Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Roy Williams (Author), Tim Crothers (Author), Alan Winter (Reader), John Grisham (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2009

Roy Williams, head coach of the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team, the Tar Heels, has the highest winning percentage in NCAA history. Over the last seven years, the 58-year-old Asheville, N.C., native—who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007—has won 205 games, including 24 in the NCAA Tournament. That’s more Final Fours, more wins, and more NCAA Tournament victories than any basketball coach in the nation.

Hard Work tells the story of Roy Williams’ life that few people know, in Williams’ own distinct and colorful way—his troubled upbringing, his college years, his years of trying to make ends meet before becoming a head coach. It reveals how determination took him from an impoverished home in the mountains of North Carolina to the very pinnacle of coaching success, culminating in the 2009 NCAA National Championship (his second in five years). And it pulls back the curtain on one of college basketball’s most guarded programs as witnessed by one of the most successful, dominant coaches, at the prime of his power.

Coach Williams describes himself as the most competitive person on earth, admitting that he once got into a game of pool with Michael Jordan that nearly ended in a fistfight. In addition to providing a fresh look at Jordan, Hard Work will chronicle Williams’ connection with such basketball luminaries as Paul Pierce, Kirk Hinrich, Jacque Vaughn, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Sean May, and Rashad McCants, along with Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson, all of whom Williams credits with having earned him the highest winning percentage in NCAA history.

Hard Work is an inspirational story of what can be achieve by  anyone who commits to a dream.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Williams, the men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas (1988–2003) and at the University of North Carolina (2003–present), describes his personal and professional path to a Hall of Fame coaching career and two national championships. Ignored by his abusive, drunken father and raised primarily by a cash-strapped, saintly single mother, Williams paid for his college education at UNC by officiating intramural sports. When Dean Smith, that school's legendary basketball coach, offered Williams a low-paying job on his coaching staff, Williams accepted and sold calendars and delivered videotapes to TV stations to feed his family. As a head coach, Williams's dedication extends to landing recruits and running organized, thorough practices. And he's done all this while maintaining a cohesive family life. (He's married to his college sweetheart.) Well-intentioned and upbeat, the book treads the familiar ground of glossy, inspirational sports biographies. Williams recalls passionate speeches, great players (i.e., Michael Jordan, James Worthy) and various anecdotes from the coaching life, but never delivers consistent insight on the workings of a successful coach at two legendary sports programs. However, the book is redeemed by Williams's genial (and borderline hokey) tone and the forthright revelations of his tumultuous childhood and early days coaching in high school and college. 16-page photo insert. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Roy Williams is arguably the most successful active NCAA major-college basketball coach. A few more NCAA championships with North Carolina— he has two—and he inserts himself into the greatest-all-time discussion. His life story is a genuine rags-to-riches saga. Born poor in rural North Carolina and raised by a single mom, he was extraordinarily driven and self-sufficient as a child and young man. He received a basketball scholarship to North Carolina but was in over his head as a player. He worked his way through school refereeing intramural sports––eventually overseeing the entire program––keeping statistics for then head coach Dean Smith, and working summers at Smith’s basketball camp. After graduation, he became a high-school coach, married, and was moving along nicely with his career when the offer came to be a part-time assistant for Smith at a fraction of his salary as a teacher and coach. He took the gamble and supported his young family for years with a variety of side jobs, including selling UNC basketball calendars to local merchants. Eventually he became Smith’s top assistant and played a significant role in recruiting a skinny kid named Michael Jordan. Later he accepted the top job at Kansas and was very successful there before coming home to North Carolina. Fans view Williams today through the narrow prism of success, but they most likely have little concept of the sacrifice and hard work it took to get there. A thoroughly enjoyable memoir related with humor, compassion, and intelligence. --Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: HighBridge Company; Unabridged; 8.25 hours on 7 CDs edition (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1615730206
• ISBN-13: 978-1615730209
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,580,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Currently the head coach of the UNC Tar Heels Men's Basketball team, Roy Williams has won two NCAA Championships with the Tar Heels and brought his teams (both UNC and Kansas) to seven Final Fours. Inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2007, he ranks first in the country in winning percentages among active coaches. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he rose from Assistant Coach at UNC to Head Coach at Kansas, where he coached the Jayhawks for fifteen years before returning to North Carolina in 2004. During his career, he has coached nineteen first-round NBA draft picks, four National Players of the Year, thirteen first-team All-Americas, and seven conference Players of the Year.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Right Kind of Hard Work, November 26, 2009

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court (Hardcover)

Hard Work traces the improbable story of Roy Williams, now legendary head coach of Kansas and North Carolina. Roy's family had no money but his mother instilled values that would serve him for a lifetime.

What made this story fascinating was the way Williams planned his career trajectory. Knowing he wanted to be a great basketball coach, he turned down a scholarship at Georgia Tech so he could apprentice with Dean Smith of UNC. He worked all sorts of jobs to get through college. Later he worked all sorts of jobs to be on the staff with Dean Smith first as a volunteer, then as a part-time assistant.

After becoming a full time assistant coach at UNC, Roy still thought carefully about his career moves. He turned down several well-paid jobs till the right athletic director came calling from Kansas. Once established at Kansas, Roy rejected UNC's first offer to return as head coach. .

I got a little bogged down in the details of some games, because I am not a follower of these teams. My only quibble is that we don't get a sense of Coach Williams's coaching personality. He talks a little about what he said to teams in specific situations. But we don't get the same sense of personality as we do with the stories of other coaches, such as the legendary Pat Summitt. She also talks about hard work and she shows how she integrates her philosophy into the teams.

"

Williams's story can be viewed as a fable for career planning. Start early and stay fixed on your goal" is the message we get.

Williams found that his gambles paid off. Could he have become a big-time college coach another way? Possibly. But this path makes a great story. Recommended as a life story even if you're not a die-hard basketball fan.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard Work, November 21, 2009

By 

F. McClamrock (South Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court (Hardcover)

Basketball fans will love this biography of a dirt poor son of an alcoholic father who is not really gifted at anything but gets ahead with "hard work" the title. UNC fans will love it and everyone will appreciate the rags to riches story of a coaching "legend in his own time".

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!, January 1, 2011

By 

JoR - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court (Hardcover)

This book gives you the behind the scenes look at what the life of a college basketball coach is like. Nothing is sugar coated and it is a great read!