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CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina's head basketball coach Roy Williams left the hospital Thursday, a day after having surgery at UNC Hospitals to remove a tumor from his right kidney.

Team officials said doctors found the tumor during a physical earlier in September. The procedure was done at UNC Hospitals and doctors say the surgery went well. They expect him to fully recover in time for the beginning of basketball season in October. The surgery took about 3.5 hours.

Representatives from UNC said it will take about a week to figure out whether or not that tumor was cancerous.

Some of the players on Coach Williams' basketball team said their coach only told them around 10 p.m. Tuesday about the surgery. The players said he was nervous but strong when talking to the team.

“It was heartbreaking for me. Me being on for four years and our relationship together, I look at him like a father figure, not just a coach. So him telling me the heart-breaking news yesterday was emotional for me,” said UNC guard Dexter Strickland.

Everyone was relieved to hear their coach is doing well Wednesday afternoon. Williams might have to have surgery again in October to remove another tumor from his other kidney. Doctors say he might miss a few practices after that surgery.

However, doctors expect Coach Williams to be back in time for the regular season. Williams is in his 10th season at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he has coached the Tar Heels to two national championships in 2005 and 2009.