How long will it take for Kansas University athletic department officials to correct what has been portrayed by some at KU as an inadvertent oversight?

An excellent video presentation just prior to the introduction of KU basketball players at Allen Fieldhouse features the history of KU basketball with pictures of the school’s greats in coaching. Among those featured are coach Phog Allen; basketball’s inventor, Dr. James Naismith; coaches Dick Harp and Larry Brown and such players as Wilt Chamberlain, Clyde Lovellette and some of the later basketball stars. It is a great way to get the crowd energized and enthused about the upcoming game.

Unfortunately, there continues to be one major omission in the video piece: There is no picture of Roy Williams who compiled a record of 418 wins and 101 losses as a KU coach. This works out to a winning percentage of .805, the highest of any KU coach except Karl Schlademan, who coached – and won – a single game in 1920.

There is no reason Roy Williams should not be a very visible part of the pregame video at Allen Fieldhouse. Williams enjoyed the highest percentage of victories in the 1990s of any NCAA Division 1 coach.

It is hoped his omission was indeed an accident or oversight. However, there has been ample time to correct this situation, and nothing has been done.

Unfortunately, the biggest loser in this fiasco is not Roy Williams, a truly outstanding person and coach, but rather those at KU who are well aware of the omission and refuse to correct it.

Roy Williams provided KU, its fans, its alumni and the entire state 15 years of excellent coaching. He also behaved in a manner that reflected credit on the university and the state and recruited players who did the same. He left KU to become head basketball coach at North Carolina, his alma mater, and any disappointment, anger, jealousy, smallness or vindictiveness should be put aside. KU is bigger than that, and officials know what is right and what is wrong.

The error, omission or oversight should be corrected as soon as possible. Doing so will demonstrate KU is indeed a great university with a proud basketball history, a university that recognizes those who contributed to that history and a university that is committed to continuing this excellence.