North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour kept referring to Matt Doherty resigning Tuesday night.

A disservice to Williams

North Carolina did a disservice to Roy Williams by announcing Matt Doherty's resignation Tuesday night. The Tar Heels could have waited. Williams was adamant that he would not talk about the North Carolina job this week, instead wanting to have all the attention on Kansas. But that will be hard to do unless Williams emphatically says he is not interested in the job or that he would only talk about the job next week. Anything short of that will leave the media pestering him in New Orleans. Williams' potential departure to North Carolina becomes the story at the Final Four, instead of the chance for his first title and the last few games of senior all-Americans Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison. However, the timing is better for Williams to jump now than it was three years ago. Then, he was close with athletic director Bob Frederick. He has a well-publicized riff with his new boss, Al Bohl. Then, he had a young team of Drew Gooden, Hinrich and Collison. Since, he has reached back-to-back Final Fours. If Williams turns this job down, then the attention will turn within the Carolina family to Larry Brown and George Karl. Brown, the Sixers' coach, would have a hard time leaving his NBA gig now and has a two-summer commitment to be the Olympic coach. That would hurt his chances for recruiting. Karl, the coach of the Bucks, hasn't coached in college. He would also have to take a significant paycut. The long-term Carolina family coaches on the list would be Chattanooga's Jeff Lebo and Tennessee's Buzz Peterson, but they might be considered too Doherty-like. North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour said he would have a national search and could go outside of the Carolina family. If that occurs, then Marquette's Tom Crean will have to deal with possible questions about his interest in the job this week, too. Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Illinois' Bill Self, Utah's Rick Majerus and Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson are also likely names to surface. Texas coach Rick Barnes, who also has ties to the state, told ESPN.com he plans on staying at Texas. The only college job that Smith could leave Kentucky for could be North Carolina, but Smith is more likely to look at the Sixers (if Brown bolts) and the new Charlotte NBA franchise. Smith is a favorite of Dean Smith. Few, Self and Crean are all hot coaches who have taken programs to elite levels. Majerus was high on Smith's list before Doherty was hired. Baddour said he didn't have a timetable but this job search will dominate the conversations at the Final Four. -- Andy Katz

The Tar Heels read a statement that he had resigned.

But that's not Doherty.

Doherty told ESPN.com on a number of occasions that he would be back as the North Carolina coach. He said he had the support of the athletic director and the chancellor. Yet, these same people ripped him Tuesday night for his lack of leadership and his inability to relate to players. They clearly took the players' side and left Doherty out on a limb and didn't make him sound appealing for another gig.

If Doherty did resign, then that would be completely out of character. Doherty needs to come forward and tell his story and see if he was forced to resign. It might be semantics but the Carolina faithful made it sound as if this wasn't even their decision.

Clearly, Doherty wouldn't go against the Carolina family and potentially hurt his chances for getting another job. But the Carolina administration needs to take some of the blame in his decision. Baddour hired Doherty. Sources said he was going back to issues he had with his players in his one season at Notre Dame. If that's the case then Baddour should have known this before he hired him.

Baddour made the decision to hire Doherty with just one season of head coaching experience. He should take the blame for his dismissal if it didn't work out. The fact that Baddour leaves this process unscathed is unfathomable. Baddour shouldn't be the one making the next hire. That should be up to the chancellor. Baddour hasn't shown that he has the foresight to make the right choices.

Baddour and chancellor James Moeser made sure that they pinned this on Doherty, on his player-relation issue. They said this wasn't a player revolt. But it certainly looks like they sided with the players who couldn't get along with Doherty. There were threats of transferring. And clearly Baddour got scared. The decision was made to make a move for the long-term health of the program.

They didn't think Doherty could save his job by simply winning more games. But it sends a bad message that the players will always have the say. It was a move that looked more like an NBA decision. Players dictate coaches' fates in the NBA, but they shouldn't do the same in college. If Doherty wasn't getting the job done next season then he should have been gone after four seasons, not three.

The next coach should be cautious about an impatient administration that caters to its star players. Freshmen Sean May, Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton could still burn Carolina. All three could declare for the NBA draft and the Tar Heels would have a new coach and a worse team. So, this issue of the team being set for next season is far from over.

Sure, these players don't want to transfer and sit out a season. But if someone gets in their ear and tells them that they would be first-round picks -- and they probably all would be in June -- then they could easily bolt.

What would Baddour say then?

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.