KU's Williams wins AP Big 12 coach award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This may not be the best team Roy Williams ever coached.

But it may be the best he ever coached.

So voters had no trouble making him The Associated Press Big 12 coach of the year for the second season in a row and the third time in the seven-year history of the league.

Yes, he had two of the finest players in the land in seniors Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, both unanimous picks for All-Conference. But in winning his second straight Big 12 championship, Williams also had to make up for the loss of Drew Gooden, last season's Big 12 player of the year, and Jeff Boschee, the Big 12's career leader in 3-point shooting.

Already short on depth, Williams had to juggle his lineup when sophomore forward Wayne Simien sustained what turned out to be a season-ending dislocated shoulder.

And he had to keep his squad's morale intact after the season got off to a terrible start. A couple of embarrassing losses led to a 3-3 getaway, and critics were beginning to howl.

But the Jayhawks somehow got through it all and won their fourth Big 12 title, going 24-6 overall and 14-2 in the conference.

"He's done a great job," said Collison. "He always does a very good job with us, but I think this year he's had to deal with a lot more.

"He's done a good job of just keeping us playing. I think this year, the thing about our team is we've kept playing through good times and bad times, and just kept our focus."

"Earlier, we were struggling, trying to play a little bit different style, he did a very good job of getting us to be a lot more patient and take better shots, less turnovers and things like that."

When last year's team went 16-0 in the Big 12, Williams said, "It was the most fun I ever had in coaching."

But there's much to be said for this season as well.

"In a lot of ways, this year is even better because of how satisfying it is to overcome some things," Williams said. "We started out the year and Wayne's ankle was pretty bad, Kirk's back was a little worse and we got beat up pretty good in New York. Then we go and play Oregon at Oregon and I laugh every time I see 'neutral court' listed ... because playing Oregon at Portland is like playing Kansas in (Kansas City.)

"There's been a lot of adversity to overcome. Those bumps along the road, whether they are stepping stones or stumbling blocks, you've got to figure out how to use them. I think that that in itself, as a staff, we've really tried to push the kids to stay together and stay focused on our goals because we can still obtain them. And I think from that viewpoint, this year is more satisfying than last year's was."

As a reminder of those dark days, Williams keeps a newspaper headline in his office.

"A lot of teams would go belly-up with a 3-3 start and having everybody bad-mouth them," Williams said. "I still have on my desk right now, 'Biggest Disappointment Of The Year -- It's Kansas.' That was the headline of an AP story after we were 3-3."

Now the AP says he's the coach of the year in the Big 12.

"I'm very, very flattered," Williams said. "It was a great year for our league. My team being able to handle the adversity and the slow start has given me more credit than I deserve."

Williams drew 14 votes from the panel of writers who regularly cover the Big 12. Four votes went to Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson, three to Colorado's Ricardo Patton, two to Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State and one to Texas' Rick Barnes.

"Several coaches in the league could have gotten this award and every coach in this league is an outstanding coach," Williams said.