Lucas: Ride The Bus

By Adam Lucas

NEW ORLEANS —Sometimes these bus rides are dismal.

I spent most of my first 25 years wondering what it might be like to board that Tar Heel bus after a game, to be whisked off to the airport while cheering fans lined the walkway outside a visiting arena. As a lifelong fan, there were times I was part of that crowd outside the bus; I still remember going to the airport to meet the Tar Heels after the win over Oklahoma in the 1990 NCAA Tournament. I, ladies and gentlemen, gave a high five to Pete Chilcutt, and my week was made.

What you learn first about the team bus, of course, is that it's extremely convenient. While most of the rest of the fans at the Smoothie King Arena had to figure out how to get home via commercial travel after Carolina's 86-72 win over Ohio State, the Tar Heels were driven straight to the airport, where the bus took them directly planeside. A few feet away were the Atlanta Falcons, just disembarking for tomorrow's game against the New Orleans Saints.

There were drinks and snacks and although there wasn't wifi on the bus (Theo Pinson memorably called it "wee-fee" during the Hawaii trip last year, as in, "Clint [Gwaltney], we've got to get that plane with the free wee-fee," and our family has called it wee-fee ever since, because if it's good enough for Theo, it's good enough for us), we persevered.

Sometimes it's not that fun. Sometimes the Tar Heels have just turned in a program-worst shooting performance, like in Portland against Michigan State, and the three dozen or so members of the traveling party are stone silent, save for the occasional rustle of a stat sheet.

But Saturday was not one of those days. Saturday, the Tar Heels showed off their newly proficient perimeter offense, getting three-pointers from seven different players for the first time since Nov. 2012. Carolina stopped hoisting them just long enough to win the game at the free throw line, and will now have a week to get ready for the start of Atlantic Coast Conference play on Dec. 30 against Wake Forest.

The Dec. 23 game date meant most of the out-of-state Tar Heels were taking a commercial flight home from New Orleans rather than the UNC charter plane back to RDU. That required the team bus to make a stop at the commercial terminal at the New Orleans airport, which is when the shenanigans began.

There was already a palpable excitement on the bus, since some players haven't been home in months. As soon as they'd run back to the locker room after the win, players were already talking about how eager they were to get home, about what would be cooked for them and who they would see. Roy Williams does not mind traveling with his basketball program. But he makes it a point that everyone will get a few days at home for Christmas, because he remembers a holiday trip when he was a UNC assistant when he left the Tar Heels in Japan and flew from Tokyo to Seattle, Seattle to Chicago, Chicago to Charlotte, and Charlotte to Asheville in order to open presents with his wife and two children, then immediately boarded a flight from Asheville to Charlotte, Charlotte to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Honolulu to rejoin the team.

Now that he's in charge, the team goes home for Christmas. As the bus navigated through the kind of thorny traffic you'd expect two days before Christmas and then stopped in front of the commercial terminal, Theo Pinson--who had just scored a career-high tying 19 points--shouted, "Time to go see Mama!"

Players always sit in the back of the bus, with coaches and staff in the front and middle. As the out-of-staters began to walk up the aisle of the bus, they saluted each person they passed with a "Merry Christmas" and a fist bump. There went Jalek Felton and Seventh Woods, and Brandon Robinson and Andrew Platek. Joel Berry II had a special wish for each of those remaining on the bus: "Have a Berry Christmas!" he repeated.

As the bus load lightened, one voice could be heard over everyone else. It was Pinson, of course, who was staying on board to return home to Greensboro.

"All my kids are going home for Christmas," he lamented. "This hurts me."

Pinson and Kenny Williams pressed their faces up against the bus window, watching their teammates sort through their bags outside the bus. The duo shot photos and video like parents sending their kids off to camp for a week.

Finally, as his teammates began the walk to the commercial terminal, Pinson could take it no longer. He dashed to the front of the bus and bounded down the stairs.

"Y'all call Daddy when you get there!" he shouted across the crowded drop-off line. "Remember I'm only a phone call away!" His teammates waved back, and Pinson climbed back on the bus, walking down the aisle with a solemn look on his face.

"Those are all my kids," he said. Then he paused for just a second. "Well, except for Platek. We're not sure about him. I'm still wondering if he's mine or not."

The bus took the short drive around to the private terminal. When it stopped just outside the door to the plane, Roy Williams gave his regular reminder: "Players first." Since the Dean Smith era, players have gotten off the bus first, which enables them to board the plane first. In all the time Williams has been back, there has only been one occasion anyone can remember—after this year's Michigan State game—when he didn't invite the players to disembark first.

Pinson was the last one of the players to leave the bus. Williams had already stood up from his normal front-right seat to get his bag from the bin above his seat. Then he spotted Pinson meandering to the front.

"Uh-oh," the head coach said. "Here comes Daddy."

Happy holidays from the Tar Heels.

Players Mentioned

Joel Berry II

Jalek Felton

Theo Pinson

Andrew Platek

Brandon Robinson

Kenny Williams

Seventh Woods

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