Former UNC coach Roy Williams receives special honor from NC’s No. 1 sports fan

It was hard to say who was happier Thursday or had the biggest smile, Roy Cooper or Roy Williams.

Cooper, a busy man in his final days as North Carolina’s governor, honored Williams with The Order of the Long Leaf Pine in a ceremony at the Executive Mansion.

Cooper, as most people know, is a UNC graduate, basketball fan and life-long Tar Heels basketball fan. It was with great pleasure that he bestowed the governor’s most prestigious honor on a man who guided UNC to three national championships, nine ACC regular-season titles and three ACC tournament championships, and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

On hand for the ceremony were former UNC All-America Phil Ford, former UNC athletic director Dick Baddour, retired UNC baseball coach Mike Fox and Eddie Fogler, a former college head coach who once was on Dean Smith’s coaching staff with Williams and whom Williams called another mentor.

“We’ve got a lot of Carolina royalty in the house,” Cooper said.

Cooper on Sunday was at the Lenovo Center to induct Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour into the Society of the Long Leaf Pine, awarded by the N.C. governor to those who make “significant contributions to the state and their communities through their exemplary and exceptional accomplishments.”

Cooper also was able to honor former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski with the award in September 2022. Cooper wore a Duke blue tie for that ceremony and talked about being able to “see through your bias” and award greatness, noting Coach K’s five national titles and three Olympic gold medals coaching Team USA.

The light-blue tie was back Thursday.

“Those who know me know it’s always a good day to talk about sports, and it’s always a good day to talk about Carolina basketball,” Cooper said. “I’m often asked as governor how I balance cheering for all these North Carolina teams without appearing biased.

“I’m asked, ‘How do you walk that line?’ I say, ‘I don’t. I’m Roy Cooper and I’m a Tar Heel.’ I have to be honest and true to myself.”

Cooper said Williams, born in Marion and raised in Asheville, had remained ‘”honest and true to himself” in 48 years of coaching that began as the basketball coach and boys golf coach at Owen High in Black Mountain. Williams served as an assistant coach at UNC before his first head coaching job at Kansas, returning to Chapel Hill in 2003 to coach the Tar Heels.

Williams, 74, retired in April 2021 after 18 years the Heels’ head coach.

“And always, always putting his players first,” Cooper said.. “There’s nobody more competitive, nobody who wants to win basketball games more than Coach Williams. But the welfare of his players always came first. He wanted his players to learn not only about the game but also about life.. He wanted them to be successful in their careers.”

Williams was grateful for the award, first thanking his wife, Wanda, before recognizing Ford and the others with UNC ties.

Williams said that on the way to Raleigh he heard the song “This is My Dirt” by Justin Moore and that it resonated with him.

“That’s what North Carolina is. It’s our dirt,” Williams said. “And the people you see every day are so proud of being North Carolinians. I’m a North Carolina dude. That’s never going to change.”

Cooper, it seems, can now leave office having honored Coach K, Rod Brind’Amour and Roy Williams with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Josh Stein, the governor-elect, was at Thursday’s ceremony, saying he, too, was a big UNC basketball fan and was sorry Cooper beat him to the punch in honoring Williams.

Cooper made the award to Brind’Amour after Sunday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Lenovo Center. He first told the Canes players in the locker room, earning cheers, then darted about the room high-fiving the group.

It was a more sedate group Thursday in the Mansion, but Cooper’s joy was evident and there were some cheers from the assembled crowd at the reception.

The members of the Society of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, established in 1963, includes Smith and Michael Jordan and several sports notables such as former N.C. State and NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel, pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter and NASCAR greats Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

And now, Roy Williams.