Coaches show 'commonality'

DURHAM -- North Carolina coach Roy Williams set a humorous tone Thursday with one of his sourest memories of the Tar Heels' basketball rivalry with Duke.

Williams, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, Sidney Lowe of N.C. State and LeVelle Moton of N.C. Central gathered Thursday in a banquet room at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel for the Triangle Tipoff Luncheon hosted by the Triangle Sports Commission.

When the coaches were asked to describe a time when the fans in their rivalries got the best of them, Williams talked about a 1979 game at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium when he was assisting North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

Duke led 7-0 at halftime, and fans were upset because Smith was playing stall ball. Williams said a fan fired a rotten grapefruit at Smith. It hit Williams on the shoulder instead.

"I didn't have but one suit," Williams said, to laughter from the banquet crowd.

Some of their discussion took on a serious tone. The coaches were asked to talk about the new rule that creates an imaginary zone underneath the basket where defenders will be called for blocks if they try to draw charges.

N.C. State's Sidney Lowe would have preferred to have lines drawn under the basket so referees don't have to guess the dimensions of the zone.

"The coaches are like, 'Let's just put the arc there,' or something like that, so it takes the pressure off the officials," Lowe said.

Krzyzewski questioned the fairness of the NBA's age limit, which requires players to wait until they're 19 and one year past the graduation of their high school class before they can enter the draft.

The age limit gives players few options other than college if they want to play basketball in the United States in the year after their high school graduation. Krzyzewski has coached Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to gold medals with the U.S. Olympic team.

"They should be given the opportunity, if they feel they can do it, to follow their dream," Krzyzewski said.

Bryant and James have become two of the NBA's most dominating players even though they didn't attended college because they graduated from high school before the age limit went into effect. Krzyzewski would like to see players allowed to turn pro after high school but be required to stay in school for two years if they enroll in college.

But Krzyzewski said college coaches and NCAA executives have little power to change that rule because it's part of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement with its players' union.

Despite the serious tone, the coaches also said they were thankful for the teaching opportunities and camaraderie they experience as coaches. Moton, who was hired March 25, said Krzyzewski, Lowe and Williams were three of the first people to contact him to congratulate him when he got the job at N.C. Central.

"It's the commonality that we all come from humble beginnings that makes me so grateful," Moton said.

They praised the devoted mothers who worked hard to raise them right and the coaching mentors who motivated them to join the profession. If the grapefruit incident didn't sour Williams on the game, apparently nothing will.

"I think we have a great game," Williams said. "The college game is the best there is."

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