Reluctantly, former national basketball champion Jay Williams of Duke said he liked the way the Tar Heels played.
Late in the Tuesday night Kansas basketball team’s 90-66 rout of Oklahoma State on the road, play-by-play commentator Jon Sciambi of ESPN asked three-year Duke player and veteran hoops analyst Jay Williams a challenging question. That was the moment the 2002 Naismith winner and 2001 national champion admitted the unimaginable.
Indeed, the 42-year-old treasure of the Blue Devils indicated that he could envision himself wearing the blue uniform of their bitter rival, UNC, and representing his fast-paced, fourth-ranked Tar Heels (13-3, 5-0 ACC) under third-year head coach Hubert Davis.
The conversation began as follows: Sciambi: “If the transfer portal was open [when you played college basketball], where would you have gone?” Williams replied: “Setting me up. So, back then, I would have gone to Georgetown. I would have played for John Thompson. If you’re asking me today, whew…this is a tough one, because I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to go back home.”
Sciambi: Okay. “Are you about to say North Carolina?”
Williams: “They basically have a nice style of playing. It is a brisk kind of play. It appeals to me. They permit RJ Davis to leave.”
Williams: “How come? How come? This is what you did to me. You are to blame for this.”
Sciambi: “This announcement is just plain terrible. On Tuesday night, Jon Sciambi succeeded in Jay Williams’ excommunication from the Duke family.”
Williams: “I recently returned from ‘The Brotherhood.'” I feel like I’m going to be out soon because I just got back.”
It shouldn’t be too shocking to learn about his admission. Williams is, after all, a master at evoking strong feelings on television. That is his responsibility.
And he recently went so far as to explain why he believes the Tar Heels are among the strongest title contenders, all while praising the team.
Additionally, Jay Williams (No. 22), a current Blue Devil who is one of 13 players to have their jersey retired, was a childhood Tar Heel fan before he pledged allegiance to Duke basketball in the late 1990s. In April 2021, he reminded them of it after head coach Roy Williams, a three-time national champion, announced his retirement.
Williams is a fantastic basketball player from Duke, thus it would be unfair to remove him from “The Brotherhood” permanently. But considering how unbelievably offensive his remarks against UNC must be to the majority of Blue Devils, a brief ban may be necessary.
