Skip to main content

Roy Williams: No "Master Plan" For Retirement

Calls speculation following court kiss, donation, "junk"

Roy Williams began his pre ACC Tournament press conference addressing rumors that arose from the end of the Duke game that closed the regular season.

After the win over the Blue Devils and Senior Day ceremonies, Williams kissed the UNC logo on the floor before leaving. That led to widespread speculation that Williams may be bidding the school farewell in preparation for retirement. Former Tar Heel player Antawn Jamison did something similar before declaring for the NBA Draft following the conclusion of the 1998 regular season.

“This is stuff has gotten a little crazy," Williams said. "I kissed the floor as I started to walk off, and I've had plenty of times in my life I wished I had kissed the floor at Allen Fieldhouse 10-20-30 times. This year we were undefeated in the conference at home. Our last two games, the crowd came in and they were sensational. I didn't know anything about Antawn Jamison kissing the floor. I'd never heard that story. I knew that we won a lot of games that Kansas and here that I thought the crowd was extremely important to us. I knew it was the last game this season in the Smith Center. And that's all it was. That's all it was.”

Williams and his wife Wanda also made a $3 million gift to UNC scholarships, which was announced earlier this week. That fed the speculation that it may be related to the coach’s future with the Tar Heels.

“And then all this stuff's come out about our contributions. If you really think about it, guys, come on,” Williams said. “One of the things it said in there is that the total is about $5.8 million in the 18 years. So it’s not the first time Wanda and I have ever done this. This is something that we've consistently done and we did it in Kansas as well. And, you know, somebody said I was trying to buy another year from Bubba. I’ve got a dadgum contract through 2028. You think I need to buy another year? I've already got a contract, Jesus Christ. It's something I've done my entire life. It’s just that I hadn't really cared if people knew about it, and I damn sure wish that people didn't know about it now so I didn’t have to listen to all this junk.”

“I'm coaching my butt off,” Williams added. “And that's what I'm concerned about. But let’s put all this other stuff to rest. There's no master plan. There's no minor plan. I'm doing what I've done my whole life.”