North Carolina Basketball: Looking back at the 1997-98 season after 20 years

Smith Out, Guthridge In

Smith made his plans known on Oct. 9, 1997. He retired just a month before the season began. So ended the career of the coach who had taken over a sanctioned program back in 1962 and turned it into a national powerhouse over the course of thirty-five years. He had nothing left to prove and an impressive resume backed that up: two national titles, one Olympic title, lots of NCAA Tournament appearances, and plenty of adoring former players.

By waiting so long, Smith guaranteed that Guthridge would get the job. Guthridge had been an assistant for Smith for almost his whole tenure. The two Kansans had worked together to build and restock the team. Guthridge was a good recruiter in his right, so the transition seemed solid from the start.

Guthridge went on to coach for three years. Although he would go to two Final Fours in that period, the talent level on the team was slowly declining. This was largely because while Smith had Guthridge, Guthridge did not have a Guthridge. It is even debatable whether Guthridge really ever wanted the top job, and yet he still had a very successful three-year run on the court.

The holes in the Guthridge tenure really only appeared in the Matt Doherty era that followed. Doherty tried to build with Guthridge’s players while recruiting his own and never quite meshed the two together. In a way that helped lead to the return of former Carolina assistant Roy Williams to lead the team in 2003, something that Smith had likely hoped for since at least 2000.