Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court

“A star coach tells his inspiring tale . . . by the end of this engaging tale, you’ll realize why Williams is an unparalleled recruiter . . . He works as hard as anyone, and he knows how to tell a good story.” —Sports Illustrated

Coach Roy Williams is one of the most respected and successful basketball coaches in the nation; he has led the UNC team for the past 18 seasons, with 903 career wins, three national championships, led his team to five Final Fours, finished first in the ACC regular standings nine times, and won three ACC tournament championships. 
 
And yet, Williams traveled an unlikely path. In Hard Work¸ he tells the story of his life, from his turbulent childhood through a coaching career with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Williams recounts his rough early years; his long tenure as head coach at the University of Kansas; how he recruits, teaches, and motivates his players; how he’s shepherded teams through some of the most nail-biting games at both Kansas and UNC; and how he suffered through one of the roughest seasons of his tenure and came out on the other side to be awarded 2011 ACC Coach of the Year.
 
One of the most accomplished basketball coaches of all time, Williams was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

 

Writer TIM CROTHERS was for many years a Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated before returning home to Chapel Hill to teach in the School of Journalism at UNC, his alma mater. He is the author of The Man Watching, a biography of Anson Dorrance, the legendary coach of the UNC Womens Soccer Team.


ROY WILLIAMS head coach of the University of North Carolina mens basketball team, the Tar Heels, has the highest winning percentage in NCAA history. Over the last seven years, the 58-year-old Asheville, N.C., native―who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007―has won 205 games, including 24 in the NCAA Tournament. Thats more Final Fours, more wins, and more NCAA Tournament victories than any basketball coach in the nation.