Retired UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball coach Roy Williams and his wife, Wanda, are Western North Carolina natives, and they love being home in the mountains.
During his nearly two decades as the bench boss in Chapel Hill, Williams won three national titles. He is, simply, a college basketball coaching legend.
Over Labor Day weekend, the Williamses were presented the honor of being grand marshals of the King Apple Parade during the finale of the North Carolina Apple Festival in downtown Hendersonville.
"Well, when somebody asked me if we’d be the grand marshals, I wanted to make sure I knew what that meant,” Roy Williams said. “Little Hendersonville’s going to be pretty busy, but it’s a neat thing for us."
Festival organizers expected around 60,000 people at the parade with over 60 participating groups, some on floats, some on foot.
For Coach Williams, being honored alongside his wife just down the road from where they met in freshman Algebra 1 at T.C. Roberson High School made this occasion extra special.
“Wanda is still the most intelligent person I’ve ever known in my life and has done so many things for every team that I’ve ever coached. She's allowed me to do the things that I felt like I needed to do as a coach, and I missed a lot of things with my kids. She was always the one that took care of everything and so this is home for her. too," he said.
"It’s not just Ol’ Roy coming back home, it’s 'Wicked' Wanda coming back home, too,” he said.
