Williams at a recent signing

Roy Williams, head coach of the UNC men’s basketball team, is a national figure, but one that North Carolinians call their own.

That’s why it’s just perfect that Algonquin Books is the publisher of Williams’ first (and he says only) book, Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court, released on Nov. 2. Algonquin is based in Chapel Hill and once was housed in Carrboro.

To be sure, there were other publishing companies on the hunt to buy the book, but Williams and co-author Tim Crothers felt that Algonquin had qualities the New York-based publishing houses did not. More »