Coach: Tar Heels' trio still undecided
His reaction: "I do not know." Before the Rams Club event -- during which football coach Butch Davis, women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell and field hockey coach Karen Shelton also answered fans' questions -- Williams said the trio has still not decided whether to declare for the NBA Draft. "We're not finished, and we'll definitely have something before Sunday. ... I met with a couple of them today, and we're still going through the process," Williams said. He added that the process has been harder than previous years because "instead of talking to 10 teams about Brandan Wright [who went pro early after last season], you're talking to 10 teams about three different players. So, it's been by far the most exhaustive research -- there's no question about that." Contrary to Internet reports, Williams said that junior Danny Green has not been part of the process, which has included gathering information from 18 teams as to where the players would be drafted. Underclassmen must declare for the draft by midnight Sunday; if they do not hire an agent and continue to attend classes, they could withdraw by June 16. None of the three players are considered lottery (top 14) picks. "Let's put it this way ... on Saturday, I was supposed to go on a recruiting trip,'' Williams told the crowd. "I canceled the recruiting trip, I'm letting one of the other coaches go, just in case somebody needs some more input on Saturday, I'll be available." WILLIAMS' STICKER SHOCK: Williams said he does not regret wearing a Jayhawks sticker as he watched Kansas (which beat UNC in the national semifinals) win the national championship earlier this month. He coached at KU for 15 years before returning to his alma mater and said the negative reaction he got from Tar Heels fans "is the one thing that's hurt me the most in five years" as head coach at UNC. He said he stayed in San Antonio after the Tar Heels lost because his son and daughter did not have flights out of town until the day after the title game. Eight of his former Kansas players also attended the championship, and one of their friends handed him the sticker as he walked into the stadium. Remembering 1993, when he waved a Carolina blue pompom at the national title game after his Jayhawks lost to the Tar Heels in the national semifinals, he said he had no problems visibly supporting Kansas. "I thought at that time that was the right thing to do, and I thought at this time, that was the right thing to do,'' he told several hundred Rams Club members. "... So folks, if you don't understand, try to be reasonable. Because I did the same thing this year [as I did then]. My butt lost on Saturday night in 1993 and I was ticked. My butt lost in 2008, and my butt was ticked off then, too. But I stayed and cheered for the two schools that meant a great deal to me." KENAN EXPANSION: Final plans for the Kenan Stadium expansion still must be approved by the Board of Trustees, but Davis said that Phase I -- which will include adding fifth and sixth levels, including revenue-generating skyboxes, to the existing football center -- will begin in November, after the final game of the season. Davis said the trustees are still mulling what Phase 2 and a possible Phase 3 would include, but they want to build a new press box, fill in the other end zone to make the stadium a complete oval, add seats and construct an expanded academic support building. "One of the things that everyone is concerned about is we're absolutely never going to do anything to detract from the beauty of the stadium,'' he said.
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