridge, who led North Carolina to two Final Four appearances in his three seasons as basketball coach of the Tar Heels, will announce his retirement today, the Associated Press reported. That not-wanting-to-step-on-toes thing? He got his taste. He was a father figure.". Like his lifelong friend and mentor, Coach Dean Smith, he led by example instilling values of kindness, discipline and a strong work ethic. "When Coach Smith announced he was retiring and that Coach Guthridge was taking over, then it all clicked into place for me," Hanners says. Whats best for the players future has to come first, Smith said of the way he dealt with McAdoo, who became the second overall pick the in 72 NBA draft. Guthridge coached that team to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship, a school record-tying 34 wins (including 30 wins going into the NCAA Tournament the most in school history at the time) and an appearance in the Final Four, where they lost to Utah. In that July or August period, when Coach Smith basically told Coach Guthridge for the very last time in his life, Im not ready, Im not gonna do it again, then I think Coach Guthridge told him at that point that hed really like to try, Hanners says. Guthridge was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 1998. No, I couldnt even consider that, Smith said. Everybody would have loved Coach Ford to get the opportunity, Frederick says. Coach Guthridge made his retirement official on May 13, 2015. Bill and Dean, friends for life. Guthridge didn't bother to recruit Jason Williams,. It has to be one of those., Williams talked Thursday night with Kansas athletic director Bob Frederick. By the way, Dean Smith basically forced UNC to hire Guthridge, his long-time assistant, when El Deano suddenly retired in October 1997, just before the beginning of the hoops season. He is probably best remembered for his loyalty to Smith, who died in February at age 83. One of the best testaments to Guthridges impact came on that retirement day, June 30. Dick, lets talk on Monday, but Im pretty sure Im gonna tell you Monday its time to transition, Baddour remembers. As he would prepare for a basketball practice or game, he was equally intense about attention to detail in scheduling or whatever.. (Robert Willett / Tribune News Service via Getty). College Basketball Coach. Other opportunities had arisen over time, and yet Guthridge always remained as Smiths assistant. (Jed Jacobsohn / ALLSPORT via Getty), Theres a world where Ford got his chance to be UNCs head coach, and maybe still would be in that position. Then there are the other options from Smiths tree: Karl and Fogler and even Larry Brown. He will certainly be remembered for what he did as opposed to what else he might have done. Had Smith made the logical move and coached on until his 70th birthday -- the route likely to be taken by Dukes Mike Krzyzewski (66) and Syracuses Jim Boeheim (68) -- he would have finished with at least 1,000 wins and possibly two more national titles. Smith is now 82 and with some health issues. He stayed (rather than leave for a head coaching job at another university) because he was enjoying what he was doing and why leave something you know is good for the unknown. He competed in one as a player at Kansas State in 1958, was an assistant coach at 11 before directing the Tar Heels at two as head coach. Recharge your batteries, they told him. Former UNC Director of Athletics Dick Baddour: Bill was one of the most respected and admired people I have known. Guthridge didn't bother to recruit Jason Williams, conceding him to K, even though Jason reportedly had an interest in UNC. Suggestion to Return DismissedWhen Guthridge retired after leading his third team to another Final Four, I interviewed Smith about the amazingly long and successful partnership the two coaches -- Smith a Kansas grad and Guthridge from Kansas State -- had enjoyed. And for as much as he did enjoy those three seasons, the same obligations that wore Smith down got to Guthridge as well. Not only did he coach me on the freshman team, he was my coach, another mentor, a friend, a father figure, a big brother for me just like he was for so many players. Why would you stay? Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997 to 2000 before retiring in June 2000. When Smith was needlessly ejected from the 1991 Final Four, it was Guthridge who was furious in the tunnel after the game. He saw his memory issues coming long before the world did. Guthridge spent 31 seasons as an assistant to Smith, the winningest coach in college basketball history. In his first year as head coach, he led the the team . That group, fresh off a Final Four appearance, was tabbed as the preseason No. He spurned offers to interview for head coaching vacancies, preferring to remain out of the spotlight and continuing to team with Smith. He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five picks of the NBA draft. The fact that he felt like he failed us.. Guthridge was involved in a total of fourteen Final Fours as either a player or coach, more than any other person in historyone each as a player and assistant at Kansas State, ten as a North Carolina assistant, and two as North Carolina head coach. Had McAdoo returned, Smiths team would have been much better positioned to deal with David Thompsons stunning impact on NC State, the ACC and the nation. I dont think he went in that summer thinking, Im not gonna be the basketball coach by fall, Baddour says. How would his retirement alter the short- and long-term trajectory of a program built on consistency? But against the Utes, the Tar Heels fell behind quickly and were never able to catch up. He handed out handwritten notes instead. Only different alternate realities. But theres also the fact that Dean did it his way, which was entirely predictable. The flip side of reality offers another interesting scenario: What if Guthridge had led that group to a win over Utah, and then over Kentucky in the championship game. Unfortunately, it took UNC two tries to find that leader. Guthridge was criticized last season by alumni and fans for losing five games at home the most since World War II and for a record that dropped to 18-13 after a first-round defeat in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. That first five minutes, you can have all the confidence in the world, but if you go down 23-8 or 13-4, you just put so much pressure on yourself. Hed been given a five-year contract when he took over for Smith, because the administration feared recruits would stop coming if they thought Guthridge could retire at any moment. Because I know Coach Smiths plan long-term, at least at that time, was to prepare the team for Phil to take over.. School officials stressed that Guthridge was not merely a placeholder for then-Kansas coach Roy Williams, signing him to a five-year contract. Bill Guthridge was consistently portrayed as a quiet gentleman. Its funny, I talk to (Williams) players, and with the thought of the day, and the way things are run, and I go to their practices, Jamison says, its Coach Gut, Coach Smith in a younger body.. He also coached 66 players who were selected in the NBA and/or ABA drafts. Coach Guthridge is the best I have ever seen in selecting potential in high school players, Smith once said, according to the teams website. You accomplished something that takes some other people 20-plus years to do. "I'd always set my time to GST, 10 minutes ahead.". Its often forgotten that he helped engineer the 2000 Final Four run by keeping his team in Charlotte overnight after a disappointing quarterfinal ACC Tournament loss, and pushing them hard in practice on Saturday. Guthridge was a player and then an assistant coach at Kansas State . Really, a championship or not is the only major differentiator between Smith and Guthridge. He held a news conference in the bowels of the Dean Smith Center, where he announced his retirement from the game hed given his life to. Though he was a head coach for a short time, he gracefully carried on a culture and legacy that many thought could not be perpetuated. He needed to hear that from Guthridge. Ironically, both coaches developed dementia along the way (Coach Smith died in January 2015 of complications from dementia). His legacy and contributions to my life and to our University will live on and he'll be much more remembered for his sense of humor and class just as much as his coaching.". The inconsistent season came on the heels of a first-round NCAA Tournament loss in 1999. Conference regular season champion Perhaps, at last, somewhere in his mind, Coach Guthridge finally made the decision to retire from this physical life. That was probably six or seven years later where somebody else might recognize it. But it was all as a team, no one mans fault or wrongdoing for the groups shortcoming. How close did Raleigh come to getting an NFL team? The picture most Tar Heel fans will have of him is sitting slightly behind Dean Smith, perhaps leaning over to make a point to the head coach. The team bus never left at 2 p.m. Born in Parsons, Kansas,[2] Guthridge attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, and graduated with a B.S. What Smith left behind was arguably the most talented team hed ever assembled: a pair of future NBA All-Stars, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison; the programs all-time assists leader, point guard Ed Cota; a lights-out shooter, Shammond Williams; a frontcourt enforcer, Makhtar Ndiaye; and much more. The manager put down his stuff and rifled through his pockets. But I already had a better job than that and I was happy here. Both played college ball in that state -- Smith at Kansas, Guthridge at Kansas State -- and coached at their alma maters before coming to North Carolina. After graduating from Kansas State, he coached at Scott City High School in Kansas for two seasons before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach for Tex Winter from 19621967. He was extremely special, important to every player, every coach who ever worked here. Hed grow bored of golf, and once that happened, his staff knew hed summoned up the energy for another go-around. Once, in 1978, he did nearly take the head coaching job at Penn State but he changed his mind at the airport and never thought about leaving Chapel Hill again. When his Tar Heels defeated Tulsa to earn a Final Four berth, the postgame locker room was one of the most emotional in the modern era, due at least partially to the devotion his players had for Guthridge and their joy in relievingat least for a momentthe criticism hed taken during the season. A tremendously loyal person with an ego that was seemingly non-existent. Guthridge had once accepted Penn States head coaching vacancy in the 1970s, only to return to Chapel Hill before his connecting flight to State College. "He was an unbelievable assistant to Coach Smith. After Coach Guthridges retirement in 2003, he and Coach Smith stayed in close contact, visiting each other frequently. To combat that fatigue, every summer, Smiths assistant coaches urged him to get out and enjoy life. Following the 199798 season, several organizations named him National Coach of the Year and he received the Naismith College Coach of the Year award. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Former University of North Carolina head coach Bill Guthridge, who also served 30 years as an assistant to Dean Smith, died Tuesday night at age 77, university officials confirmed on Wednesday. In 1998, Guthridge inherited a team that had been to the 1997 Final Four the previous year under Smith. But if Smith was selfless in his handling of McAdoo, it was nothing compared to Smiths shocking retirement on Oct. 9, 1997. Former UNC Coach Bill Guthridge passed away last night at age 77 w/ family at his side. But when Guthridge retired, Williamsthen playing with the Seattle Sonicsmade the effort to find a commercial flight to Chapel Hill, then flew out again as soon as the press conference was over. The careers and lives of the two coaches from Kansas were solidly intertwined. (An aside: if Doherty stays, does Mike Brey, succeeded him and still remains in South Bend, get that job, or is he elsewhere too?). Former University of North Carolina basketball coach Bill Guthridge, 77, died Tuesday from a heart condition. "Mak said he gets this call from his mom: 'Mak, there's this man here in Africa, says he's your coach,' ". End of conversation.. I tell people that Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge are my light-skinned fathers, said Antawn Jamison, who was the National Player of the Year for the 1998 team that Guthridge guided to the Final Four. He was a friend. One of the things that made (Smith) so special was his ability to be innovative so certainly, I think we would have had some other ways to attack in a game that we struggled, against Utah in the Final Four.. But I know thats something that bothered him to his death, Ndiaye says. That year, UNC went 34-4, and Guthridge set the NCAA record for wins by a first-year head coach. What burned just below that was a fierce competitor who might sometimes react more like a fan than you would expect. Kansas chancellor Robert Hemenway said the school was privileged to have Williams. He was a lifetime assistant coach for whom Dean did a solid. Had it worked out where there wasnt a down year or whatever, maybe things end up differently, Frederick says. With a wealth of returning talent, Guthridge instituted a "six starters" system, whereby the team's top six players, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Ed Cota, Shammond Williams, Ademola Okulaja, and Makhtar N'Diaye rotated positions in the starting five. He led his first team to the 1998 Final Four and had two players, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, selected in the top five . A source close to the basketball program, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Guthridge recently decided he did not have the energy to continue coaching the Tar Heels. He was a perfect sidekick for Coach Smith. Guthridge said a few weeks ago he planned to stay another five or six years despite intense criticism from fans and alumni after the teams worst regular-season record in decades. The next season, North Carolina earned a #3 seed in the West regional of the NCAA tournament, but was upset in the first round by Weber State in a late game in Seattle. As good a person as I ever met. And so those players, all of them, kick around the questions to this day.