When it comes to keeping their favorite coach, Jayhawk fans aren’t waiting for him to be courted by the University of North Carolina before taking action.

By Thursday night, more than 4,300 people had “signed” an online petition aimed at keeping Kansas University men’s basketball coach Roy Williams in Lawrence.

The petition, at www.PetitionOnline.com/KUno1, was posted by a KU alumnus a week ago in response to rumors UNC would make a second attempt at luring Williams to the Tar Heels.

Jayhawk fans sweated out the summer of 2000 before Williams announced he was “stayin'” at KU. But Tuesday, Carolina announced the resignation of basketball coach Matt Doherty, and the speculation about Williams and the Tar Hells reignited.

Kansas fans, some of whom used pseudonyms on the Web site, are doing their best to make sure Williams says the same thing this time around.

“ROY IS GOD and he must stay at home,” one entry read.

“I’m 10 and I want to play for you someday,” one boy wrote to Williams.

While a few entries were mean-spirited or posted by obvious Tar Heel fans, the vast majority were supportive of a coach who fans say has built a tradition with integrity and class during the past 15 years.

“No one person is bigger than a program, but Roy is close,” one person wrote.

The petition has grown faster than anticipated, said Jason Willems, 30, Olathe, who set up the Web site March 28.

On the first day about 100 people signed on, he said. Then 300. And then it grew out of control, as the Web address was passed between friends and featured on KCTV5.

Willems said he did not think the situation would get as serious as it did during 2000 when more than 16,000 worried people gathered at Memorial Stadium to hear Williams voice his decision. In the week before the announcement, Williams received nearly 2,000 e-mails from concerned fans.

“Why go to North Carolina and follow a legend when you can stay and be a legend,” Willems said, referring to Dean Smith, UNC’s famed coach.

Neither does Willems think the effort is premature, even though Roy Williams, preparing for Saturday’s Final Four game against Marquette, has refused to respond to speculation that he might be interested in the UNC post.

“I figured, why not get it started early,” Willems said. “A lot of people are talking about it. The media’s all over it. I’m sure it’s on his mind.”

And if it’s not, it’s certainly on a lot of other people’s. In addition to the petition, the KU Chancellor’s Office has been receiving daily e-mails and phone calls from people who want to see Williams stay, university spokesman Todd Cohen said.

Alumni are starting to wake up to the possibility of UNC “stealing” Williams, Cohen said, although KU is trying to ignore the situation for the time being.

“Right now we’re just focused on the Final Four, and we’re sure Roy Williams is too,” Cohen said. Williams and other members of the athletics department were in New Orleans and could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Regardless, can vocal fans really help Roy Williams make a decision?

Willems thinks so. In 2000, the fans really “showed up,” he said.

And in that year, Williams said he had thought North Carolina was the school for him: “But my players, the fans, showed me this is the place.”

If push comes to shove, the fans are ready to do so again.