The timing couldn't have been worse for a short item in Dan Patrick's Sports Illustrated column on North Carolina coach Roy Williams.

Patrick wrote that Williams told him that he likes it when opposing fans go crazy. The issue hit newsstands and reached subscribers last week.

On Saturday, Williams shouted at a Presbyterian College fan seated about 20 rows behind the North Carolina bench at the Smith Center. Then Williams motioned for security officers to move in the fan's direction.

The fan - Brian King of Concord has come forward to say he was the one Williams targeted - was ejected from the Smith Center. What transgression did King commit to raise Williams' ire?

He encouraged North Carolina's Deon Thompson to miss a free throw.

"I just don't think anybody should yell negative things toward our players that come in on our tickets to watch the game," Williams said.

That's a marked contrast from the Williams portrayed in Patrick's one-paragraph piece in Sports Illustrated. It said Williams traded good-natured banter with Michigan State students last season when they accused him of going to a tanning bed to get his healthy color. Williams said he told the students that he had just been to Maui with the team.

Betcha he wouldn't mind going back to soak up the sun for a few days after his confrontation with the Presbyterian fan.