Sunday, March 22, 1998
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The dopey smile could not have been worked off his face with dental work. Only Bob Williams himself truly knew how it felt.
But one thing is certain. The UC Davis men's basketball coach has definitely earned this one. How else can you explain how this UCD team took off its underdog cape and won the national championship Saturday?
Ask any coach who has played the Aggies. You'll hear the same thing about being a great team, but not having great players. You'll hear about defense. Cohesion. Teamwork. Passing.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that Bob Williams is a rocket scientist with a clipboard. He took a team filled with players who weren't tall enough, fast enough or strong enough to earn a scholarship and convinced them it does not take a slowed-down pace to beat more athletic teams.
Williams will be the first to say that the championship is a product of the dedication of his players.
``Coaches don't make plays. Coaches don't win games. Players win games, players make plays,'' he said after the Aggies beat Kentucky Wesleyan to win the title.
There is some truth to that. Williams is hardly a one-man team. Nonetheless, he has to be given the bulk of the credit for this one.
What has made Williams successful is his amiability. After he came in and turned a losing program into a 20-game winner, Williams fell on hard times five years ago. Senior J.P. Bergez said that's when Williams realized he needed to change.
``Each year, it's been just amazing how much more responsibility he feels that he can give to the team,'' Bergez said. ``I'd say that would be the biggest change in the past five years.
``... When the days are long and people are tired, people moan and groan. But honestly, if you ask anyone, they will tell you, Coach has become a really great coach.''
Maybe too good for the Aggies. The rumor mill says Williams is one of six finalists for the position at UC Santa Barbara, along with Bob Thomason (University of the Pacific), Ben Howland (Northern Arizona), Ritchie McKay (Portland State), Ray Lopes (Oklahoma assistant) and Larry Farmer (Rhode Island assistant). In the next two weeks, his future will unfold.
For now, Williams wants to enjoy the present. He did not even want to think about the Aggies' chances of coming back to Louisville next year.
``I don't want to risk losing the guys that are still in the program by being foolish enough to pick the repeat or `We're coming back,' or any of that,'' Williams said. ``I'm living in the moment and to be thinking ahead would be robbing us of this moment. So I'm not thinking ahead.''
As he continued, remembering the six seniors who have played their final game at UCD, the smile began to fade and tears welled up in Williams' eyes.
``Am I supposed to be happy now, or what?,'' Williams said. ``Holy moly.''
Aggie fans are certainly happy to have Bob Williams. Even if it's only for a short while longer, or for the rest of his coaching career.
-- Scott M. Johnson is deputy sports editor of The Enterprise. Phone: 756-0800, ext. 256. Fax: 756-1668. Mail: 315 G Street, Davis, CA 95616. e-mail: editor@davis.com
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