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Bill Guthridge
1937 - 2015
Bill Guthridge
1937 - 2015
Obituary
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BORN
1937
DIED
2015
Bill Guthridge Obituary
Guthridge, who was Smith's longtime assistant and later succeeded him as North Carolina's head coach, was 77. The school announced Wednesday that Guthridge died Tuesday night.
The family told team spokesman Steve Kirschner that Guthridge died of heart failure, and that the coach had lived with a heart condition the past seven years.
"This is another terrible loss for the Carolina basketball family," former North Carolina player and current Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan said in a statement to The Associated Press.
"Coach Guthridge was instrumental in recruiting me to UNC and I have so many great memories of him and the lessons he taught me. I will miss his kindness and wisdom. "My sympathies go out to his wife, Leesie, and their kids and family."
Jordan is among many Tar Heels who had tremendous respect for Guthridge.
"If he told me to run through that wall to make me better, I'd hit that wall," former Tar Heel player and well-traveled college coach Buzz Peterson told AP. "Because I knew coach Guthridge had the best interest for you and wanted to see you succeed."
Guthridge spent three decades as an assistant to Smith, helping him bring national championships to Chapel Hill in 1982 and 1993.
"The word 'assistant' means you're helping someone," current coach Roy Williams said, "and I couldn't imagine anyone quote 'helping' someone any more than coach Guthridge helped coach Smith."
When Smith retired as Division I's winningest men's coach shortly before the 1997-98 season, Guthridge was promoted to replace him, and he guided the Tar Heels to two Final Fours in three seasons. Guthridge went 80-28 from 1997-2000, reaching Final Fours in 1998 and 2000 before retiring that June.
"He was in the shadow, but that didn't bother him. He liked that spot," Williams said, adding he was "the perfect sidekick" to Smith, who died in February at age 83.
Said Peterson: "They worked so well together. So much trust between those two. Just a perfect, perfect team."
The careers and lives of the two coaches from Kansas were solidly intertwined. Both played college ball in that state - Smith at Kansas, Guthridge at Kansas State - and coached at their alma maters before coming to North Carolina.
Guthridge joined Smith's staff for the 1967-68 season, starting out as the freshman coach and a co-assistant varsity coach and eventually becoming the Hall of Famer's most trusted assistant. He also was an assistant to Smith on the 1976 U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in Montreal.
Peterson - who roomed with Michael Jordan on those early 1980s teams - said Guthridge kept the program going off the court, with the assistant making him run the school's golf course at 6 a.m. as punishment for once being late.
"We'd always say there were so many time zones - Eastern Standard Time, Central Standard Time - but the most important was GST: Guthridge Standard Time," Peterson said. "I'd always set my time to GST, 10 minutes ahead."
North Carolina made 29 NCAA Tournament appearances in Guthridge's 33 years on the staff and finished no worse than third in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season standings every year - with 16 first-place finishes and 10 more in second. The Tar Heels either won the ACC Tournament or finished atop the league standings - or did both - in 23 of those seasons.
After Smith retired in October 1997, then-athletic director Dick Baddour elevated Guthridge to the top job. That season, he led the Tar Heels to a 34-4 record and the final No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25, earned the ACC Coach of the Year award and guided North Carolina to the Final Four before losing to Utah.
The Tar Heels then went 24-10 in 1998-99 but were upset by Weber State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In Guthridge's final season, he went 18-13 - at the time, the program's worst finish in decades - but bounced back in the postseason to reach North Carolina's 15th Final Four before losing in the national semifinals to Florida. He stepped down 2 1/2 months later.
"It has been a trying time for the University of North Carolina basketball program over the past four months, and our thoughts and prayers are with them again today," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. "Though he was a head coach for a short time, he gracefully carried on a culture and legacy that many thought could not be perpetuated."
__
JOEDY McCREARY, AP Sports Writer
AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
68 Entries
Ursula Sanders
June 6, 2015
Heaven is Carolina Blue. You will always be loved. Miss you and coach Smith.
Carter
May 29, 2015
Bill Guthridge will be fondly remembered with appreciation for all the great athletes he nurtured helping them to achieve their highest potential. May the God of all comfort be a refuge and strength for all who loved and adored him and for those who gained much success and enjoyment from his committed coaching style.
May 29, 2015
I'm so sorry for your loss. Our loved ones have a hope for the future according to John 6:40.
How you can show support
Kenneth Ketcham
May 27, 2015
May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Ray Lucas
May 27, 2015
I first met Coach Guthridge in the summer of 1970. Being a local from Orange High School in Hillsborough, NC, I was allowed to attend Coach Smith's basketball camp in the summer of 1970, playing on a 6-man championship team there with David Thompson (a very nice guy, by the way - Charlie Scott had been one of his heroes and he was interested in coming to UNC at the time), who hurt his hand and couldn't play in the championship, but we remaining 5 still managed to win it without him - a fitting testament to the team style of play they taught us there that summer. Then, as a freshman at UNC in the Fall of 1971, though I hadn't been a star in high school, Coaches Smith and Guthridge remembered me, and when they saw that I was coming to UNC, they sent me a letter inviting me to try out for the freshman basketball team, so I felt that I owed it to them and to myself to try. It was the most grueling experience I can ever remember in athletics. There were already 5 scholarship freshmen and 2 others on grant-in-aid, so there were already 7 people on the team. We ran and ran and ran, and did drills and more drills and more drills until the 100-200 people who had originally tried out either cut themselves by not coming back, or were cut by the coaches, until, after a number of intense rounds, the number was down to the few who had made the team. I felt very fortunate (though exhausted) to be one of them, but with their help at the camp in 1970 and in the tryouts and early practices, I felt I was playing at a level that I had only imagined that I could have played at before, all because of being an integral part of an unselfish team that was trained in that style of play that enabled so much achievement as a team. It was exhilarating. And then one day, while having a good day at practice, I came down with a rebound and landed on my good friend John Justus' foot and rolled my left ankle to the floor, an ankle which I had also injured in years before. It wasn't broken, but I couldn't really do lateral movement, but just limped along jogging on the steps and along the sidelines. The coaches had told us that there might be attrition over the course of the season due to injuries, etc., and it turned out that I was the first case. After about a week of this and about a week or two before the first game, Coach Guthridge called me aside and told me as kindly as he could that my formal playing days were over. It was a hard thing to hear, especially when I had felt that I finally really understood the game and had developed such a feel for it, and had been reaching such a pinnacle compared to what I had done before. But he had to do it. I was somewhat lost for a while, but I was gratified that he still allowed me to sit down at the end of the bench with my former teammates on the freshman team at both the freshman and varsity games that season. I was honored by that privilege. And though the intense association and my time on the team was brief, the influence of Coaches Smith and Guthridge have played a great role in my life and influenced many of the ways in which I look at work and life. More than coaches, Coaches Smith and Guthridge were really teachers. I think they saw themselves as that, and I believe they truly considered that occupation their highest calling in life. In a very real sense, basketball was just a popular vehicle for all the things they really wanted most to teach and impart to us all. RIP, Coach Guthridge, and thank you for more than I could ever repay.
James Harris
May 25, 2015
We are going to miss you so much coach! I am just glad you are at peace and coaching heaven's team in the sky with Dean. Rest in peace my fellow tarheel!
Brian Ellerby
May 24, 2015
RIP Coach Gut
May 24, 2015
Rest in Peace Coach
John Bullington
May 24, 2015
I am so sorry.. Coach Guth was one of the best..He will be missed ..I know him and Coach Smith are having a good time in heaven...
Pattie
May 22, 2015
Please accept my deepest condolences on the loss of your dear husband, father, and friend. We just can't know the sorrow that you bear, but God knows and he promises to be close to the brokenhearted. So pour out your feelings to the God who promises to comfort your heart.
May 21, 2015
So sorry to hear about Bill. May Almighty God (Psalms 83:18)provide you with the strength needed during this difficult time of your life.
Richard McHugh
May 21, 2015
I join many in praying for Bill and his family. His legacy will live on.
michelle plakas-kaiser
May 20, 2015
rip
Scott Toth
May 20, 2015
Thanks for your steadfast loyalty and significant contributions to the UNC basketball program through the years. R.I.P., Coach!
Cremation Society of the Carolinas
May 20, 2015
Mr Guthridge was a great coach to UNC Basketball with Dean Smith. The staff of Cremation Society of the Carolinas would like to extend our condolences and support to his family.
Lonnie Little
May 19, 2015
you will surely be miss in the Tarheel family. We love you and another peace of the family is gone. RIP!!
Mitch Huggins Tarheel for LIFE
May 19, 2015
Thank you Coach for all you have given to the UNC Basketball family !! You are an inspiration to many young men and women who have enjoyed Tarheel basketball. God bless your family during this very difficult time. You will be missed by many for years to come !!!!
Wright
May 19, 2015
Our hearts are saddened by the loss of your dear loved one. He will be sorely missed, and yet remembered throughout college basketball. May the God of comfort, comfort and strengthen you, as well as your fond memories.
Stephen Zandy
May 19, 2015
Just wanted to say how much I respected Coach G. He was a class act.
Heaven is lucky to have him.
Stephen Zandy,
Class of '78
Kenneth Ketcham
May 19, 2015
May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Michelle McKee
May 19, 2015
I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Gut several times throughout the years. My first meeting still brings a smile to my face. We were seated beside each other on a flight from Florida to RDU. I was chatty, because I couldn't help myself - sitting beside him made my day. He was gracious and conversed with me, showing genuine interest in our conversation. He was quite funny with a dry wit. He happened to finish reading a book on that flight and gave it to me to read and then pass along, which I did. Isn't that just the type of person he was?
Sincere condolences to Coach's family. I am sure this is a difficult time.
Roxanna
May 19, 2015
My sincere condolences to the family. May The Almighty God strengthen the family during this difficult time.
Ernst Feisner
May 19, 2015
One of the best people I ever knew. I was lucky to work basketball camp at UNC for so many years for Coach Gut. You are missed.
Eloise Magill
May 19, 2015
You and coach Smith were the best coaches at the best school
Jathan Barrett
May 18, 2015
My condolences to Mrs. Guthridge and the entire family. I was blessed to meet and become acquainted with one of the most kind, compassionate, intelligent men on the planet. I am forever grateful, and will never forget the big hug exchanged on that day when I came by the BB office while attending graduate school in the 1993. Thanks Coach G for always making me feel welcomed, accepted, and valued in your presence. Thanks for giving my students the opportunity to come to the games, and visit with coaches and players. You will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace!!
May 18, 2015
You and Dean were the best. RIP.jean brinson, Richlands, n c
Will Fitzgerald
May 18, 2015
Coach Guthridge you are still an inspiration to me, as is Coach Smith, in my quest to become the best coach I can be. Thank you for being a true Heel. RIP Coach
Scott Hedgepeth
May 18, 2015
What a true meaning of a friend and assistant. Great wing man. Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge need a memorial SOON!!
Roosevelt and Sylvia Williams
May 18, 2015
From the Watson Williams family
Roosevelt Williams
May 18, 2015
Coach Gut, you were a great man and basketball coach who will be greatly missed. RIP
Carolyn
May 18, 2015
My heartfelt condolences to family and friends. May God bless you with peace and comfort, during this time of sorrow. Psalm 83:18. So sorry for your loss.
Ray Crews
May 18, 2015
To a loyal Tar Heels. Everytime you see Dean and knowing Bill wasn't that far behind. Rip and Go Heels!!!
benjy benton
May 18, 2015
Coach gutheridge will b missed dearly I had the pleasure of meeting him and and coach smith and coach Williams all are one the first page of my tarheel photo album I love them all as they were apart of family and you really they are because when u are tarheel fan u are part of the tarheel family for life r.I.p. I love u coach gut
May 18, 2015
Leon Darden Long time Tar Heel fan of yours. You are the best 2 man the heels ever had. You will be missed greatly.
May 18, 2015
My condolences for your loss. May all of you find comfort in God's loving kindness (John 3:16) during this most difficult time.
Betty-MD
May 18, 2015
CONDOLENCES TO BILL'S ENTIRE FAMILY.
NAT SICURO AND WIFE LINDA , UNC MASTER'S IN PUBLIC HEALTH 1958 AND ALWAYS A TARHEEL!! NOW DR. NATALE SICURO, RETIRED UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT, SOUTHERN OREGON, PORTLAND STATE, ROGER WILLIAMS U. AND ROGER WILLIAMS LAW SCHOOL..aND WIFE LINDA SICURO.
May 17, 2015
Condolences to the Guthridge family. May the love of family and friends sustain you during this difficult time.
Psalms 145:14
May 17, 2015
Sincere condolences to the family. May God comfort you during this time of sorrow. 2Cor 1:4
Michael OLoughlin
May 17, 2015
Rest in peace.
Mercy R.
May 17, 2015
My condolences to the Guthridge family. May God grant you strength, as you reflect on His promise to do away with sickness and death (Isaiah 33;24 & 25:8).
May 16, 2015
May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together as you celebrate a life well lived.
May 16, 2015
Coach Guthridge will be missed and our condolences go out to all. May God comfort and strengthen you during this time of sorrow. May He bind your broken hearts.
BJ
May 16, 2015
My sincere condolences to the family for the loss of your loved one. May prayers strengthen you and memories comfort you, and may our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loves us, comfort your hearts and "make you firm". (2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17)
Paul J. Klosterman
May 15, 2015
So sorry about Coach Gut passing away. May Our Risen Lord Savior Jesus Christ always be with Coach Gut, his family, his friends, his fans, and all affected by his passing, especially during this time of mourning.
donna tedder
May 15, 2015
To the guthridge family,i was sorry to hear about your loss.mr bill was a wonderful man and will be truly missed.thank you coach guthridge for everything that you did for the university of n.c,and for all unc fans.you were a true legend at unc and ourlove for you will stay in our hearts forever.may god continue to bless your family and keep them in his care.love to the guthridge family.a uncfan forever and ever.
Strathe Family
May 15, 2015
A true friend, humble and competitive, and never forgot his roots. We will miss your dearly.
Rcky Berg
May 15, 2015
He was a great coach
Dwayne Bickham,Sr.
May 15, 2015
In God's care rest in peace
M Scott
May 15, 2015
May God grant Bill Guthrie family and friends comfort during this time of sorrow Psalm68:20
Linda
May 14, 2015
My sympathy goes out to the family during your time of grief. May God's loving - kindness comfort and help you through this difficult time (Psalms 119:50,76)
J. Lewis
May 14, 2015
My sincere condolences to the Guthridge family for the loss of Bill Guthridge. May the comfort and strength God gives ease the heartache you now feel during this difficult time.
May 14, 2015
Sorry for the loss,may God draw you closer to him at this time.Draw close to God as He draw close to you...jas.4:8.........nc
Herman Rainey
May 14, 2015
I have been a fan for many years the passing of Dean Smith was hard enough but too loss Coach is just as hard. God Speed Thank you for being the best.
Steve Webb
May 14, 2015
Coach Guthridge recruited me out of Clearwater, Kansas to play at Kansas State under Tex Winter. I am forever grateful for that experience.
May 14, 2015
BSorry for your loss. May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times spent together with Bill. Draw close to GOD and he will draw close to you.
Lloyd Scher
May 14, 2015
To the Guthridge family I am so sorry for your lost. Coach was a great person and I will always remember his coolness under pressure.
With Coaches passing of Couch my two mentors have now passed away.
I am glad that I got to know him as a down to earth person.
Joe
May 13, 2015
I'm so sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what you and your family are going through. May the God of all comfort provide you with strength at this time, 2 Thessalonians 2:16,17.
Lisa Stone
May 13, 2015
Prayers to all of Coach Guthridge's family and friends. He's with his friend Coach Smith.
May 13, 2015
Coach Guthridge is now in peace with his long time friend, Coach Smith. Prayers to all Coach Guthridge's family and friends.
May 13, 2015
Amazing man, loyal friend, and great coach. Carolina family is very sad tonight
May 13, 2015
May comfort and peace be found in all the wonderful memories he shared with family and friends.
J. Edward Crutchfield
May 13, 2015
Absolute CLASS ACT GENTLEMAN! Recall seeing him years ago in small restaurant in Sparta NC late one Saturday night.Bill had been up to Oak Hill,Va looking at a player. He was bone tired so we invited him to spend the night at our mountain home then go on to Chapel Hill in the morning.He declined saying he needed to be in CH at 6 the next morning for a meeting. Bill was the personification of a genuine,loyal,kind,quiet TAR HEEL.
Dean Smith knew what he was doing when he chose GUTH to be by his side and take over when he chose to retire! BOTH will be missed.
Ed Crutchfield UNC CH Class of 1958 Life Member 2358
May 13, 2015
Coach Guthridge was an awesome man and a wonderful Tar Heel. Both halves of the legacy are now gone. RIP Coach!
Hani Federal
May 13, 2015
Coach Guthridge was a great influence on my life. I was honored to play on one of his freshmen teams in 1970 and have been forever grateful for the way the treated me and helped me become an adult. He will be missed.
Ms. Flonnie Taylor
May 13, 2015
To The Guthridge Family,
May the love of friends, family and cherish memories carry you through your grief. And all the beautiful memories gathered through the years are your to keep forever.
With Peace and Comfort,
May 13, 2015
God speed, Coach - you will be missed!
Bill Coy
May 13, 2015
Farewell to a great man.
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