Roy Williams moved into Atlantic Coast Conference basketball circles with a glittering reputation, but the other eight coaches in the league aren’t about to play dead because of his massive hype. The new North Carolina kid on the block is eyed by fellow tutors the way the wolf bared his fangs at Little Red Riding Hood and declared: “The better to eat you with, my dear.”

Maryland’s Gary Williams set the challenging tone for Roy during the recent conference media gathering. I’m indebted to Peg Showalter of Lawrence for passing on this bit of ironic undertow.

One of the reporters noticed a big crowd around Carolina’s Roy. The media guy asked Maryland’s Gary what it feels like to be the “other” coach Williams in the ACC. Responded Gary, with a touch of gall: “I’m not the other Williams. I’m the one with the national title.”

It was Gary’s Terrapins who beat Roy’s Jayhawks, 97-88, en route to the 2002 NCAA crown. How long will it take the “other Williams” to match that?

Duke was voted the 2004 ACC title favorite with Carolina as runner-up. Wake Forest is No. 3, North Carolina State fourth and Maryland fifth. New members Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech won’t be in the mix this year.

Mike Krzyzewski of Duke will be a constant thorn in Roy’s side and there are other outstanding coaches with good teams hoping to knock some of the luster off Williams’ return to his home digs.

Roy’s club is getting a lot of notice because it has five returnees who have been starters. But David Noel, a 6-foot-6 kid counted on for a lot of help, has torn a ligament in his right thumb. He won’t be available for at least six more weeks.

Bill Self came to Kansas University from Illinois with a fine reputation but nothing like the dossier Williams toted home after 15 seasons in Lawrence. Self, to my way of thinking, inherited a better crew of prospects here than Williams did at Chapel Hill. Further, some of the pressure was taken off Self when the coaches voted Missouri and Texas to finish ahead of the Jayhawks. Media people disagreed, but the coaches’ vote indicates Self isn’t targeted quite the way Roy Boy is in the ACC.

Self has made a huge hit here with his less-structured, aw-shucks, lighthearted lilt. He knows expectations are high, but he’s had success at Tulsa and Illinois and knows the territory.

Bill has some wrinkles to iron out and some nuts and bolts to get aligned. He made an important point Tuesday when he non-started Jeff Graves for being late for a team session. Graves has a rep for being a lax about pinpoint commitment; Self has made it clear that will have to change.

Then there was that debacle involving Keith Langford and his knee-twitching session because of some mix-up in the KU medical family due to an adjustment, apparently chiropractic.

At first, Bill was peeved that Langford might have stepped out of the KU loop and acted on his own. Apparently he didn’t. Still, a knee problem resulted, Keith didn’t play against EA Sports. The fences seem to be mended with little harm done.

It not hard to see why Self and all other KU coaches balk at any men or women farming out medical problems when KU has such outstanding sports care. There are Mayo-trained-type people at immediate disposal, facilities are exceptional, KU has a noted medical center and when non-KU superstar help is needed, as with the shoulder surgery to Wayne Simien, our people call it in.

I’ve had personal experiences with the likes of Drs. Laird Ingham and Jeff Randall of the KU medical cadre. Any jock who wanders beyond such expertise is goofy. Guys like Laird and Jeff take the Hippocratic-oath approach of “first, do no harm.” Then their egos are not so big they aren’t willing to say “I don’t know” and turn to those who might.

Look at KU training facilities. They are better than you’ll find in most small hospitals. If jocks want medics to give them things like happy pills and “special vitamins,” they’re out of luck. The late Dean Nesmith, longtime trainer icon at KU, set the tone early for the best care possible and never allowed athletes to be “shot up” so they’d risk permanent injury or worse. This is an excellent, caring climate.

Think of the millions of dollars in topflight care KU has provided its athletes for decades! It gets good, interested and personally involved people; they perform well.

Coach Self said it was the fear of new knee trouble rather than an apparent bid for outside help that kept Langford out of the game. The air seems cleared.

Basketballwise, there’s much to be improved, but Self and Co. are off to a highly promising start. And Bill doesn’t have to worry about any other title-holding namesake except himSelf in the Big 12 Conference.