Former KU basketball coach Roy Williams has surgery to remove kidney tumor

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Former University of Kansas head basketball coach Roy Williams underwent surgery Wednesday to remove a kidney tumor, his current team announced.

Doctors discovered the tumor on Williams, who has coached at North Carolina since he left KU after the 2003 season, during a physical earlier this month.

Dr. Eric Wallen, professor of urology at UNC, helped lead the surgical team who performed the roboticpartial nephrectomy. He said the surgery went according to plan.

"Coach Williams did great. I fully expect him to coach this season and for years to come. He could miss some practice time if we perform another procedure sometime in October, but he would be able to resume his coaching duties prior to the start of the regular season."

Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham said he has encouraged Williams to take all the time he needs to recuperate from the surgery.

“We will be ready for his return as soon as he is able to do so,” Cunningham said, “but I have stressed to him that he returns only when he has been given the medical approval and he is ready to do that. Hopefully that will be soon and for a long, long time to come."

Williams has piled up a 675-169 record in his years at Kansas and North Carolina.

To read more about Williams's surgery from the University of North Carlina, visit http://bit.ly/OcGAFz