Thin-skinned Tar Heels coach Roy Williams ejects heckling fan for a meaningless comment
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
What does it take to have police remove you from a college basketball game? At the University of North Carolina’s Dean Smith Center, home of the revered Tar Heels basketball team, all you have to do is tell a player not to miss a shot.
WRAL caught video of Tar Heels basketball head coach Roy Williams ordering security to haul a fan out of the arena late in North Carolina’s 103-64 throttling of basketball nobodies Presbyterian on Saturday for reportedly yelling at senior Tar Heel forward Deon Thompson, who was about to shoot a free throw shot, “Hey Deon, don’t miss it!”
And with that, a bad year of unseemly behavior from college coaches marches on.
If Roy Williams’ touchiness wasn’t apparent from the first half of the video, it’s abundantly clear during the press conference segment when he tries to dismiss a reporter’s questions about the incident.
“I don’t think anybody should yell anything negative at our players. Period. Let’s not make it a bigger thing than it is. But I just don’t think anybody should yell negative things toward our players (when) you come in on our tickets to watch our game,” Williams, said. Emphasis added.
That’s funny, because the fan might have thought that since he presumably paid for the ticket, it became his ticket to do as he pleases. And while anyone can reasonably expect some modicum of restraint to be shown by fans attending a game, Dean Smith Center guidelines posted online do not govern what a fan can or cannot say to a player, or whether attendees are required to observe their allegiance to the Tar Heels. Furthermore, arena policies don’t spell out any ticket ownership terms at the point of purchase.
Fans pay enough for a ticket — the Tar Heels’ next game is against similarly-lowly Marshall, and reserved seats to that game cost $50 — that such a benign comment should clearly not attract the attention of arena security, to say nothing of the coach of a top-ranked basketball team handing a cupcake opponent its lunch. If anything, Williams has ensured that his player, Thompson, will hear much worse when he toes the free throw line of any of the Tar Heels’ upcoming opponents, especially arch rival Duke University. While Williams might have gotten over on a fan, he has not done his player any favors.
As an aside, I attempted to purchase tickets to North Carolina’s upcoming game to Marshall through the university’s online site just to see how much they would cost. I ended up with a $50 ticket for garbage seats on the upper level. Then I was asked if I wanted the tickets e-mailed to me (which cost $1.50 for this pricey newfangled e-mail technology) or if I just wanted to pick it up at the ticket office on the day of the game (which costs $3). I chose the $3 will call option. When I got my grand total for the ticket, I discovered that the $50 ticket plus $3 will call charge also included a $3 “delivery” charge plus a $7 order charge for a total of $63 to see what should be a blowout against Marshall. Wait, a $3 delivery charge? Where are they being delivered to? I thought I was going to pick them up at the box office. Seems like a double-charge. $3 isn’t a lot, but a delivery charge for tickets that do not get delivered is not even an extra charge that Ticketmaster has thought of.
Maybe Williams should have said, “I just don’t think anybody should yell negative things toward our players (when) you come in buying tickets on our screwy ticket policy to watch a game.”
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I was pretty embarrassed to hear about this. As someone who grew up playing the game, and honestly, a huge UNC fan (because of Coach Dean Smith and guys like Kenny Smith), I just couldn’t believer that this happened.
What have we come to in college sports? A coach getting so angered by a fan with a low-level heckle, that he has him ejected?
Shame on Roy Williams. This is embarrassing, as a ex-player, fan and part-time coach.
Word coming out in defense of Williams is the fan was supposedly sitting in someone else’s seat and was also drunk. Why some other fan who had his or her seat occupied for a couple hours and waits until there’s about six minutes left in the game to summon security — right at the same time Roy gets angry and does the same — is beyond me. And the security seemed pretty certain he was in the wrong seat if that was the case — the video shows them straight hustling the guy out of there without checking a ticket.
Maybe he was drunk, I don’t know. I also don’t know how that would make him any different than a large percentage of the student section.
In response to another comment. See in context »Watching it unfold, I wouldn’t buy any of that. Roy was in a foul mood, more than likely, and the guy’s comment set the coach off.
Still, I’m embarrassed, and Roy Williams should be embarrassed as well (particularly based on what he said after the game).
There’s no place for this behavior from a coach in college basketball. It’s every bit as bad as the players who are treated likes gods from the time they can walk, and who whine and cry when they don’t get there way.
Roy should apologize for his actions and make sure that that fan has a ticket for any and all UNC games going forward.
In response to another comment. See in context »http://www.wralsportsfan.com/unc/story/6611583/
He was not drunk and he was invited to sit in that seat by friends. Roy is just a jerk and proved it that night.