Researching Roy Williams

Williams started his college coaching career at North Carolina as an assistant coach for Dean Smith in 1978. Four years later, North Carolina won the national championship. After 10 years as Smith's assistant, Williams became the head coach at Kansas in 1988, taking them to 14 consecutive NCAA tournaments, four Final Four appearances, two national championship game appearances, collecting an .805 winning percentage, and winning nine conference titles.

In 2003, Williams left Kansas to return to his alma mater North Carolina, replacing Matt Doherty as head coach of the Tar Heels. In an 18-year period at North Carolina, Williams won three national championships, reached a total of five Final Fours, finished first in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season standings nine times, won three ACC tournament championships, one AP National Coach of the Year award, and two ACC Coach of the Year awards. He is third all-time for most wins at Kansas behind Phog Allen and Bill Self, and second all-time for most wins at North Carolina behind his legendary mentor Dean Smith. On January 25, 2020, with a 94–71 win over Miami, Williams reached 880 wins surpassing Smith's 879 win total.

With a total of 903 wins, Williams took his teams to nine Final Fours in his careers at Kansas and North Carolina. Williams is the fifth NCAA Men's Division 1 head coach to reach 900 wins, and the fastest head coach to reach that total, in the fewest number of games. He is the only coach in NCAA history to have led two different programs to at least four Final Fours each and the only basketball coach in NCAA history to have 400 or more victories at two NCAA Division 1 schools. He is also 14th all-time in the NCAA for winning percentage among men's college basketball coaches.

As an assistant coach for Smith, North Carolina won the 1982 national championship. As a head coach, Williams coached in a total of six NCAA championship games (1991, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2016, and 2017). On April 4, 2005, Williams won his first national title as the Tar Heels defeated the University of Illinois in the 2005 NCAA championship game. He again led the Tar Heels to a national title on April 6, 2009, against Michigan State. Williams won his third national championship on April 3, 2017, when he led the Tar Heels to victory against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Williams is one of six NCAA Men's Division I college basketball coaches to have won at least three national championships.

He also competed in the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Cardiff in the long jump and triple jump, and in the 1970 British Commonwealth Games at Edinburgh in the decathlon.

He won the national decathlon title 11 times between 1956 and 1970, as well as the 120 yards hurdles title in 1965, the long jump title in 1958 and the discus title in 1956.

He is a (younger) brother of Yvette Williams.

He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In the 2002 New Year Honours, Williams was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to athletics.

In 1949, Williams made his Minor Counties Championship debut for Cambridgeshire against Lincolnshire. From 1949 to 1951, he represented the county in 3 Minor Counties matches. Williams joined Cumberland in 1964, where he represented the county in 6 Minor Counties matches. His final appearance for Cumberland came against the Lancashire Second XI. He also played Minor Counties cricket for the Nottinghamshire Second XI.

Williams also played a first-class match for the Combined Services against Nottinghamshire in 1961. In his only first-class match, he scored took 5 wickets at a bowling average of 20.20, with best figures of 4/67.