  We consider large N Yang Mills theory with D adjoint scalar fields in d
dimensions for d=0 or 1. We show the existence of a non-trivial saddle point of
the functional integral at large D which is characterized by a mass gap for the
adjoint scalars. We integrate out the adjoint scalars in a 1/D expansion around
the saddle point. In case of one dimension which is regarded as a circle, this
procedure leads to an effective action for the Wilson line. We find an analogue
of the confinement/deconfinement transition which consists of a second order
phase transition from a uniform to a non-uniform eigenvalue distribution of the
Wilson line, closely followed by a Gross-Witten-Wadia transition where a gap
develops in the eigenvalue distribution. The phase transition can be regarded
as a continuation of a Gregory-Laflamme transition. Our methods involve large
values of the dimensionless 'tHooft coupling. The analysis in this paper is
quantitatively supported by earlier numerical work for D=9.
