UNC basketball coach Roy Williams ‘blessed’ after kidney operation

Chapel Hill, NC, United States (4E Sports) – North Carolina coach Roy Williams has called himself a “blessed human being” after learning that the tumor removed from his right kidney was benign.

Williams will have a biopsy on a tumor on his left kidney this week. If the tumor is also benign, surgery to remove it will not be required.

If the tumor needs to be removed, Williams will go under the knife and miss some practice time, but no regular season games.

“This week, we’re going to have a biopsy and see what it says on the other kidney, and then we’ll make some decisions after that as to what will be done next,” Williams said.

“The original plan was two surgeries, so I’ve mentally prepared myself to do that. If anything comes out better than that, I’ll feel like I birdied the last hole, and I keep playing,” he added.

Williams said he was overwhelmed with the outpouring of support from North Carolina people and the basketball world as well.

“It’s pretty emotional at times, but I got such great care at the hospital, and the outpouring from the North Carolina people, and the other people in the coaching profession, my friends, my foxhole buddies, have just been off the charts,” Williams said.

UNC kicks off its preseason with “Late Night With Roy Williams” Oct. 12, and despite his ailments, the coach said he’s been thinking about ways on how to improve his basketball team further.

“I have, because it’s the worst thing in the world. I say, ‘What can I do to get better?’” he said. “And they say ‘Nothing.’ If I wanted to get better as a shooter, I’d shoot more, I’d dribble more, whatever. So I’ve been bored stiff. I’ve had a lot of time to do a lot of thinking, and I’ve come in and watched the guys do the preseason conditioning.”

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