Williams, Players Not Concerned About Vertigo Incident
CLEMSON, SC – There’s nothing all that unusual about Roy Williams feeling faint and going to a knee during the course of a game. The North Carolina basketball coach has done this numerous times in his career, and after a minute sitting on the bench and a sip of something he’s usually fine.
But that wasn’t the case Saturday at Clemson, as Williams went to the ground with 54 seconds left in the first half of a game the Tar Heels eventually won 81-79. The UNC medical staff and assistants surrounded Williams on the sideline as he appeared to be on one knee before being escorted to Carolina’s locker room while the fans at Littlejohn Coliseum stood and gave the Hall of Fame coach a loud ovation.
UNC put out a release at halftime that Williams suffered a vertigo spell and it was uncertain if he would return to the bench for the remainder of the game. He didn’t, as associate head coach Steve Robinson filled in the rest of the way. However, the Carolina coach did address the media after the game.
“I’m going to let Coach Rob talk to you because he did the work, I just wanted to let you know I’m alive, I’m not going to croak on anybody,” Williams said. “It’s vertigo… I jerked around and tried to get Seventh (Woods) in for Kenny (Williams) because Kenny was struggling shooting the ball and we were making him work so hard on (Clemson guard) Marcquise Reed I wanted to give him a break and went down.
“It’s excruciating pain for a little while (but) I’ve started feeling a heck of a lot better.”
The fifth-ranked Tar Heels were in the midst of a 10-0 run that saw them turn a 33-29 deficit into a 39-33 lead. They weren’t shaken by what they saw because they’ve seen it before.
In fact, it happened when current seniors Luke Maye and Williams were freshmen in 2016. Williams went to the floor with about 14 minutes left in the Tar Heels’ game at Boston College and lay on the ground for a few minutes. He needed more help going to the locker room that night than here on Saturday.
UNC eventually eked out a 68-65 win over the Eagles. So even though it was a scary moment for most watching, a couple of Heels have been through it before and knew everything would be okay.
“We’ve talked about it before and they (other players) know,” Maye said.
The players not around then have still seen Williams have several bouts during games, so they really weren’t worried about their coach.
“We knew he was going to be okay, (that) it was a vertigo thing,” Cam Johnson said. “And after that, we just got to trust that the trainers will take care of him and turn our attention to Coach Rob and get the win for him.”
Williams didn’t miss any additional time after the episode in 2016, and it’s unlikely he will this time, either.