Roy Williams urges more aid for Western North Carolina's hurricane recovery
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Former UNC men's head basketball coach Roy Williams. Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images
Roy Williams, a Western North Carolina native and Hall of Fame basketball coach at UNC-Chapel Hill, says his home region still needs "all the help that we can get" as it recovers from the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
Why it matters: Helene carved its way through North Carolina nearly 150 days ago — a period that can feel like a long time ago in today's fast-paced news environment.
- But debris from the storm is still strewn along the mountain's rivers and creeks, roads remain under construction and job-creating attractions like Lake Lure are still closed.
Driving the news: Williams recently spent time calling folks across the region, as part of an effort by Verizon and ForgiveCo to wipe out consumer debt for people affected by the storm.
- Verizon said it has eliminated more than $10 million in debt for 6,500 people in Western North Carolina — and the phone company recruited Williams to help relay the news to many of the families.
Zoom in: Williams, who grew up in the Asheville area and coached high school basketball there in the 1970s, said he recently drove through the area, from Asheville to Knoxville, to see the aftermath in person.
- "I grew up there and to go down to Biltmore Village and see literally — and I'm not lying — trucks and cars in the river," he told Axios, "... the devastation you see on TV doesn't do it justice to how devastating it truly is."
Williams said he is hopeful that more businesses like Verizon will continue to contribute to the region and help those who are still struggling from having their homes damaged or their livelihood affected.
- "It's going to be years before things get back to what it was like the week before the hurricane came in and hit," he said.
Zoom out: Williams, who retired from UNC in 2021, remains an active presence across the state, regularly attending home games at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill or traveling to other games throughout the U.S.
We asked Williams about a few other developments we're watching at UNC:
Even in just four seasons since he left, the college basketball landscape has changed dramatically, with the expansion of name, image and likeness (NIL) and an ever-growing number of players transferring between schools.
- Williams, who refers to himself as "old school," says NIL has gotten a little too close to the realm of pay-for-play to his liking.
- But at the same time, "I am very excited about each student-athlete being able to use their name, image and likeness to make their life better," he said.
And more change could be on the way to his alma mater, which just hired Bill Belichick to run the school's football team — "I think he's going to be fantastic," Williams said — and is considering building a new state-of-the-art basketball stadium north of its campus.
- "I love the Smith Center. It's on campus where I think it should be. And we can make it better, so let's make it better," he said.
- "We've got enough problems financially in college athletics, so let's not be looking for other ways to need money," he added. "And, hey, when teams walk out on the court the first time they're looking around [and] they're looking around for a reason because they know that's a special place. So we can make it better and do some things that'll help us and so that's the way I go."