Roy Williams: Freshmen Have Never Experienced Anything Like ACC Tourney

Young Tar Heels open postseason against Notre Dame

Roy Williams will be bringing a young team to the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, when the Tar Heels play Notre Dame.

“Our seven freshmen have never experienced anything like the ACC Tournament and neither has anyone else going in there with that arena, 3,000-4000 people as compared to what it normally is and the people in the parking lot and tailgating going on,” he said. “I mean, it's one of the greatest sports events ever, but these kids are not going to see that. We're just trying to treat it like we're going to play a game, and yeah, there's other people playing before us and after us, just like we did in Asheville at the Maui Invitational. The whole world is different in what we're seeing. But you know, guys, I don't know how we're going to play. Just think about from Louisville to Marquette, I mean, we played both those games at home. So I have no idea what they’re actually going to look like in Greensboro Coliseum.”

Williams is happy to have the event back in Greensboro.

“I think Greensboro is the best place to play the tournament,” he said. “I've always felt that way. Everybody in town knows the game's going on, everybody's excited. We don't need to have that discussion anymore about the media center of the world because everybody's got a phone. And the funniest thing is when we were in Brooklyn, and I’m not lying, we're in Brooklyn and I come back in from doing our morning exercise. And the guy at the gate, at the front door, said, ‘Coach, how you doing? What are you in town for?’ I mean, we're staying at his hotel. He didn't even know the dadgum tournament was going on. I think Greensboro is the best place. The committee up there does a great, great job. But we won it in Tampa. We won it in Washington, D.C. We won it in Charlotte… I do truly believe it's just a great, great place.