North Carolina Coach Roy Williams Collapses After Vertigo Attack, Doesn't Return for Second Half
North Carolina head coach Roy Williams collapsed on the sideline at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday during the first half of the Tar Heels' win over Clemson.
Williams never returned for the second half of the game. The team tweeted that Williams suffered a vertigo attack.
Williams fell to one knee in front of the Tar Heels' bench with 55 seconds left on the clock before halftime. Play was stopped and Williams was immediately attended to by players, assistants and the medical staff. Two people helped Williams to the locker room, and he waved to the crowd as he left the court.
Assistant Steve Robinson filled in for Williams for the remainder of the first half and the second.
Williams has experienced vertigo attacks since 1995 and suffered a similar incident in a 2016 game against Boston College. He said after the game that he was feeling fine.
"I just wanted to let y'all know I'm alive," Williams told reporters after the game, per ESPN. "I'm not going to croak on anybody. It's vertigo.
"It's excruciating pain for a little while," he added. "I started feeling a heck of a lot better, but [Robinson] was up six or seven and I didn't want to jinx it. If we had lost, I would have gone back out there with him. But I didn't want to jinx him at that time, and yes, I'm a little superstitious."
No. 5 UNC beat Clemson 81–79 on Saturday night. The Tar Heels next travel to Boston College on Tuesday, while the Tigers head to Notre Dame on Wednesday.
