Roy Williams calls 1996-97 KU basketball squad ‘the best team I ever coached’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Roy Williams called the 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks his best team ever coached.
- Scot Pollard’s heart transplant and family tribute anchored ESPN's E60 feature.
- Pearls of Life foundation promotes organ donation using Pollard’s platform.
Roy Williams not only lavished praise on Scot Pollard during an emotional, 55-minute E60 documentary, “Heart of Pearl,” which aired on ESPN at noon Father’s Day and is currently available at ESPN+, but the entire 1996-97 Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team.
That KU squad went 34-2 with NBA players Pollard, Jacque Vaughn, Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce on the roster.
“We won three national championships at North Carolina,” said Williams, who coached 18 seasons in Chapel Hill after 15 at KU, “but the 1997 Kansas team was the best team I ever coached.”
“That was one of the truly great teams I think of all time,” chimed in ESPN announcer Jay Bilas, who also made an appearance in the documentary — one in which the “Heart of Pearl” title alludes to Pollard’s dad, Pearl, who collapsed and died of heart failure when Scot was 16.
That 1996-97 squad, which went 15-1 in the Big 12, won the league postseason tourney before falling to Arizona in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, also included Billy Thomas and Ryan Robertson, who played in the pros, as well as Jerod Haase and others.
Unlike 6-foot-11 Scot Pollard, whose own heart transplant in February of 2024 was main subject of the documentary, dad Pearl Pollard died in 1991 while waiting in vain for a heart while on a transfer list. Pearl, nicknamed, “Poison,” was a legendary 6-foot-9 forward at the University of Utah.
Scot Pollard played four years at KU (1993-94 to 1996-97) and 11 years in the NBA (1997-1998 to 2007-2008).
E60 was granted full access starting on February 9, 2024, when 50-year-old Scot Pollard was admitted into Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s ICU with advanced heart failure. His heart transplant took place on Feb. 16, 2024 at the Nashville hospital immediately after a donor was found.
KU coach Williams in the documentary was overcome with emotion while sitting in a chair being interviewed in front of ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap. Williams, with moist eyes, looked downward while signaling with his hands he needed a few seconds before continuing to speak about Pollard, who Williams began recruiting at San Diego’s Torrey Pines High School while Pollard was grieving the loss of his dad.
“The first time I went in to sit down and visit with him (Pollard) ... here was this happy-go-lucky kid who recently lost his father. I felt like I wanted to be his coach,” Williams said. “I wanted (to coach) kids who cared. I wanted kids who make it (basketball) darn near the most important thing in their lives,” Williams added 20 minutes into the documentary.
“I said, ‘I will never take the place of your dad, but if you give me a chance I think you’ll be able to trust me like a second father.’ I wanted to make sure he knew I cared,” Williams added, at that point needing to delay the interview a few moments.
Pollard said in the documentary his choosing KU was all about getting to play for Williams.
“I needed to go where there was a man in charge I could listen to and respect the decisions he made regarding my life whether I played every minute or not,” Pollard said. “It was 100% Roy Williams. I knew I needed a father figure.”
Williams stated: “I thought this kid was perfect for me to coach because I like to laugh, but I (also) like to win. He (Pollard) embraced what he had. He understood what he had. He’s one of the smartest players I ever coached,” Williams added of Pollard, who on the court was a fierce rebounder, dunker and shot blocker while off the court liked to drive a 1969 Cadillac Seville convertible he named “Marvin,” paint his fingernails and wear his hair in various styles.
The documentary included footage from Pollard’s senior day game against Kansas State on Feb. 22, 1997. That’s the game in which Pollard attempted — and hit — the only 3-point shot attempted in his four-year KU career.
“I saw coach go get somebody (to enter for Pollard late in the game). I said, ‘Well, it’s time,’’’ Pollard said of launching the 3.
“It was the only 3-point shot he shot in his entire college career and it went right in the heart (of rim),” Williams said. “He came over to me (upon checking out for the last time in Allen Fieldhouse) and said, ‘I knew I should have been shooting those my whole career.’ We hugged. We were laughing,” Williams added.
Pollard looked into the ESPN cameras and added: “I have the leading 3-point percentage in the history of Kansas basketball. (Deal with) it!”
The documentary interviewed Williams and Bilas as well as Scot’s wife (Dawn), son (Ozzy), sister (Lyne Jorif). Vanderbilt heart surgeon Ashish Shah, Vanderbilt cardiologist Jonathan Menachem, Sacramento Kings teammate Bobby Jackson and several members of the family of Scot’s heart donor, Casey Angell.
Ozzy Pollard will be a freshman football player this year at Marian University in Indiana, where the Pollards reside.
The documentary proved an emotional Father’s Day tribute to Pearl Pollard.
“He was a giant of a man in every single way possible. Everybody loved my dad,” Scot related of his dad who died at the age of 54. “I was the last one in my family to see him alive. The real reason I was ever successful in basketball,” Scot added, “is because my dad died. I was so pissed off and I went bat-(bleep) nuts (in emerging as a bluechip college recruit).”
The Pollards, who live in Carmel, Indiana, spent the recent Indy 500 weekend spreading the word about organ donation at the prestigious Indy car race.
“When it comes to charity, the bigger the audience you can get, the better,” Pollard told reporter Mark Ambrogi of youarecurrent.com. “I’m using my former notoriety as a basketball player to help out my wife Dawn’s charity, Pearls of Life. We’ve always used my former profession as a lantern to whatever charity we go to.”
Pearls of Life according to the organization’s Facebook page, “was created to advocate for organ donations, educate the community and support families who are going through the organ transplant or donation process. We believe in the power of community and the impact of compassion.”
“One person can save a lot of people’s lives and be people’s heroes,” Pollard said in the documentary. “I’ve got a lot to do. I’m really glad I have a lot to do.”
