Legendary UNC coach Roy Williams is (probably) retiring, but the odd timing has many wondering if it’s an elaborate prank

• Legendary North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams is retiring.
• UNC announced the departure of the Hall of Famer on April 1 – April Fools Day.
• But Williams' decision to step away from the court does not appear to be a joke.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Legendary UNC head coach Roy Williams has coached his final game for the Tar Heels.

And after the Hall of Famer spent 18 years at the helm of the program, North Carolina chose April Fools' Day – of all days – to announce Williams' seemingly very real departure from the game.

Fans were – and still are – unsure that the iconic coach is truly stepping away from the hardwood.

Many responses to the program's official tweet announcing Williams' retirement insinuated that it was simply an elaborate prank. But with a press conference scheduled for later in the day and countless outlets, reporters, players, teams, and coaches giving farewell props to the 70-year-old, it appears more than likely that Williams' tenure in college basketball has legitimately come to an end.

-Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 1, 2021

Williams is nothing short of an icon in the college basketball world, which makes the decision to announce his retirement on a day when the truth is necessarily shrouded with doubt all the more perplexing. In his 33 years at the helm of two Blue Blood programs - first for Kansas and then with the Tar Heels - Williams won more games than all but two head coaches in Division I men's basketball history. His 903-264 record gives him the highest win percentage of any men's DI coach with more than 900 wins in their career.

Most of Williams' hardware came from his nearly two decades of coaching at his alma mater. He led North Carolina to three national championships, five Final Fours, nine ACC regular-season titles, and three ACC Tournament victories. With another four Final Fours under his belt from his time with the Jayhawks and countless coaching honors from his tenure at both schools, Williams was an easy pick for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

The esteemed coach is stepping down on a relatively low note of his otherwise esteemed career. Williams' final game for the white and Carolina blue came as UNC fell to the Wisconsin Badgers in the first round of this year's March Madness, marking the first time in 30 NCAA tournament appearances that one of his teams lost in the opening round. One season prior, his Tar Heels suffered a slew of injuries that resulted in a 14-19 record and led Williams to miss his first NCAA tournament since the 1980s.

Still, if this is truly goodbye, college basketball has lost one of the best and most accomplished in the business.