LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The Kansas Jayhawks voted unanimously Tuesday to cancel their annual downtown parade, a sign of how hard the players are taking the departure of coach Roy Williams.

	“	Time is the greatest healer. Within time, some of the players and former players will look past this and say maybe it was the right thing to do. ”
		— Wayne Simien, on Roy Williams' departure

Williams resigned Monday to accept the job at North Carolina, his alma mater. Williams spent 15 seasons with the Jayhawks, guiding them to four Final Fours, and he left a week after the team lost to Syracuse in the national title game.

Every year, the Kansas players climb into convertibles and ride down a street in Lawrence, getting cheers from fans. But a day after Williams' resignation, no one felt like celebrating, and the players decided to abandon Thursday's parade.

"Parades are supposed to be fun," sophomore forward Wayne Simien said.

Despite the hurt feelings and resentment expressed by players and fans, Williams plans to attend Thursday night's annual basketball awards banquet.

"Most of the years, I walked into a standing ovation," Williams said Tuesday in his new office in Chapel Hill, N.C. "I don't think I'll get that this time. But I want to be there because those people are genuine. I'm going to show respect for my team and love for my team."

He said he would fly back to Lawrence on Wednesday, entering what surely will be enemy territory. "It was 15 of the greatest years of Kansas basketball, and yet this morning I'm the bad guy," he said.

Simien, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in March and fumed that "I gave my right arm to that man" after Monday's meeting with Williams, had calmed down a bit by Tuesday. But he wasn't looking forward to his former coach being at the banquet.

"It's going to be real awkward, to say the least. I'm not sure if we're all going to be over it," he said. "Time is the greatest healer. Within time, some of the players and former players will look past this and say maybe it was the right thing to do. But right now ... it's definitely going to be awkward at the banquet."

Jerod Haase, who played on Kansas' 1997 Big 12 championship team and then joined Williams' staff, said he was disappointed in the bitter reaction by many fans who had always professed adoration for the coach.

"Coach Williams gave them 15 years of his life," Haase said. "The guy didn't sleep, giving to Kansas basketball."

Simien said what stung most about Monday's 30-minute meeting was remembering what Williams had said three years ago, when he turned down Carolina's offer. At the time, Williams said he just couldn't bring himself to tell his players that he'd found another team he would rather coach.

"Now he chooses this time to get up and leave. It's hard to figure out what's the difference between, you know, us," Simien said.

A sign outside Allen Fieldhouse had been altered last week, as Jayhawks fans were hoping that Williams would turn down North Carolina again. Someone had performed a hand-lettered update on the sign, proclaiming it "Roy's House."

On Tuesday morning, the lettering wasn't there. It was Roy's house no longer.