North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams is as open about his opinions as any college basketball coach in the country -- but on Thursday, he wasn't in the mood to talk politics.
In February, Williams slammed North Carolina's HB2 bill -- the so-called "bathroom bill" that requires people to use the bathroom specific to their birth gender throughout North Carolina. Several weeks later, Williams made more headlines by criticizing President Trump's Twitter habits, saying "our president tweets out more bull(expletive) than anybody I've ever seen."
Well, during his Final Four press conference at University of Phoenix Stadium on Thursday, Williams was asked three politically-oriented questions - two about the bathroom law, which was repealed and replaced Thursday, and one about Trump.
This time, the 66-year-old coach was not in the mood to talk politics and instead focused on the Oregon Ducks, North Carolina's Final Four opponent on Saturday.
When he was first asked about HB2, Williams simply said he didn't know enough about Thursday's events to foster an opinion. When he was asked a second time, he got a little snippy.
After being asked a second question about NC's bathroom law (the third politics-related question of the presser), Roy Williams had enough. pic.twitter.com/eygpxCehe5
— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleABC15) March 30, 2017
"Do you guys know what the single wing is in football?" Williams asked to the assembled media, but more specifically to the reporter who asked the question. "Seriously, because everybody don't. You're shaking your head 'yes,' and you damn sure don't, OK? Why should I again talk about some new law that I don't even know what the law says?
"I trust (what you told me), but not enough, because I'm up here and if I say, 'That's stupid' or 'That's great,' y'all are gonna write it. So, you're asking me to form an opinion just on what you said ... and I'm not trying to be argumentative, but guys: I'm a college basketball coach and am entitled to have my beliefs."
Earlier in the press conference, Williams was asked whether he would meet with Trump if his team goes on to win the national championship and receives an invitation to the White House. Williams wasn't having any part of that question, either.
"This is an easy one, really. There's nobody in this room who's as dad-gum superstitious as I am. Do you think I'm gonna think about that?" he said. "I'm not even Catholic, and I cross myself and everything before every dad-gum putt I ever take.
"Seriously, my focus is to make sure we understand we're here to play Oregon. And if we play Oregon well enough, perhaps somebody may let us stick around and play another one. There's nobody in the world that can make me think of anything like that. But after the game, if we're still standing here, you can ask me and I'll give you an honest answer."
Williams made it clear that he's not shy about sharing his beliefs, but he doesn't want to opine on subjects, including the bathroom situation, without knowing the facts first.
"I've already made my statements about the old law, and so I really think that's enough, to be honest with you," he said.
"And this is America. I don't tweet, but I do give my opinion."
