"Can't put all three of them on the team": When UNC legend Roy Williams talked about his all time starting 5 for the Tar Heels

Roy Williams, the legendary North Carolina coach, led college basketball teams for over three decades and coached many great players. He accumulated 903 wins and three national championships, making him one of the greatest coaches.

To pick his all-time starting five out of the plethora of players he coached at the Tar Heels is a daunting task. One can imagine the depth and talent he has cultivated over the years.

On the Run Your Race podcast last November with his former UNC player, Theo Pinson, Williams was tasked with naming his best starting players. Williams laughed after Pinson posed the question because it wasn't the first time he had been asked that.

Williams said that he couldn’t answer it because it was like comparing your own children.

"Sean May was a great center. Tyler Hansbrough was a great center. I had three guys who won the Bob Cousy Award as the best point guard in college basketball," Williams said (0:58).

"How do you leave out a guy that's the best point guard in all of college basketball? But I can't put all three of them on the team."

Roy Williams also compared the question to asking his grandparents, who had many children, to pick their favorite five — something he suggested would have been incredibly difficult (2:27):

"I say it this way: A lot of coaches have been lucky. ... Nobody's been luckier. Nobody's enjoyed their life as a coach for 48 years more than Roy Williams did. And it's because of the players, the relationships, the great times and the tough times.

"... I've had that question a lot, but when you get down to identifying individuals, I couldn't do that — because I was the luckiest man in the world for 48 years."

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Roy Williams once named his best players in different categories

While he avoided naming his all-time best starting five, Roy Williams once revealed the best players he coached in different categories.

During an interview with Andy Katz on the March Madness 365 podcast in July 2020, he classified his players into unique groupings and named who he thought was best in each.

Here's a look at the players he named:

• The Quarterback - Kendall Marshall
• The Clutch Gene - Marcus Paige
• The Coach - Sean May
• The Athletic Wonder - Ty Lawson
• The Shooter - Wayne Ellington
• The Lockdown Defender - Jackie Manuel
• The Bucket Getter - Tyler Hansbrough
• The Glue Guy - Marvin Williams
• The Dirty Worker - John Henson
• The Captain - David Noel