Hard Work - by Tim Crothers & Roy Williams (Paperback)

About the Book

One of the most successful basketball coaches in the nation tells the story of his life, from his turbulent childhood through a coaching career with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Williams recounts how he recruits, teaches, and motivates his players; how he's shepherded teams through some of the most nail-biting games, and how he coached his team through one of the roughest seasons of his tenure.

Book Synopsis

Now in paperback, updated with an afterword and new photos.

One of the most respected and successful basketball coaches in the nation, Coach Roy Williams has traveled an unlikely path. In Hard Work, he tells the story of his life, from his turbulent childhood through a coaching career with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. With his new afterword, Williams takes us past the two NCAA championship titles to the subsequent 2010 season, its shake-up losses, the unexpected departure of key players, and on to a new season of coaching some of the most dazzling young players in the country--and a surprising ACC championship.

Williams recounts his rough early years; his long tenure as head coach at the University of Kansas; how he recruits, teaches, and motivates his players; how he's shepherded teams through some of the most nail-biting games at both Kansas and UNC; and how he suffered through one of the roughest seasons of his tenure and came out on the other side to be awarded 2011 ACC Coach of the Year.

Review Quotes

"A star coach tells his inspiring tale . . . by the end of this engaging tale, you'll realize why Williams is an unparalleled recruiter . . . He works as hard as anyone, and he knows how to tell a good story." --Sports Illustrated

"Hard Work is a successful coach's memoir not because it provides a blueprint for success but because it reveals the humiliations and insecurities that have stoked Williams' competitive fire." --Will Blythe, The Raleigh News and Observer

"If Roy Williams has a secret it is that he is the same person now that he was when I first met him as Dean Smith's No. 3 assistant many, many years ago. This book is a clear reflection of that man--hard working but loyal, dogged, self-deprecating, and, at his core, one of the world's truly good people." --John Feinstein

"A near perfect embodiment of the American Dream."--Kirkus Reviews

"Hard Work is a successful coach's memoir not because it provides a blueprint for success but because it reveals the humiliations and insecurities that have stoked Williams' competitive fire." --Will Blythe, The Raleigh News and Observer

About the Author

Writer TIM CROTHERS was for many years a Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated before returning home to Chapel Hill to teach in the School of Journalism at UNC, his alma mater. He is the author of The Man Watching, a biography of Anson Dorrance, the legendary coach of the UNC Womens Soccer Team.
ROY WILLIAMS head coach of the University of North Carolina mens basketball team, the Tar Heels, has the highest winning percentage in NCAA history. Over the last seven years, the 58-year-old Asheville, N.C., native--who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007--has won 205 games, including 24 in the NCAA Tournament. Thats more Final Fours, more wins, and more NCAA Tournament victories than any basketball coach in the nation.