ACC Basketball

North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams announced his retirement Thursday after 48 years on the sideline, including 33 years as a head coach at UNC and Kansas.

Williams, who ranks third all-time among Division I men's basketball coaches with 903 career wins, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

After 33 years as a Hall of Fame head coach, our beloved Tar Heel Roy Williams is announcing his retirement.

Thank you for all you have done and meant to everyone who plays and loves our game.

Release 🔗: https://t.co/l6y5tRjB2I pic.twitter.com/FzTUmbx3v1

— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) April 1, 2021

The North Carolina native was a member of UNC's freshman team during the 1968-69 season. He received a master's degree in teaching from the university in 1973 and began his coaching career later that year at Charles D. Owen High School in the Tar Heel State.

He returned to UNC in 1978 and spent a decade as an assistant on the staff of the legendary Dean Smith before leaving in 1988 to take over at Kansas.

Williams guided the Jayhawks to a 418-101 record (.805 winning percentage) across 15 years with 14 appearances in the NCAA tournament and four trips to the Final Four.

Three titles and the third-most wins in the history of men’s college basketball.

Roy Williams goes out as one of the greats.

(via @GoHeels)pic.twitter.com/U8hBwriw6X

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 1, 2021

The former Roberson High School standout returned to his college alma mater for the final stop of his coaching career in 2003.

Williams led the Tar Heels to three national championships (2005, 2009 and 2017) in 18 seasons with the program. He recorded seven 30-win campaigns as part of a 485-163 (.748) overall record.

UNC posted a 14-19 mark in 2019-20, the first time in the Hall of Fame coach's career that one of his collegiate teams finished with a losing record, but it bounced back to go 18-11 with an NCAA tournament bid this year.

Salute to UNC Head Coach Roy Williams on a legendary 48-year career. All respect. Thank you for all you have done for the game, our league and the greatest rivalry in sports. 🤝

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) April 1, 2021

Williams said after the team's first-round loss to Wisconsin that the disjointed season caused by the coronavirus pandemic took a toll on him.

"I started the season when I was 70 years old and I feel like I'm 103," he told reporters. "It's been a difficult year. But everyone's had the problems with COVID that we've had. It's been a hard year to push and pull, push and pull every other day to get something done."

Hard to overstate Roy Williams' importance to UNC. He saved the program. 3 rings while humbly and comfortably being in his mentor's shadow. Adjusted to CBB trends well (esp for his age.) A great ambassador for the school and was extremely generous and gracious to all other sports

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) April 1, 2021

Steve Robinson, Hubert Davis and Brad Frederick were the Tar Heels' assistant coaches during the 2020-21 season. It's unclear whether the program will promote from within or seek an outside replacement for one of the best coaches in college basketball history.

Along with the three national titles and the Basketball Hall of Fame induction, Williams' accolades include being named Associated Press Coach of the Year twice, 18 conference regular-season titles, seven conference postseason titles and nine Final Four appearances.

He was also inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said Friday he believes the Tar Heels' foundation is "really, really special" despite an 85-62 blowout loss to Wisconsin in the first round of the 2021 men's NCAA tournament.

"I started the season when I was 70 years old and I feel like I'm 103," Williams told reporters. "It's been a difficult year. But everyone's had the problems with COVID that we've had. It's been a hard year to push and pull, push and pull every other day to get something done."

Williams added UNC wasn't "good enough or experienced enough or coached well enough" to beat the Badgers, but he remained optimistic.

"When you start talking about inexperience or youth or seven freshmen, that sounds like excuses," he said. "But those are facts. I think we have the foundation that can be really something. The foundation here is something that could be really, really special."

North Carolina bounced back from a forgettable 14-19 season in 2019-20 to post an 18-11 mark this year, but it looked outclassed against Wisconsin on Friday.

The Badgers executed anything they wanted offensively, shooting 50.8 percent from the field and knocking down 13 threes, and the Tar Heels couldn't keep pace. They shot 38.5 percent and tallied the same number of turnovers as assists (10 each).

Williams had never lost in the first round of March Madness, going 29-0 before Friday, counting his time at Kansas, and it was the first time UNC was knocked out in the opening round since 1999.

"I thought [Wisconsin] played very well and Roy Williams didn't coach very well," Williams said of himself.

His comments about the future should create hope for North Carolina fans, though. The roster was littered with key contributors who were underclassmen, and UNC has already signed a pair of 247Sports 4-star prospects, Dontrez Styles and D'Marco Dunn, to its 2021 recruiting class.

Outside shooting is the biggest improvement needed. The Tar Heels shot just 31.7 percent from three-point range through the campaign, and it's hard to showcase any semblance of consistency in the modern game without knocking down outside shots.

Otherwise, the talent is there for Williams and UNC to put together a strong 2021-22 campaign and make a deeper run in next year's tournament.

Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton's NCAA tournament hasn't gotten off to the smoothest start—and his team hasn't even played yet. 

The 72-year-old told ESPN Radio he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon while exiting a team bus Sunday. 

"Listen, if this is the only issue I'm going to have in life, I'm going to have a great life," Hamilton said (h/t CBS Sports' Kyle Boone). "I've never been injured and I ruptured my Achilles. But hey listen, I'm fine."

Hamilton joked he was chasing after a referee in the parking lot when the injury occurred.

In actuality, he misjudged how far the steps of the bus were from the pavement and fell to the ground, hurting his ankle and wrist, as well, per Curt Weiler of the Tallahassee Democrat. 

No. 4 seed FSU opens its tournament run against No. 13 UNC Greensboro on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, and Hamilton will be there. The coach is walking under his own power and plans to be as active as ever on the sideline. 

"Nothing will change," Hamilton said. "Zero."

Ironically, this isn't the first time a coach ruptured his Achilles heading into the NCAA tournament. In 2015, Georgia State's Ron Hunter injured his leg while celebrating a 38-36 win over Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt championship, and the run that followed was nothing short of spectacular. 

Georgia State knocked off No. 3 Baylor 57-56 on a buzzer-beater from Hunter's son RJ after the No. 14 seed trailed by 12 late. The excitement over the shot knocked Hunter off the stool he was using to support himself and made for one of the more unforgettable March celebrations in recent memory.

If Hamilton's Seminoles have a similar stroke of luck, the coach may have to delay any further treatment for a few more weeks.

Georgia Tech forward Moses Wright will miss his team's first-round NCAA Division I men's basketball matchup against Loyola-Chicago on Friday, per Jeff Goodman and Brett McMurphy of Stadium.

Per ESPN's Jeff Borzello, Wright would also miss a potential second-round matchup Sunday against either Illinois or Drexel should the Yellow Jackets win Friday.

No official reason has been given for Wright's absence.

Wright, who played in all 25 of the ACC tournament champion's games this year, paced the team with 17.4 points on 53.0 percent shooting, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.

His stellar effort against Florida State in the ACC title game (15 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two steals) helped the Yellow Jackets pull off an 80-75 upset win.

The question now is how Georgia Tech will regroup without the ACC Player of the Year.

On offense, the trio of Jose Alvarado (15.3 PPG), Michael Devoe (15.1 PPG) and Jordan Usher (11.5 PPG) could be asked to take on more of a scoring load.

Rebounding may also be more of a team effort, as no player besides Wright had more than 4.3 boards per game this year.

As far as who replaces him in the starting lineup, Georgia Tech could roll with a five of Alvarado, Devoe, Usher, Bubba Parham and Khalid Moore. Parham and Moore have split time starting 23 of the team's 25 games.

Size-wise, the 6'7" Moore and 6'7" Usher would be the two tallest Georgia Tech players on the court.

Head coach Josh Pastner runs a pretty tight rotation, to the point where only seven players averaged 10 or more minutes per game this season.

Without Wright, Kyle Sturdivant, who is seventh on the team in playing time, could see more action as the sixth man.

Pastner also has the option of simply swapping Wright out for 6'10" big man Rodney Howard, who has 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game this year. Howard has played in 18 games, starting two.

Ultimately, playing without Wright presents a huge challenge against Loyola-Chicago simply because of Ramblers big man Cameron Krutwig, a 6'9", 255-pounder who leads the team with 15.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks.

We'll see what Pastner ultimately decides soon enough with the game slated for Friday at 4 p.m. ET.

Notre Dame missed out on the NCAA tournament after an 11-15 season, but head coach Mike Brey intends to lead the team in an effort to return in 2022.

Jeff Goodman of Stadium reported that Brey said "he will 100 percent be back in South Bend next season." 

Brey has coached at Notre Dame since 2000, when he led the team to a regular-season Big East championship and the NCAA tournament in his first year after arriving from Delaware, where he had coached for five seasons. 

Through 21 seasons with the Fighting Irish, he has led the team to a 448-248 record and 12 tournament appearances, though the group has missed the Big Dance for each of the last four seasons. The team has not been ranked in the AP Top 25 since 2017-18, when they went as high as five, per Basketball Reference. 

"I told them, 'A year from this Selection Sunday, our goal should be to see our name flash up.' That's the crossroads we're at, absolutely," Brey said Saturday, via Mike Berardino of Forbes. 

Things are expected to look up for Notre Dame next season, when co-captains Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan will join forces with Paul Atkinson, a graduate transfer from Yale who was named the Ivy League Player of the Year last season.  

Duke men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski has recruited more than his fair share of talented high school players and future NBA stars during his 41 seasons leading the Blue Devils. 

But the legendary coach told The Dream Team Tapes: Kobe, LeBron & The Redeem Team podcast (18:17 mark) that Kobe Bryant was the best high school player he ever saw:

"You know, I never thought he would go to college. We recruited him but ... no one recruited him to any deep level because you knew. I never saw LeBron [James] play in high school, but when I saw Kobe play—he's the best high school player I've ever seen.

"And when he walked into a gym, he walked in like [Michael] Jordan, at a high school level. Like, the place stopped. He not only could play the role during a game, he played the role before and after the game. He looked that good, he believed he was that good, and he was that good. But, I knew he was never going to come [to Duke]."

Bryant, of course, went immediately to the NBA and had a Hall of Fame-worthy career, winning five titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was one of many players from his generation to skip out on college altogether and go straight to the NBA, alongside stars like James and Kevin Garnett. 

Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young apologized for comments made during an NCAA tournament press conference with reporters Tuesday after he referenced Jehovah's Witnesses when explaining why his team wasn't looking ahead of their first-round opponent, the Florida Gators.

"We're not playing the Jehovah's Witness All-Star team here. We're playing the Gators, man, we're playing the Gators. I do know who our next opponent would be if we were lucky enough to win, but there's not a chance in hell you start thinking about anything, nothing—I will not clip about anything but [head coach Mike White's] Gator team, and that's the same for my team. This is it. This is one game and if you play poorly or get outplayed, I'm going to be walking out the hall after talking to you guys via Zoom, and there's going to be an NCAA representative telling me, 'Your plane leaves in 45 minutes. Good luck to you. Go get your stuff packed and get out of here.' It may not be that tough, but let's play well and play a good ballgame. Let's see what happens."

Young then issued an apology later in the day: "Earlier today on the NCAA tournament conference call, I attempted to show my respect for our upcoming opponent, the University of Florida. Regrettably, I didn't articulate that sentiment in an appropriate manner. I apologize for my insensitive remark and am sincerely sorry for anyone I may have offended."

Young has been a Division I men's basketball head coach since 2002, when he began leading Wofford. The Terriers made five NCAA tournaments under Young, who left for Virginia Tech in 2019.

The Hokies went 16-16 last year before going 15-5 (9-4 ACC) in 2020-21 en route to an NCAA tournament appearance.

Virginia Tech and Florida will be playing the opening game of the NCAA tournament's first round Friday at 12:15 p.m. ET. The Hokies are a No. 10 seed in the South Region.

For the first time in 27 years, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are ACC tournament champions after their 80-75 win over the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday night.

Georgia Tech secured a spot in Saturday's game after Virginia had to withdraw from the tournament because of a positive COVID-19 test within the program. This marked the Yellow Jackets' first appearance in the ACC title game since 2010.

Florida State advanced to the title game by holding off North Carolina in the semifinal. Head coach Leonard Hamilton's squad finished the regular season with a 16-6 overall record and will likely secure an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

The difference in the game was Florida State's inability to hold on to the basketball. The team committed 25 turnovers. M.J. Walker had eight of them on his own. Scottie Barnes had six, but he also finished with a game-high 21 points off the bench.

Four of Georgia Tech's five starters scored at least 13 points in the win. Michael Devoe led the way with 20 on 8-of-12 shooting.

     

Notable Game Stats

• Michael Devoe (GT): 20 points (8-12 FG), 3 assists, 2 steals
• Jose Alvarado (GT): 13 points (4-11 FG), 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists
• Moses Wright (GT): 15 points (5-13 FG), 8 rebounds
• Scottie Barnes (FSU): 21 points (8-10 FG), 6 turnovers, 4 rebounds
• M.J. Walker (FSU): 15 points (6-10 FG), 8 turnovers, 4 rebounds

     

Cinderella Yellow Jackets Peaking at Right Time

Rather than leave their tournament fate up to the selection committee, the Yellow Jackets took care of business on their own.

Had they lost on Saturday, there was no guarantee they would have been included in the 68-team NCAA tournament field. ESPN's Joe Lunardi had them among his last four byes in his most recent bracketology update before Saturday's games tipped off.

Taking on a Florida State squad that was the second-best team in the ACC during the regular season, Georgia Tech made the group look out of sorts all game long. The Yellow Jackets could have collapsed after falling behind early in the second half, but they instead used a 13-2 run to go back on top with 10 minutes remaining.

Jose steal & score 𝙂𝙄𝙑𝙀𝙎 𝙂𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙇𝙀𝘼𝘿!

13-2 Yellow Jacket run 🐝@GTMBB | @GTAthletics

📺: https://t.co/1zFl1UsM3O pic.twitter.com/uEZWviRIuE

— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 14, 2021

19 of Georgia Tech's 31 points have come off of FSU turnovers.

The Yellow Jackets have attempted 37 shots from the floor, compared to just 21 from the 'Noles.

Halftime Stats: pic.twitter.com/6c7xRCY4Ef

— Warchant.com (@Warchant) March 14, 2021

While the turnovers were the big story of the game, Devoe did provide a spark for Georgia Tech on the offensive end.

When Georgia Tech needed a basket down the stretch, Moses Wright was there to provide it. The ACC Player of the Year scored three straight points after Florida State cut the deficit to 61-58. Jordan Usher put an exclamation point on things with a monster dunk in the final minutes of regulation.

𝙊𝙃 𝙈𝙔!!! 𝙅𝙊𝙍𝘿𝘼𝙉 𝙐𝙎𝙃𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝙈𝙈𝙀𝙍!@GTMBB | @GTAthletics

📺: https://t.co/1zFl1UsM3O pic.twitter.com/n9wjbrceI9

— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 14, 2021

Georgia Tech entered the conference title game playing as well as anyone in the ACC. After falling to 9-8 on Feb. 12 with a 74-72 loss to Clemson, the Yellow Jackets rattled off seven straight wins to get to this point.

If they continue on this trajectory going forward, the Yellow Jackets' first tournament appearance since 2010 could be a long run.

     

Sloppy Play, Turnovers Cost Seminoles ACC Title

Florida State was shooting over 50 percent at halftime but found itself trailing 31-30 because of 14 turnovers.

The Seminoles' offensive success is predicated on efficiency. They entered the ACC Championship Game ranked 26th in the nation in offensive rating.

That efficiency was there early, but it was negated because of how sloppy they were with the ball. Georgia Tech was doing a good job of creating pressure, resulting in eight steals in the first 20 minutes.

> Devoe with a drive at buzzer gives GaTech 31-30 halftime lead.
> FSU shooting 52 percent but 14 turnovers (8 GT steals) lead to 19 Tech points.

— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) March 14, 2021

Georgia Tech has outscored FSU 17-0 off turnovers.
That is not a typo

— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) March 14, 2021

Once Leonard Hamilton finally got his team to settle down, the game started to tip in Florida State's favor. RaiQuan Gray put his team on top with a massive dunk early in the second half.

RaiQuan 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘮 to give FSU the lead! 🍢@FSUHoops | @Seminoles

📺: https://t.co/1zFl1UsM3O pic.twitter.com/h9pQqhYeij

— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) March 14, 2021

Malik Osborne, who scored nine points in the first half off the bench against North Carolina in the semifinals, helped ignite Saturday's second-half run with a three that put the Seminoles up 42-35.

While it seemed like Florida State was going to start pulling away at that point, those mental mistakes did occasionally pop up. Barnes threw a bad pass that was stolen by Wright, who was fouled on a layup attempt as he was trying to tie the score at 46.

One potential explanation for the turnover issues is Georgia Tech simply knows how to play Hamilton's offense.

Tech down 46-44 at 10:45 timeout with Kyle Sturdivant free throws upcoming. FSU up to 19 turnovers. The most Tech has forced in a game this season is 21. (the same Seminoles)

— Ken Sugiura (@ksugiuraajc) March 14, 2021

Another, more logical answer is Florida State isn't particularly good at protecting the basketball. It entered this game tied with Hawaii for 213th in the nation with 13.9 turnovers per game.

Even by that standard, though, the Seminoles had 20 turnovers in the first 30 minutes of the game that led to 29 points for Georgia Tech.

Eliminating those mistakes likely would have turned this game from a nail-biter into a blowout for Florida State. The Yellow Jackets only shot 43.5 percent from the field and made just five of 23 three-point attempts.

If there's any good news for the Seminoles, their 16-6 record and second-place finish in the ACC during the regular season will likely be good enough to get them a good seed in the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday.

     

What's Next?

Georgia Tech has clinched an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. Florida State will be watching on Selection Sunday to see if it has made the 68-team field.

Duke could reportedly still play in its 25th consecutive NCAA tournament with an at-large bid or as a COVID-19 replacement team after it withdrew from the ACC tournament because of a positive coronavirus test.

Though Blue Devils athletic director Kevin White said the withdrawal would "end our 2020-21 season," ESPN's Rece Davis reported Saturday that outlook has changed, with the team preparing for a possible return if selected to the March Madness field.

Duke was a bubble team entering the conference tournament and opened with victories over Boston College and Louisville to reach the quarterfinals. It pulled out of the event ahead of a matchup with Florida State following the positive test.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski expressed disappointment about the season's apparent ending:

"While our season was different than any other that I can remember, I loved the 2020-21 Duke Basketball team and was honored to be their coach. We have not asked more of any team in our history, and they deserve enormous credit for handling everything like the outstanding young men they are. I feel deeply for our players, who have done a terrific job all season in taking care of each other and the team. I am extremely proud of their collective attitudes and effort, which could not have been stronger. We are disappointed we cannot keep fighting together as a group after two outstanding days in Greensboro. This season was a challenge for every team across the country and as we have seen over and over, this global pandemic is very cruel and is not yet over. As many safeguards as we implemented, no one is immune to this terrible virus."

Duke, with its 13-11 record and only one win over a ranked opponent, is a long shot to earn an at-large bid unless there's a slew of withdrawals ahead of the Selection Sunday bracket announcement.

The Blue Devils are more likely to find themselves as a COVID-19 replacement option, which means they'd be on hold until the Tuesday deadline for teams to opt out of March Madness. At 6 p.m. ET that day, the bracket will be finalized.

Duke would be a dangerous opponent on short notice. Despite its up and down season, it sits No. 34 in the KenPom rankings on the strength of the nation's 15th-rated offense.

The 2021 NCAA tournament will be held in Indiana to limit travel during the pandemic, creating a bubble-like environment for the event.

An unusual year in the ACC will be capped off with an unusual championship match between the No. 2 seed Florida State Seminoles and the No. 4 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

The matchup is a fitting end to an odd year in the ACC. Duke entered the conference tournament as a bubble team, North Carolina was the six-seed in the tourney and the whole event was affected by two programs facing COVID-19 protocols.

Duke's season effectively ended when its quarterfinal matchup with the Seminoles was canceled because of a positive test within the program. Then No. 1 seed Virginia was pulled from the tournament before it was supposed to play Georgia Tech in the semifinal Friday.

All of those events, plus the games that have unfolded, leave Florida State going for its first conference tournament championship since 2012. Georgia Tech will be making its first appearance in the championship game since 2010 and hasn't won it since 1993.

So while Virginia waits to find out whether it can pass protocol in time to play in the tournament, the Seminoles and the Yellow Jackets will battle to claim the title of men's ACC champion in 2021.

                        

ACC Tournament Information

Date: Saturday, March 13

Start Time: 8:30 p.m. ET 

TV: ESPN 

Live Stream: ACC Network or ESPN app

Bracket Challenge Game – Join the Bleacher Report Group

Start Your 2021 Bracket 

Watch Selection Show Live

                

Prediction

Georgia Tech 75, Florida State 70

Josh Pastner has yet to lead Georgia Tech to the NCAA men's basketball tournament since taking over the program in 2016. But even if Tech doesn't find a way to win the championship, it should be in the tourney.

The Yellow Jackets are playing their best basketball of the season and peaking at the right time. Even without the opportunity to prove themselves against Virginia, they have done some good resume building lately. They have won seven in a row going into the championship game, including road wins against Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. A 70-66 win against Miami in the quarterfinals was closer than the Jackets would probably have liked.

They turned a four-point halftime deficit into a four-point victory. Jose Alvarado showcased his mettle in that game; after going down with a knee injury in the first half, he gutted it out in the second and ended up dropping 13 points with three steals.

Big man Moses Wright was notably quiet in that game. He had just seven points and six rebounds with five fouls. He will have to step things up against the Seminoles.

Georgia Tech beat Florida State earlier in the season, and the 23 points, seven rebounds and six steals they got from Wright was a big reason for that win on January 30.

Leonard Hamilton's Florida State team is coming into the championship game as the No. 2 seed, but it has been a little inconsistent of late, losing two of its three games going into the tournament.

Those losses came to Notre Dame and North Carolina on the road. However, the Seminoles' win over the Tar Heels on Friday shows they are playing a better level at this point.

Something to watch in Saturday's matchup is how well Florida State takes care of the ball. Pastner threw a combination of looks at the Seminoles last time that forced more than 20 turnovers and gave Georgia Tech enough of an edge to take home the win.

The Seminoles were again lackadaisical taking care of the ball against North Carolina in the semifinals. They weren't able to put them away until late in the game because they committed 18 turnovers while only dishing out 11 assists as a team.

Georgia Tech has played just one game all week and should have the fresh legs to take advantage of sloppy play if Florida State doesn't bring its best.