Roy Williams has shared the tale before. But, hey, what's one more telling if the message can help someone new?
As the keynote speaker Wednesday at the "Power of the Purse" luncheon put on by the Women's Giving Circle of Cumberland County, Williams felt compelled to rewind to the spring of 1988, to the moment he got his big break in college coaching.
It came courtesy of the late Dr. Bob Frederick, then the athletic director at Kansas. Frederick was in charge of hiring a new coach to replace the departed Larry Brown, and he admired Williams' ambition and vision. Frederick also had a heartfelt endorsement for Williams from Dean Smith.
Still, the 37-year-old Williams was an unknown commodity hoping to take control of one of the nation's most prestigious programs, a fact not lost on Frederick's wife, Margie, who Williams says made it a point to second-guess her husband's judgment.
"You're going to hire that no-name assistant from North Carolina, aren't you?" Margie asked.
When Bob Frederick confirmed his intentions, Margie could shook her head.
"This could be the end of your career," she said.
Williams laughs at his good fortune. He has won 643 games as a head coach at Kansas and North Carolina since then, been to seven Final Fours, and captured two national championships. Yet, he still openly wonders which way might his journey have gone without the belief Frederick had in him.
"I'll never forget until the last day that I breathe that Bob gave me a chance," Williams said Wednesday.
Given that chance and so many other opportunities throughout his life, Williams has always made it a point to give back, to pay his good fortune forward.
That's what brought the Hall of Fame coach to Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Haymount on Wednesday, an opportunity to help raise money for a charitable organization that hopes to educate the community on the hardships many women and children in Cumberland County face - from homelessness to hunger to health care inadequacies.
Positive energy
Before delivering his 45-minute address, Williams explained his purpose."For me, the philanthropy work I try to do isn't just about giving money, it's about giving time," he said. "I know through life I've been very, very fortunate. And that's helped me to understand I can always give to help somebody else. With my book ("Hard Work") and when I speak, my enjoyment comes from getting through in a way where people tell me they've been inspired. You never can underestimate how what you say or what you do might affect someone."
Alisa Debnam, one of the founding members of the WGCCC, expressed great appreciation for Williams' words. Debnam said she worked for almost a year to coordinate schedules with Williams to bring him to the "Power of the Purse" event.
"It was well worth the wait," Debnam said. "It's impossible not to be inspired by his message, understanding how to be appreciative of what you have and to always have a focus on giving back."
Amy Perko, once a colleague of Williams' at Kansas and now the executive director of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, proved instrumental in securing Williams for the luncheon.
Perko, the former president of the NBA Development League's Fayetteville Patriots, said she has long admired Williams' drive and unselfishness.
"His is a story of giving and inspiration and how one person can make a big difference in somebody else's life," she said.
'I felt so blessed'
Williams easily pinpoints the people who made the biggest difference in his life. They were all, he says, giving in their own way.Frederick gave him a chance.
Buddy Baldwin, Williams' high school coach at T.C. Roberson in Asheville, gave him confidence and an incentive to choose coaching as his life path.
"He made me feel like I could do something," Williams said. "And he did that so well that after my ninth grade year, that summer, I decided I wanted to be a coach. That was it. I never thought about being anything else. I never wanted to be anything else. And the reason is because of how good he made me feel."
Of course, Williams' mother Lallage gave, too, providing him invaluable lessons on sacrifice and devotion.
Throughout a tumultuous childhood, with an alcoholic, absentee dad and the family's financial situation unstable, Williams says he was always given what every kid deserves: a mother who was proud of him and taught him to always be generous.
"My mother was an angel," Williams said. "We were one step away from homeless three or four different times when I was growing up. But I felt so blessed. I really did. I didn't think in terms that it was a bad situation. Because she loved me. ... And that was the only thing that mattered to me."
Staff writer Dan Wiederer can be reached at wiedererd@fayobserver.com or 486-3536.
