Roy Williams calls Allen Fieldhouse greatest home-court advantage in college basketball

Roy Williams is back in Lawrence this week. Williams, who coached 15 years at the University of Kansas from 1988 to 2003, will be back in Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night for the 60 year anniversary celebration of Allen Fieldhouse.

Williams met with the media today and gave a quote that KU fans will surely enjoy and will enrage the fan base of his current rival, Duke.

“I’ve said this, and I really believe this from the bottom of my soul: I think it’s the greatest home-court advantage in college basketball and maybe in any sport whatsoever.”

As you all know, Williams is the current head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels and he’s played quite a few big games in Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke.

Roy has always had a soft spot in his heart for Kansas and especially Allen Fieldhouse. Williams won the majority of his 724 all-time wins in the friendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse.

Williams told media members on Tuesday that he hasn’t stepped foot inside Allen Fieldhouse since the last practice before the team left for New Orleans for the 2003 Final Four.

On Monday night, he’ll get a huge standing ovation from KU fans for Allen Fieldhouse’s 60 year anniversary celebration. Williams will join all living Jayhawk head coaches. Ted Owens, Larry Brown and Bill Self will join Williams for the event.

Williams is elated to be back for the celebration: “It’s a pretty special day, the 60th birthday of Allen. And coach Self was great. I’m sure he did the same thing with coach Brown (of SMU), try to figure a time to do it to that wouldn’t stop us from doing something with our own team. My team has next Monday off. It’s something we’re doing a lot during the course of preseason practice anyway (taking Monday off). Coach Self was fantastic trying to find a date that would fit all of us I’m sure.”

Williams added the following, talking about how special Allen Fieldhouse is: “I remember when I first got there, I think they had a couple sheets sewn together: ‘All who enter, pay heed to the Phog’ kind of thing. ‘Beware of the Phog.’ I think we got a little better material up there and remade it years later. I still remember when the original one (banner) was up there. There is some mystique in there. We are not Irish by any means but you could say there’d be leprechauns on every rim helping the other team’s shots bounce away.”