Diakite makes strong impression on UNC’s Williams, during and after game
Posted on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, 5:31 pm
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
File photo by Jon Golden
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — After another heartbreaking loss and watching his team slide to the bottom of the ACC standings, North Carolina coach Roy Williams found a small ray of sunshine at the end of his press conference Saturday night.
Williams’ Tar Heels suffered a last-second, 64-62 loss to visiting Virginia on Tomas Woldetensae’s 3-pointer.
It was another close defeat for the Tar Heels to swallow, one of several buzzer-beaters or narrow losses.
“You can’t put it into words — I’m not that intelligent,” Williams said. “It’s gut-check time on you, and there’s no question, I’ve never felt in any year I’ve coached the way I feel right now.
“That’s life, and you have to go on with it. I told the team there were parts of the game against Duke that I was really proud of. I was not proud of the way that we played at Wake. We’ve got to just keep coming back. I don’t know if my message is very good or not, but that’s what I believe in.”
Perhaps Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite sensed what a difficult time Williams is going through with this team, or maybe he just felt like Saturday night’s game might be the last time the Cavaliers will face the Tar Heels, so there wouldn’t be another chance, but nonetheless, Diakite felt it necessary to go over and speak to the Carolina coach at the end of the game.
Williams acknowledged that at the end of his press conference.
“Diakite came over at the end of the game and said something to me that was very nice,” Williams told media. “You love Tony Bennett and the way he coaches and his club and those kind of kids that they have.”
Williams didn’t feel the need to elaborate on the conversation with Diakite, so media asked the Virginia forward, a fifth-year player, what prompted him to visit with the Tar Heels’ veteran coach.
“Well, I just appreciated all the work [Williams] has done since I first got to college,” Diakite said. “It was a great experience, a great run against his teams. That’s basically it.”
Pressed about exactly what he appreciated, Diakite elaborated.
“How well his team did because of him,” Diakite said. “Pretty tough team to play against every year. Even today was tough, too.”
Why was it important for him to approach Williams?
“Because I think he’s a great coach,” Diakite said. “I really love my coach (Tony Bennett) and I think my coach knows that [Williams] is a good coach, too.”
