CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The annual basketball tip-off event at the University of North Carolina has been called Late Night With Roy for the past 15 years, ever since Roy Williams, a prodigal son of Asheville, returned from the University of Kansas to take over the Tar Heels.
So why was this year different from all other years?
It was not the goofy dances the players performed, a shtick that has become a mainstay of the event. It was not even the unfurling of a new national championship banner, one representing the Tar Heels’ 71-65 victory over Gonzaga in April.