Advertisement
basketball Edit

Ranking All 18 Of Roy Williams' Carolina Teams

With Roy Williams having retired this past week, THI ranks each of his teams from 1-through-18.
With Roy Williams having retired this past week, THI ranks each of his teams from 1-through-18. (AP)

Roy Williams coached North Carolina for 18 seasons posting a 485-163 record and leading the Tar Heels to three national championships, four title game appearances, five Final Fours, and so much more.

So, with Williams having announced his retirement this past Thursday, THI continues to look back at his tenure in Chapel Hill, so here are all 18 of his UNC teams ranked in order:


Advertisement

No. 18 - 2020 (14-19 overall, 6-14 ACC)

Injuries, an unspectacular roster and more injuries derailed this season not long after it started. These Tar Heels became the first UNC team to ever lose at home to Clemson, dropped six contests essentially at the buzzer, and lost more games than only one of Carolina team in history.


No. 17 - 2010 (20-17 overall, 5-11 ACC, NIT runner up)

Coming off the national title in 2009 and exodus of a stacked roster, the 2010 season was packed with injuries and a roster that just didn’t have parts that meshed well on the court. One of two UNC teams under Williams to not reach the NCAA Tournament, this club had talent but it was nowhere near refined enough to maintain the lofty standard of the program.


No. 16 - 2021 (18-11 overall, 10-6 ACC, NCAA 1st Round)

The youngest team Williams ever coached and probably the youngest team in UNC history got better, but it was marked by wild inconsistency, barrages of turnovers, and poor shooting. The Heels did sweep Duke and had some exceptional performances late in the season, but Williams said he just couldn’t get them going enough, and it led to his eventual retirement.


No. 15 - 2004 (19-11 overall, 8-8 ACC, NCAA 2nd Round)

Williams’ first team at UNC was certainly talented but was coming off the tumultuous Matt Doherty run and there was an awful lot of work for Williams to do aside from just coaching basketball. A foundation was built, though, for the following season, as Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Sean May, Jawad Williams and company morphed into a team during the process.


No. 14 - 2013 (25-11 overall, 12-6 ACC, NCAA 3rd Round)

Remember the NCAA renamed its first few rounds for several seasons, so the Heels actually went out in what we generally consider the second round. This was actually a pretty good team that had some nice runs, including winning six straight before losing the regular season finale. Then they made it to the ACC title game and won a game in the NCAA Tournament. Someone has to be No. 14, so these guys fill the slot.


No. 13 - 2015 (26-12 overall, 11-7 ACC, NCAA Sweet 16)

By the end of the season, this was a very dangerous club, as evidenced by them pushing eventual national runner-up Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. They also won three games in the ACC Tournament, including over No. 3 Virginia. The Heels capitalized on that late season run by winning 33 games the following season and reaching the national title game. But 12 losses and an 11-7 mark in the ACC keeps this group at No. 13.


No 12 - 2006 (23-8 overall, 12-4 ACC, NCAA 2nd Round)

Tyler Hansbrough’s freshman season was one of Williams’ great coaching jobs. The leading returning scorer from the 2005 national championship club was David Noel at 3.9 points per game, but the Heels turned in a very nice year, which included a big road win at No. 10 Kentucky and a win capping off the regular season at home over top-ranked Duke. Four freshmen played prominent roles, including Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard, and Danny Green.


No. 11 - 2018 (26-11 overall, 11-7 ACC, NCAA 2nd Round)

This was another outstanding job by Williams, as he got everything out of this group, which had to mesh in graduate transfer Cam Johnson well into the season once the sharp-shooting wing was healthy. Joel Berry and Theo Pinson led the Heels with their grit and smarts. The Heels beat Duke twice and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but they wore down and just didn’t have enough inside in the NCAA Tournament loss to Texas A&M.


No. 10 - 2014 (24-10 overall, 13-5 ACC, NCAA 3rd Round)

Aside from Marcus Paige’s best season, the Tar Heels boasted a roster of guys that either hadn’t come into their own yet or were nice-but-unspectacular players. They notched some big wins along the way, including a neutral site victory over No. 3 Louisville, at No. 1 Michigan State, and they beat No. 5 Duke in one of their meetings. They also won 12 straight starting in late January.


No. 9 - 2011 (29-8 overall, 14-2 ACC, NCAA Elite EIght)

This team ranked as the ninth best Williams has coached at UNC illustrates just how fantastic the Hall of Fame coach was. This club was outstanding by the end of the season closing out the campaign winning 17 of its last 20 games, and it could have gone to the Final Four and possibly won a national title had it not fouled up the last few minutes of the regional final. Harrison Barnes as a freshman, Tyler Zeller, John Henson, Kendall Marshall, Reggie Bullock, and so on, this was building toward and amazing year the following season.


No. 8 - 2019 (29-7 overall, 16-2 ACC, NCAA Sweet 16)

There were times when this squad was almost as good as the top few despite its roster composition. This was the best perimeter shooting club in Carolina history, and once freshman point guard Coby White flipped the switch in late December, the Heels took off. Cam Johnson was outstanding, Luke Maye was Luke Maye, and the Heels could score as quickly as any team Williams coached. Again, another incredible job by Williams having these Heels as a No. 1 seed and favored by some to win the national title before an illness hit them in the Sweet 16 in Kansas City.


No. 7 - 2007 (31-7 overall, 11-5 ACC, NCAA Elite Eight)

These Heels were young starting three freshmen but they should have reached the Final Four. Ty Lawson at the point, Wayne Ellington at the two, and Brandan Wright at the four were as talented a freshman trio as UNC has put on the floor together, then add Tyler Hansbrough and this was a sensational team at times. Two years later, most of this group, which included Danny Green, finished their business.


No. 6 - 2016 (33-7 overall, 14-4 ACC, NCAA Runner-Up)

To think that it took a 30-foot shot at the buzzer to beat these guys in the national championship game yet its ranked sixth in this series speaks volumes. Marcus Paige’s amazing shot just before Villanova’s Kris Jenkins hit the game-winner, was one of the greatest plays in Carolina history. Brice Johnson turned in one of the great senior seasons in UNC history, and the foundation for the redemption tour made this an awfully fun and outstanding team.


No. 5 - 2012 (32-6 overall, 14-2 ACC, NCAA Elite Eight)

The cruel reality is this team could have challenged for the top spot had Kendall Marshall not been injured against Creighton in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Carolina was outstanding that season, maybe the best team in the nation, and if not it was the second best club in the land and on a collision course to face Kentucky in the national title game. But the Heels couldn’t overcome not having Marshall while John Henson battled an injury, too, and UNC fell to Kansas in the regional final. Marshall, Barnes, Henson, Zeller, Bullock, McAdoo, and Hairston all played in the NBA.


No. 4 - 2008 (36-3 overall, 14-2 ACC, Final Four)

Perhaps because this team didn’t win it all and has the stain of the 40-12 deficit to Kansas in the Final Four on its resume, it will never go down as one of Williams’ greatest teams, but it was absolutely that until it got to San Antonio and the Final Four. It does, however belong in the discussion with UNC’s best teams that didn’t win a national title. Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington were sophomores and Tyler Hansbrough (National Player of the Year), Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and tremendous length and depth made this a a borderline great team.


No. 3 - 2017 (33-7 overall, 14-4 ACC, National Champions)

Some might argue the 2008 or 2012 teams were actually better and that may be the case, but this club won it all, and did so a year after losing the title game on a buzzer beater. That makes this perhaps the greatest team story ever in UNC’s fabled history. Oh, and they were talented, superbly coached and maybe had the best chemistry of any team this scribe has covered. Justin Jackson was ACC Player of the Year, Joel Berry was the MOP of the Final Four, Kennedy Meeks was amazing in the national semifinals, Theo Pinson was a glue guy who gave the team juice, Luke Maye exploded in the regionals and hit one of the biggest shots in program history, Isaiah Hicks was reliable, and so on. What a fun story.


No. 2 - 2005 (33-4 overal, 14-2 ACC, National Champions)

People forget what a great coaching job Williams did getting this team on the same page, especially Rashad McCants. Say what you will about the stuff McCants has said and done since he left UNC, but if Williams doesn’t get him to buy in enough, this club doesn’t win it all. Sean May’s play over the second half to the season was at a level few Tar Heels have ever reached. Raymond Felton was a terrific floor general, shooter, and edge guy, Marvin Williams off the bench, and the seniors (Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel, and Melvin Scott), who endured an 8-20 freshmen campaign, experienced the greatest personal turnarounds in UNC history.


No. 1 - 2009 (34-4 overall, 13-3 ACC, National Champions)

There were times during the course of the season this team was a bit bored waiting for the postseason to arrive to settle its unfinished business. When that time came, though, the Heels bought in defensively and cruised to the national title becoming the first team to win every game by double digits and annihilating Michigan State in the title game in Detroit. Tyler Hansbrough was a senior that year, but Ty Lawson was the ACC Player of the Year, Wayne Ellington the MOP, Danny Green was sensational at the three, Deon Thompson solid as the four, and the bench included future NBA players Ed Davis, Larry Drew, and Tyler Zeller. One can argue this was the last great team in college basketball to win it all.


Advertisement