To the editor:

During the Roy Williams era, Kansas University had a number of great players. But Roy’s true claim to fame was the quality of the teams he produced. When Roy recruited a player, he also recruited the individual. I have no doubt that when the parents of former, present and future KU players sent their sons to coach Williams, they felt their sons would be part of a community, a team, and that Roy would do his best to take care of both the student and the athlete. That’s why it is so unfortunate that the last play Roy made at KU was an individual move, not a team play.

Did Williams want, maybe even need, to be the head coach at the University of North Carolina? That is blatantly obvious. But the question will always remain: Why like this? From the time the final buzzer went off in the championship game last week, the spotlight has been on Williams, not on the KU team. The players, fans and alumni deserved the right to enjoy the end of a successful season without the threat of their beloved coach leaving. The 2002-03 team played with heart and guts all season despite losing two starters from last year’s Final Four team and a season-ending injury to the starting center.

Much was made of the phrase “doing the right thing” at Monday night’s press conference. I challenge anyone to look in the faces of the KU players who lost a national championship and their coach in one week and claim that this move, at this time, was “doing the right thing.”

Joy W. Root,

Olathe