Hard Work
Author:
Roy Williams and Tim Crothers
Publisher:
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication Date:
10 November, 2009
ISBN:
9781565129597
Pages:
288
Subjects:
Biographies, Sports and recreation
Description:
One of the most respected and successful basketball coaches in the nation, Coach Roy Williams traveled an unlikely path to a career that boasts the highest winning percentage among all active college coaches. Now, for the first time, he tells the story of his life, from his turbulent childhood to the North Carolina Tar Heels’ 2009 national championship season.
With unbridled honesty, Williams recounts his rough early years in the mountains of Western North Carolina. During the troubled times of his adolescence, Roy’s escape was a basketball court-whether it was a neighbor's dirt court or the local school gym where he’d shoot for hours at night. There was nowhere else to go, but as it turned out, no place he’d rather be. The first in his family to go to college, Williams wound up at the University of North Carolina with the dream of becoming a coach and learning under the celebrated Dean Smith.
He also recalls his long tenure as head coach at the University of Kansas and his two heart-wrenching decisions-to stay in Kansas at the program he built, and later, to return to UNC, to the one that built him-and the accusations that followed both.
Williams' autobiography lays plain how he recruits, teaches, and motivates his players, and how he’s shepherded teams through some of the most nail-biting games at both Kansas and UNC. His approach helped earn him the third-highest winning percentage in NCAA history: better than Mike Krzyzewski, Bobby Knight, and even John Wooden. So far, the Hall of Famer has coached in seven Final Fours, winning two NCAA championships in the last five seasons.
In Hard Work, Williams reveals the determination that took him from the humblest of beginnings to the pinnacle of coaching success, sharing his story because he believes that anyone can be inspired by its message: hard work really can make dreams come true.
With unbridled honesty, Williams recounts his rough early years in the mountains of Western North Carolina. During the troubled times of his adolescence, Roy’s escape was a basketball court-whether it was a neighbor's dirt court or the local school gym where he’d shoot for hours at night. There was nowhere else to go, but as it turned out, no place he’d rather be. The first in his family to go to college, Williams wound up at the University of North Carolina with the dream of becoming a coach and learning under the celebrated Dean Smith.
He also recalls his long tenure as head coach at the University of Kansas and his two heart-wrenching decisions-to stay in Kansas at the program he built, and later, to return to UNC, to the one that built him-and the accusations that followed both.
Williams' autobiography lays plain how he recruits, teaches, and motivates his players, and how he’s shepherded teams through some of the most nail-biting games at both Kansas and UNC. His approach helped earn him the third-highest winning percentage in NCAA history: better than Mike Krzyzewski, Bobby Knight, and even John Wooden. So far, the Hall of Famer has coached in seven Final Fours, winning two NCAA championships in the last five seasons.
In Hard Work, Williams reveals the determination that took him from the humblest of beginnings to the pinnacle of coaching success, sharing his story because he believes that anyone can be inspired by its message: hard work really can make dreams come true.
Read More
PW Publishers Weekly
Review Source:
Publishers Weekly
Review Date:
2009-09-14
Copyright:
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Williams, the men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas (1988-2003) and at the University of North Carolina (2003-present), describes his personal and professional path to a Hall of Fame coaching career and two national championships. Ignored by his abusive, drunken father and raised primarily by a cash-strapped, saintly single mother, Williams paid for his college education at UNC by officiating intramural sports. When Dean Smith, that school's legendary basketball coach, offered Williams a low-paying job on his coaching staff, Williams accepted and sold calendars and delivered videotapes to TV stations to feed his family. As a head coach, Williams's dedication extends to landing recruits and running organized, thorough practices. And he's done all this while maintaining a cohesive family life. (He's married to his college sweetheart.) Well-intentioned and upbeat, the book treads the familiar ground of glossy, inspirational sports biographies. Williams recalls passionate speeches, great players (i.e., Michael Jordan, James Worthy) and various anecdotes from the coaching life, but never delivers consistent insight on the workings of a successful coach at two legendary sports programs. However, the book is redeemed by Williams's genial (and borderline hokey) tone and the forthright revelations of his tumultuous childhood and early days coaching in high school and college. 16-page photo insert. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Read More
Home
|
New Releases
|
Romance
|
Mystery
|
Children's
|
Business
|
Religion
|
Cooking
|
Biographies
|
All Subjects
|
eBooks
|
Reviews
|
Authors
Copyright © 2010 R.R. Bowker LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2010 R.R. Bowker LLC. All Rights Reserved.