Former Tar Heel and ACC Tournament MVP hired by Monmouth Basketball

Anyone remember the 1990’s era of UNC basketball? With Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge as head coaches, North Carolina maintained its consistency of historical dominance, winning the 1993 National Championship and making four additional Final Fours.

One player from the early 90’s, King Rice (1987-1991), is now the head coach at Monmouth University. The Hawks consistently finish with a winning record in conference play, but can’t break into the NCAA Tournament.

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With coaching movement an increasing commonality in today’s college basketball world, Rice will have another former Tar Heel on his staff this season. Recently, Monmouth announced the addition of UNC standout Shammond Williams as an assistant coach.

Williams earned ACC Tournament MVP honors in 1997, leading North Carolina to the conference title over NC State, plus made two All-ACC squads. Williams then played seven NBA seasons and several more overseas, before retiring and joining Furman as an assistant coach in 2012.

There’s several other former UNC players with coaching gigs, most notably on Michael Malone’s first staff. Deon Thompson is the Tar Heels’ Director of Player Development, while Sean May and Brandon Robinson are assistant coaches. Wes Miller, originally considered an outside candidate for North Carolina’s head coaching gig, is now the boss in Charlotte.

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Ironically, the Tar Heels will host Monmouth as part of their non-conference schedule, with a November 23 date in the Smith Center on tap. There will almost certainly be some smiles exchanged when these two programs battle, which has a heavy “Carolina Family” feel to it.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Former Tar Heel and ACC Tournament MVP hired by Monmouth Basketball

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/former-tar-heel-acc-tournament-013543354.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-03 01:35:00

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