Roy Williams Feels Personally 'Hurt' By UNC Academic Scandal, 'Worried Sick' About NCAA Investigation

Roy Williams may not have taken part in the University of North Carolina's (UNC) "paper class" scandal, but he is still not happy.

Former U.S. Department of Justice official Kenneth Wainstein released his report last week and revealed that some 3,100 students took bogus classes for nearly two decades. Wainstein found that academic advisers were the ones who would steer students into these "paper classes" and not coaches.

Williams, head men's basketball coach of the UNC Tar Heels, told ESPN he is "worried sick" about the hit his reputation could take when the NCAA eventually completes its investigation. Wainstein was hired by the school to perform an internal probe, so the NCAA may yet impose sanctions on the school's athletic department.

"I'm very angry about that," Williams said in an exclusive interview. "I try to keep away from the anger part of it. I know what we've done and what we didn't do, and I'm proud of what I've done and I'm proud of what I didn't do. I'm 64, so I'm not close to being ready to quit, but you also think, 'God, I don't want this to be what people remember about me.'"

UNC may clean out any academic official who was compliant in the scandal, but the Tar Heel coaches appear to be cleared for now. At least half the students who took the "paper classes" were athletes, but Wainstein indicated that coaches did not know the courses were a sham.

Williams told ESPN the NCAA has not contacted him for an interview, but such a phone call is inevitable. The 12th-year coach appeared on "SportsCenter" and said he would not talk about the scandal, but later said he felt "hurt" more than anything.

"I'm extremely disappointed and extremely sad because this is my school," Williams said. "This is dominating my time, my life and my thoughts."