Fourteen seconds, five players and no head coach. That’s how the then-No. 3 UNC Tar Heels looked last Saturday at the very end of their embarrassing 90-57 loss to unranked Florida State.
With 14.2 seconds left in the game, at the suggestion of FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, UNC coach Roy Williams, his coaching staff and the remaining players on the bench walked out of the arena.
That left five reserve players to finish the final seconds without their head coach, and fight off the eventual FSU fans that stormed the court after the game.
What’s in question is the lack of a head coach the players had in those final 14 seconds. It’s not that coach Williams was needed, but rather that as their coach, its his duty to stick by all his players at all times.
That means sticking by the benchwarmers, even if you are scared you might get injured walking through a crowd of frenzied basketball fans.
I’m not saying that Roy Williams is a bad coach; he’s one the best in the game. But it’s his team. He should be a leader for all, not just the prized scholarship athletes.
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