As if the debacle in Tallahassee wasn't enough, now Ol' Roy Williams finds himself in a full-blown controversy after the way he chose to end the game: leaving the court with his players with 14 seconds on the clock.
Only four walk-ons and temp point guard Stillman White were left to the mercy of the FSU crowd when Williams led his team and staff to the locker room.
On Monday, Williams began trying to explain, saying that "Every prospect, every walk-on I have ever had -- if I eat steak, you're going to eat steak; whatever happens to every scholarship player, you have to do. I would never leave five kids out there. If I was going to do that, why wouldn't I stay out there? I saw it happen one time on TV, and I thought, 'Why would they leave those kids out there?' "
He said he had no idea that they had stayed on the court until he watched game film, although assistant coach Joe Holladay and walk-on Patrick Crouch were late to the lockerroom and Holladay explained that Crouch had been caught up in the crowd.
You'd think at some point that someone would have explained what had happened, that either Holladay or one of the Forgotten Five would have talked about what had happened.
No such luck.
You know, we can basically accept part of this. Williams does take pride in caring for his players. It's weird though to think that no one even brought it up until video time and that the apology came after extensive public ridicule. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Williams has long since established his credentials as a superb coach. Yet it's amazing, really, to think of how often now he's made an ass out of himself: insulting his fans at Kansas or later at UNC, offending UNC fans at how he stayed at KU then Kansas fans at how he left, saying "I don't give a shit about North Carolina right now" on national television, the Presbyterian fan he had kicked out of the Dean Dome - there's bound to be more, we just can't remember it all. UNC fans for instance might add pulling for Kansas right after the Jayhawks destroyed UNC in the Final Four, but others might find that understandable, given his desire to mend fences.
There's no doubt he's a great coach, but there's also no denying that he's had some really bizarre issues which, when you add them up, detract from his reputation.
Speaking of UNC, just after the men's crushing loss at FSU, the women's team got annihilated by UConn on Monday night, losing 86-35 for their worst loss ever.
Seth Greenberg's team is struggling and he thinks he knows why: he says his team is lacking a "high energy" player.
He's also not really looking forward to playing UNC Thursday night.
As we said the other day, there might be some pressure on Greenberg now.
On Tuesday night, Maryland's restructured program ventures down to Tally to see if the 'Noles can keep it going. And Deividas Dulkys - can he do it again?
We're guessing no, certainly not at the same level. What he did against UNC - to UNC - was a once in a lifetime performance.
Still, he's had two highly unusual games back to back. You don't see a guard block five shots very often, or go 8-12 from three point range. Maybe he's just understood his potential, a scary thought for Maryland and the rest of the ACC.
Maryland has improved, but we'll take FSU here, if only because of their consistently hard defense. Maryland is still erratic.
It took awhile after the Nevin Shapiro scandal broke, but Miami has warned boosters that they will have to stay away from recruits and athletes. The right move, to be sure, but why did it take so long?
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