North Carolina Coach Roy Williams Carried Off To Locker Room After Collapsing From Dizziness

North Carolina Tar Heels coach Roy Williams expressed his thankfulness to being alive and to his team for the way it responded to a vertigo attack that caused him to collapse around 14 minutes before the end of the first half of the game against Boston College. The Tar Heels secured a 68-65 road ACC win against the Boston College Eagles on Tuesday night, and Coach Williams was forced to watch most of the second half from the locker room.

Roy Williams Carried Off To Locker Room After Collapsing

The incident occurred during a huddle on the sideline, after Williams said he jerked his head suddenly while discussing a foul call with the referee. He then fell slowly onto the floor of Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

“I’m alive. I’m kicking,” Williams, 65, said afterward. “I’ve had some vertigo attacks over the last 17 or 18 years. This is the first time I really had one during a game. I said something to the referee. I didn’t respond correctly to his response. I kind of whirled around, and that’s when it hit.”

Williams stated that his condition, known as benign positional vertigo, is triggered by sudden head movements. He has had previous bouts with vertigo in the past and has felt dizzy when standing up too quickly.

Assistant coach Steve Robinson assumed coaching duties for the Tar Heels for the remainder of the game. Williams received medication in the locker room and stayed there until after the game, when he went out to shake Eagles coach Jim Christian’s hand.

“I was very concerned because I didn’t want to be a distraction,” he told Christian, among others. “I’ll be fine. I’m not dead yet.”

“For him to come back out and congratulate our kids on their effort speaks volumes as to why he’s a Hall of Fame coach,” Christian said about Williams after expressing relief that the latter’s incident wasn’t serious. “He really wanted to congratulate them, and deservedly so. Anybody who saw this game today saw a lot of heart, a lot of character.”

North Carolina sophomore swingman Justin Jackson, who led the Tar Heels with 20 points, said part of the reason the team was able to stay focused and not panic after the incident was that it had seen Williams go through similar attacks.

“We know he’ll be back out there for us,” Jackson said. “He’s our leader. We’ll rely on him and know he’ll be back out there. We’ve seen it before, not in a game, but we’ve seen it before, and he’s been fine after a little bit.”

North Carolina is now 20-4 this season, while Boston College is 7-17.

Article by Pablo Mena