His three fellow Final Four coaches call him a mentor, a friend and a man whose image should be chiseled into the Mount Rushmore of college basketball coaches.
North Carolina's Roy Williams will be the granddaddy of the Final Four compared with the trio of first-timers in Glendale, Ariz.
Williams, 66, has guided the Tar Heels to consecutive Final Fours after taking them to the title game a season ago where they lost to Villanova. And this is his ninth time (five with North Carolina and four with Kansas) on this grandest stage of college basketball.
"It's amazing what he's been able to do throughout his career, just sustained excellence," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "He's been a mentor for me with just how he handles his program, how he runs his program. They run it with class and they do it the right way. ... At the end of the day when it all shakes out, he'll be one of the Mount Rushmore types in college coaching."
Few, 54,is making his first Final Four after years of playing bridesmaid at top-seeded Gonzaga, where he has coached since 1999. The Bulldogs will face No. 7 seed South Carolina, which is also making its Final Four debut with a coach doing the same: Frank Martin, 51.
Dana Altman, 58, is in his first Final Four with Oregon, which hasn't been there since winning the first national championship in 1939. He'll get the first crack at upsetting the tournament's last standing Goliath.
Williams is just two Final Fours shy of North Carolina legend Dean Smith (11) and three away from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and former UCLA coach John Wooden (12).
Does all of Williams' experience -- and North Carolina players who were here last season -- give the Tar Heels an edge?
"I'm a big believer that experience helps you for the next time you're in that same situation on how to manage everything that leads up to the game," Martin said. "Once the game starts I think everything is irrelevant. Everyone's nervous. You can play in the national championship game nine years in a row. If you go the 10th time, you're nervous before that ball goes up in the air. There's no such thing as not being nervous for a game."
But Martin said the Tar Heels' experience dealing with the Final Four hoopla -- long interview sessions, a national spotlight, dome shooting -- must be helpful.
"I do think it's a huge advantage that Roy, his players, his staff members, everyone at the university, being through it as recently as last year," he said. "They're fresh on the preparation, on the things to expect, what's coming. That way they can better manage their time, their days, to eliminate any distractions."
Williams said that theory only works if he had the same roster year to year.
"Each coach is good enough to get their guys to concentrate on the games and that's what's important," he said.
Williams said he considers Altman, Martin and Few friends. He told stories about driving to Big Eight meetings with Altman when Williams was with Kansas and Altman with Kansas State. He joked he had stories too funny to tell about Martin. He's closest with Few, describing times they played craps and cards together.
"I'm happy for all of them," Williams said.
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