RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A special honor was given from one Roy to another Thursday at the North Carolina Executive Mansion.
Gov. Roy Cooper presented legendary University of North Carolina men’s basketball head coach Roy Williams with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honorary society in the state.
“Coach Williams exemplifies what it means to be a Tar Heel and a North Carolinian,” Cooper said.”
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Roy Williams (left) is presented with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Gov. Roy Cooper (right). (Office of Governor Roy Cooper) -
Roy Williams (left) and Gov. Roy Cooper (right) shake hands at the North Carolina Executive Mansion. (Office of Governor Roy Cooper) -
Roy Williams at the North Carolina Executive Mansion. (Office of Governor Roy Cooper)
Williams, a native of Marion in the western part of the state, is a 1972 graduate of UNC. He began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater in 1978 under another Hall of Fame coach, Dean Smith. Williams left Chapel Hill to take the head coaching job at Kansas, but returned in 2003 take the helm at UNC.
Under Williams, the Tar Heels won national championships in 2005, 2009 and 2017. He announced his surprise retirement following the end of the 2020-21 season, finishing his career at North Carolina with the second-most wins in the program history behind only his mentor, Smith. Among Williams’ many accomplishments during his career are an AP National Coach of the Year award and two ACC Coach of the Year honors.