DETROIT — After Carmelo Anthony and Syracuse University won the 2003 national

championship game, Orange coach Jim Boeheim shook hands with then-Kansas coach Roy Williams at midcourt.

"You'll win one of these someday," Boeheim told Williams.

Now, Williams has won two. The second came Monday when Williams' current team, North Carolina,

outclassed Michigan State, 89-72, in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament.

Now that Williams has won two national titles ... it was his seventh visit to the Final Four ...

his life and program are likely to alter considerably. It actually began to change for

Williams in 2005, when North Carolina defeated Illinois for his first national title.

The core of that team ... Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Sean May and Marvin Williams ... jumped

to the NBA, yet Williams was able to reload immediately and win the title again four years

later.

"The first one was unbelievably sweet in 2005, but in some ways this one's even sweeter,"

Williams said after winning the school's fifth national championship. "That's about the most

satisfying feeling I've ever had as a coach."

By just about any standard, Williams has taken his place among an elite group of great

coaches. This is not simply because he won Monday night, but because the mark of his teams has

been a meticulous balance of talent, teamwork and execution.

Winning creates another layer of expectations: Williams will be expected to win more

championships before he retires. North Carolina was the favorite to win the title as soon as

the season began. The pressure was squarely on Williams' shoulders. That's fine by him.

"I've been very fortunate, as you know," Williams said. "Fifteen years at Kansas, we had some

great teams. My goal I've said since my second year as a coach, I wanted to have my program

where we would be in a position that at the end of the year, we would have a chance to win the

whole thing. And for the most part, we've had that, except for our first year at Kansas and

our first year at North Carolina."

The shape of the Tar Heels' program next season will become more clear in the next few weeks.

Williams could once again lose the bulk of his starting lineup.

All-American Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green have exhausted their eligibility, and juniors

Wayne Ellington, the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and point guard Ty Lawson could

decide to turn pro. Freshman forward Ed Davis played well enough at the Final Four to at least

dip his foot in the NBA draft waters.

Williams did not spend much time addressing North Carolina's future after the title game, but

he did acknowledge that he will be recruiting, trying to return North Carolina to championship

glory.

"My rear end's going somewhere either [today] or Thursday because I enjoy this feeling," he

said.

And so will begin the effort to defend North Carolina's national championship, and the start

of life among the pantheon of the sport's greatest coaches.