For Kansas University’s Roy Williams, coaching basketball is more about relationships with his players than numbers of wins and losses.

So you better believe Williams — he put his players present and past above everybody else when he rejected an offer to coach at his alma mater, North Carolina, three summers ago — will approve of the celebration planned for his 400th victory, which could come as soon as Wednesday against Wyoming.

Tipoff for the nonconference game is 8 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse, with a live telecast on ESPN2 (cable channel 49).

“I’m sure everybody will give him congratulations in the locker room and probably mess his hair up a little bit,” sophomore guard Keith Langford said.

Heartfelt noogies to the noggin probably would please Williams, who otherwise would just as soon see his 400th victory go largely unnoticed. He grows uncomfortable when told a 400th win against 96 losses might put him in the “great coach” category.

“When I think of great coaches I think of coach (Dean) Smith, Bob Knight, John Thompson. I think of John Wooden, Pete Newell … people like that who did it such a long time,” said Williams, who is in his 15th year at KU and ranks second on the school’s all-time win list behind Phog Allen (590 victories in 39 seasons).

“I think coaches that can stand the test of time, ones that make adjustments like Norm Stewart — what he did at Missouri for 30 years is mind-boggling — those are the great ones in my mind. I can’t mention Roy Williams in the same sentence as Dean Smith, I will tell you that. That just doesn’t work with me.”

Praise From Smith

North Carolina legend Smith, however, includes Williams as a coaching peer.

“He is the No. 1 coach in America today, without a doubt,” said Smith, the winningest coach of all-time with a record of 879-254 in 36 years. “The best thing to say is he is No. 1 coach in America in winning percentage. That’s what it’s all about. Kansas plays a tough schedule every year and his winning percentage is over 80 percent. It’s amazing.”

Williams has a winning mark of .806, by far the best of any active coach.

Kansas coach Roy Williams talks to his starters during Saturday's game against Nebraska. KU defeated the Cornhuskers, 92-59, giving Williams 399 career victories. The coach could notch his 400th victory on Wednesday night when the Jayhawks play host to Wyoming.

“It’s not even close. Second place is Bob Huggins at 74 percent (.744),” Smith said. “In the end you have to win and he’s done that.”

Smith’s had an all-time win percentage of .776. The only coaches who worked more than 10 years with a higher winning percentage than Williams are Clair Bee (Rider, Long Island, .826) and Adolph Rupp (Kentucky, .822).

“Roy is the whole package in basketball because he recruits legally. He is caring. He is a fabulous coach whose players play hard, unselfishly and together,” Smith said.

It’s not hard to locate members of the Roy Williams admiration society.

“He is a genuine future Hall of Famer,” said ESPN’s Dick Vitale, noting Williams will receive the John Wooden Legends of Coaching honor in April in Los Angeles.

“You talk about elite programs, there’s Kansas. Why? The leader himself — Roy Williams. The passion and love he has for the game … he has the family-first approach. All you need to know is a Roy Williams team will play with intensity, emotion, play with a great team concept, togetherness and mental toughness.

“He’s the three S’s — ‘super, scintillating, sensational,’ awesome, baby with capital A.”

Players Respect Him

Williams does stress the family atmosphere above all else.

“I always tell people if you have one day to spend with coach, you’ll be a better person for that,” said former Jayhawk guard Jacque Vaughn, who plays for the Orlando Magic. “Hopefully my kids will get a chance to play for him.”

Scot Pollard of the Sacramento Kings said Williams made the post player exceed his own expectations.

“My rookie year in the NBA, I was ready to quit basketball for life,” the former Jayhawk said. “I was in Detroit and miserable. Coach reminded me things were not bad, they actually were good. I was getting paid a lot of money to play a game. Now things couldn’t be better.”

Williams has six former players in the NBA, including Raef LaFrentz of the Dallas Mavericks.

“He’s a great leader,” LaFrentz said. “Not a day goes by where I don’t think about my experiences at KU and what I learned from coach Williams.”

Former NBA coach Doug Moe, like Williams a North Carolina graduate, realizes Williams could probably run for office and win in Kansas.

“Roy Williams is an American hero,” Moe said.

Unfinished Business

The only knock on Williams nationally is he hasn’t won a national title. Smith, for one, said that type of criticism is a bunch of bunk.

“To me, the 1997 team (34-2) should be listed as national champions. It finished first in the final poll which is harder to do than win the (NCAA) tournament,” Smith said. “To win the tournament you have to be lucky and good.”

Williams said he’d like to win a national title before he hangs it up and “heads to the first tee.

“If I don’t … if I coach here 30 years and at the end of 30 years I feel I have the total respect of the staff I worked with and total respect of the players and they know I gave everything I had and it was good, then I’ll feel I’d have a pretty blessed life,” he said.

He’ll feel blessed if he can get win No. 400 out of the way Wednesday.

“It’s the kind of thing I’d look back over the summer and say, ‘Hey that’s pretty cool,’ because I’m a guy that never even knew for sure I would ever be a head coach,” Williams said. “The focus now is to get this team its 12th win.”

He puts things in perspective in noting that Texas Tech coach Bob Knight and Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt are both one victory from 800.

“I don’t know if I could live through 800 games much less through 800 wins,” Williams said. “It will be a source of humility to me because if somebody starts saying great things about 400 wins, I’m going to think, ‘Yeah Bobby Knight and Pat Summit are going to get 800 here in the next couple weeks,’ so it will be a little humble pie for me, too.”