Inside North Carolina guard Kenny Williams’ defensive mentality: ‘40 minutes of hell’

When North Carolina senior Kenny Williams talks about his defensive philosophy, he smiles, knowing his response will elicit a reaction.

“Forty minutes of hell.”

To put it mildly, Williams wants to make things difficult for his opponent. Or in the words of Williams, he wants “to make the night a living hell for whoever the coaches want me to guard.”

That approach has earned Williams, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound guard, the respect of his peers, who are aware that going up against him is no easy feat. His job each night is to guard the opposing team’s best perimeter player, and he plans to make them work for everything.

“Some guys don’t really take pride in defense, but he’s one of the few who does,” Louisville’s Dwayne Sutton said. “I feel like he’s one of the hardest-playing defenders in the (ACC).”

Williams is North Carolina’s defensive stopper, a role he’s had since his sophomore year, and one he plays with passion. He has blossomed into one of the ACC’s best defenders over the past two years.

But he was recently left off the ACC’s all-defensive team, an honor his teammates, coaches and at least one national media member say he should have gotten. ESPN’s Jay Bilas tweeted that “there needs to be a recount. There is no way he’s not among the league’s five best defenders. No way.”

“There’s 60 people voting,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “They may not see everything, look at everything, and some of them may not take it as seriously as other people do, but he’s on my all-defensive team and that’s the one that counts.”

Kenny Williams said he was not upset he was snubbed. But he does plan to let it fuel and motivate him as the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels head to Columbus, Ohio for the first and second Rounds of the NCAA tournament.

“It’s not going to be my driving force, but it’s definitely in the back of my head,” Williams said.

No. 1 North Carolina (27-6) will play No. 16 Iona (17-15) late Friday night. There, Williams will be asked to guard the first of many opposing stars, probably E.J. Crawford (17.9 points per game).

Williams wasn’t the most highly touted recruit coming out of high school, nor was he a McDonald’s all-American. He didn’t have many high-profile offers, originally committing to VCU before switching late to North Carolina. He had to work for everything. To Williams, defense epitomizes that.

“Defense is effort and heart,” he said.

When North Carolina lost at home by 21 points to Louisville in January, Williams was among those who showed the most frustration and disappointment because he didn’t feel like he and his teammates gave the effort they were capable of. Since then, the Tar Heels have won 15 of their last 17 games, losing only to Virginia and Duke, both No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Williams’ raw defensive numbers are not eye-popping, averaging 0.9 steals and 0.3 blocks per game, no doubt a factor in his all-ACC snub. A better place to find his impact is to look at the stats of the player he was guarding.

Williams drew three charges against Duke freshman R.J. Barrett in UNC’s final regular season game on March 9. After each one, he pumped his fist and ran down court to the excitement of the crowd. He also blocked Barrett’s shot with less than a minute remaining when a Barrett make would have made it a one-possession game. Instead, the Tar Heels gained possession and held on to win 79-70.

It was one of Williams’ best defensive performances of the season against one of the best offensive players in the country. Barrett, who averages 22.9 points per game, finished the game shooting 10 for 27 from the floor and four turnovers.

“He moves his feet. He’s always in the right spots,” Barrett said of Williams.

In last week’s ACC quarterfinal game, Williams’ job was to slow Louisville’s leading scorer Jordan Nwora, who was averaging 17.2 points per game. Nwora has also been a problem for opposing defenses.

But Williams held Nwora to a season-low seven points on 3-for-8 shooting last Thursday. Some of the misses he caused led to fast-break opportunities for the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels beat the Cardinals 83-70.

After the game, senior forward Luke Maye and freshman guard Coby White were brought to the podium for the postgame press conference because they led the team in scoring with 19 points each.

Before Maye left the stage, he had one last thing to say.

“Mind if I say something?” Maye asked.

“Let him speak, he won the Skip Prosser (academic) award,” Roy Williams said. “Let him talk.”

“Coach has changed the defense to help us guard the gaps a little bit better and guard the basket,” Maye said, “but I don’t think Kenny gets enough credit for the job he does.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2019 at 12:21 PM.