NIL Rules, Realignment Diminished NCAA's Authority, Former UNC HC Roy Williams Says

Former North Carolina head men's basketball coach Roy Williams believes recent developments in college sports have led to the NCAA losing power.

According to ESPN's Myron Medcalf, Williams said the following regarding his theory:

"It's changing so dramatically. I think the NCAA is just not going to be the same. It's just not. Who knows how it's going to develop? The days of those people in Indianapolis saying, '1, 2, 3 and 4,' and everyone just falls in line ... that's not happening. Some of it's good and some of it's not so good. But they aren't running things anymore. It is a rapidly changing world out there, and who knows what's going to be next."

Williams specifically mentioned name, image and likeness rules, conference realignment and the transfer portals as factors that have diminished the NCAA's authority.

The 71-year-old Williams, who has been inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame, especially seemed to take issue with programs jumping ship for other conferences.

In reference to Oklahoma and Texas preparing to move from the Big 12 to the SEC, Williams said: "How about the schools just all of a sudden deciding, 'I think I'll leave this conference and I'll go here?' I'm thinking, 'My gosh. What's happening to college athletics?'"

He also made mention of NIL rules, which now allow college athletes to make money off their names, images and likenesses, as well as the transfer portal, which makes it easier for athletes to leave their schools for new ones.

Williams noted that with the changing landscape in college sports he knew there were "some things that I might not enjoy as much as I had in the past," but clarified that the changes had "nothing to do" with his decision to retire in April.

The three-time national champion said he retired because he "no longer felt that I was the right person for this job."

Williams was replaced by Hubert Davis, who played at North Carolina and in the NCAA before serving as an assistant coach under Williams at UNC from 2012-21.

While Williams' retirement was abrupt and surprising, he accomplished a ton during his time at Kansas and North Carolina, including three championships, nine Final Four appearances and two Associated Press Coach of the Year awards.

North Carolina went just 14-19 in 2019-20 and would have missed the NCAA tournament had it been held, and finished 18-11 last season in a campaign that ended with a first-round exit in the NCAA tournament for the Tar Heels.

UNC is now under new leadership in a new era of college sports, and it will be up to Davis to get the Tar Heels back into national title contention this season and beyond.