Big one eludes Roy Williams again

Monday, March 16, 1998 | 9:11 a.m.

The Kansas coach put himself in the cross-hairs of his critics again on Sunday when the No. 2 ranked Jayhawks lost 80-75 to an overachieving Rhode Island team in the NCAA Midwest regional second round.

This one really hurt Williams.

Was it as bad as losing to eventual national champion Arizona last year with a talent-loaded team in the Southeast regional?

A red-eyed Williams said he'd have to wait awhile to grade the pain.

"I'm not sure how this one ranks," said the 47-year-old Williams, who has the highest winning percentage of all Division I coaches. "I do know I'm getting tired of grading them."

He even apologized to his team about his national championship dream.

"I told the kids in the locker room I was sorry if I caused them a problem by talking about my desire to win a national title," Williams said. "If it put extra pressure on them, then I apologize."

Top-seeded Kansas (34-4) lost to eighth-seeded Rhode Island even though it had Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz, first-team All-Americans.

Williams had those two players last year and failed. He also had excellent teams in the Final Four in 1991 and 1993 and couldn't win a ring.

Now, it's 10 years and counting without a national championship, although he has won 282 games, more than any coach in NCAA history in the first decade.

"My first five years, we went to the Final Four twice and neither time were we one of the four best teams in country, probably," Williams said. "In 1992, I thought we were and we did not go.

"Last year and this year I thought we were one of the four best teams in the country. Last year, I thought we truly were the best team."

Maybe, Williams said, his teams would be better off if they weren't seeded so high.

" There's not as much pressure on them (lower-seeded coaches), but it also means they haven't enjoyed the season as much as I have. I've truly enjoyed this bunch. I've truly enjoyed every single day," Williams said.

"There were some hugs and feelings in that locker room that you can't explain. But I wish I could wave a magic wand and help them feel better now, though. It's the most inadequate feeling in the world to try to decide what to say to them, to help them."

He added "It's been a fantastic year with a lot of fantastic moments. This is not one of them."

Williams was an assistant under Dean Smith at North Carolina. Smith had this to say about Willians in February: "It (Kansas) could not have been any better in the last 10 years. It's a remarkable run. Kansas is lucky to have Roy."

Kansas has won seven conference titles in the last eight years and has been in the Top 25 for 131 consecutive weeks.

There's only one thing missing: a ring that says national champion on it.