CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina basketball family will converge on Chapel Hill this weekend for a lettermen’s reunion highlighted by the unveiling of Roy Williams Court.

UNC announced earlier this month it was naming the playing floor at the Dean E. Smith Center for its Hall of Fame coach. Williams has won three national championships at his alma mater (’05, ’09, ’17) and owns a 424-126 record in his 15 years as the Tar Heels’ head coach.

“As somebody gets later in their career, and hopefully not at the end of his career, you start thinking of ways to honor them,” UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham told Inside Carolina in a recent interview. “I think naming the court was something that naturally arose. We’ve got Coach Smith’s name on the building and with Roy having won his third national championship, I think that’s when the discussion really started to heat up. So then you say, ‘okay, we’re going to do it, so how do you want to celebrate it?’ And the players are the most important thing to Coach."

The impetus for the event was the floor dedication, and with Williams ready to hold another player reunion, the timing made sense, according to sources familiar with the reunion. Williams, who has coached his teams to nine Final Fours, wanted the court unveiled to lettermen, family and friends in a private setting. The public unveiling will take place at Late Night with Roy on Oct. 12.

"It's very hard to believe; it's just so flattering," Williams said when the court naming was announced earlier this month. "I have to figure out a way to thank all my current and former players, because it may be my name on the court, but it really honors all of them because they made the plays ... I'll try to say the right things to the former players, to my family and to the Carolina administration, but I don't know if I will be able to adequately state how grateful I am.

"I love this place. For 15 years as the head coach and 10 as an assistant, I've tried every day to give everything I could to make the Carolina Basketball program better ... It's overwhelming to think about (the court naming inside an arena named after Dean Smith). Coach Smith did so much, he was so good for people. He would be proud of what we've done on the court, but Coach was always able to do so much more for the players off the court. I'm glad his name is on the building. It's going to be hard to think of my name on the floor in his building."

The reunion weekend is set to begin with a golf outing on Friday morning. The playing floor will officially be dedicated at a private ceremony at the Smith Center on Friday evening. The event begins with a dinner before the dedication begins. Multiple speakers will take part in the festivities, including players from previous decades of Carolina basketball. Chancellor Carol Folt, among other school officials, will also be in attendance.

Every living former letterman was invited and approximately 700 people total are expected for Friday’s dedication ceremony, according to a source. That number is expected to push 1,000 for Saturday’s dinner that will cap the reunion festivities. That high attendance could potentially surpass UNC’s “Celebration of a Century” in 2010, which celebrated 100 years of Tar Heel basketball.

A highlight of Saturday's itinerary is a private pickup game at the Smith Center featuring former and current players.

The reunion's organizers include director of operations Sean May, director of player development Eric Hoots and special events manager Kaye Chase.