Even before this season, North Carolina's Roy Williams was responsible for one of the greatest coaching performances in ACC history.

Upon returning to his alma mater in 2003, Williams had his own personal "Wizard Of Oz" experience: He wasn't in Kansas anymore, and the group of strangers he found himself leading desperately needed a heart, a brain and some courage. Dorothy and Toto could relate.

It's easy to remember that UNC's 2005 national championship team had four first-round NBA draft picks in Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants. But it's easy to forget that, when Roy Williams replaced Matt Doherty in Chapel Hill two years earlier, he inherited the most dysfunctional team in school history.

Over the course of two seasons, which culminated with the Tar Heels' fourth NCAA title, Williams turned UNC basketball upside-down. McCants was disruptive. He changed. May was out of shape. He morphed. Felton was out of control. He adapted. Veterans Jackie Manuel, Melvin Scott and Jawad Williams were drowning in disappointment. They bounced back. The entire team lacked unselfishness, basketball smarts, consistent effort and attention to detail. They learned.

Doherty's players collectively needed brain and heart transplants, and over time Williams provided them. Whereas Doherty made the fatal mistake of trying to crack the whip without first developing relationships based on trust and respect, Williams spent an entire season (2003-04) delicately building those bridges. Eventually, when Williams needed to be hard (and he definitely was) on those same players, especially during the championship season, they almost always responded well.

If Williams had gone on to retire (some day) with that two-year turnaround still standing as his signature accomplishment, nobody should have complained. He didn't even win the official ACC coach of the year award in 2005 -- that went to Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg (Williams won the ACC Sports Journal's version of the award) -- but anyone who closely watched the Tar Heels for those two full seasons knows that you'll never see a better coaching performance. Ever.

Ever? Somehow, of course, Williams has become the magical man behind the curtain again this season. Only, unlike the man in the castle with his levers and buttons, Williams uses no smoke and mirrors. His solutions are real and, apparently, lasting.

It's not over yet -- UNC (16-6, 7-4 ACC) still faces trips to Wake Forest (Feb. 19), N.C. State (Feb. 22) and Duke (March 4), plus Maryland (Feb. 26) and Virginia (March 1) at home -- but the Tar Heels have positioned themselves well to be (again) one of the most impressive stories in all of college basketball.

You know the storylines by now. UNC's starting lineup consists of two true freshmen (Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor), two former walk-ons (David Noel, Wes Miller) and a guy (Reyshawn Terry) who wasn't even first-team all-state in high school. The rest of the nine-man rotation includes two more true freshmen (Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard) and two guys (Quentin Thomas, Byron Sanders) who wouldn't play even one important minute on most ACC teams. If only Hansbrough ends up in the NBA, nobody will be shocked.

But the Tar Heels play extremely hard. As a group, they have very high basketball IQs, and they're mentally tough. For the most part, they defend well. They even win on the road. They're basically shattering every preconceived notion about what a woefully inexperienced college basketball team SHOULD look like. All of this is a tribute to the players, of course, but it's an even bigger tribute to their leader.

Williams wasn't the only coach in America who lost all five starters from last season. (See, among many others, Georgia Tech and its 2005-06 disaster.) He's just the only one who's winning big anyway.

Certainly, Auntie Em would be impressed. ACC coach of the year voters should be, too. Again.