UNC: Williams expected back at next practice after bout with vertigo

By foxsports
Published

North Carolina Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams is expected to be at the team's next practice and game following a bout with vertigo that sidelined him for part of Tuesday's win at Boston College.

Athletics spokesman Steve Kirschner said Wednesday that the ninth-ranked Tar Heels had a previously scheduled day off and would return to practice Thursday ahead of a weekend home game against Pittsburgh. He said Williams was back in his office Wednesday afternoon and the coach's regularly scheduled Friday news conference in Chapel Hill is still on as well.

"We expect him to be back at practice (Thursday) and coach on Sunday," Kirschner said.

The 65-year-old Williams left Tuesday's game with about 14 minutes left after collapsing momentarily in the huddle, an attack he said can be brought on by sudden head movements. Williams was helped to the locker room and said he took medication and threw up. He returned to shake hands with Eagles coach Jim Christian afterward and attend part of UNC's postgame news conference.

"I really felt like it was important for me to come out so I could shake Jimmy's hand because I felt sorry for my being a distraction," he said afterward.

Longtime assistant Steve Robinson led the team in Williams' absence as UNC (20-4, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied from a nine-point deficit for a 68-65 win that ended a two-game skid and kept UNC atop the league standings ahead of No. 7 Virginia.

Williams has had bouts of what he described as "benign positional vertigo" for years, occasionally showing up during games when Williams has had to squat down to let dizziness pass after springing up from the bench too quickly. Williams said Tuesday's bout occurred when he spun back toward the huddle after protesting to an official about a no-call on a drive by junior Isaiah Hicks.

The team announced on its Twitter account that Williams returned to Chapel Hill with the team. Kirschner said Wednesday that Williams didn't require hospitalization or treatment outside Conte Forum on Tuesday night.