Lucas: Good Job

By Adam Lucas

Jalek Felton has played basketball for North Carolina for approximately three months, around three dozen practices, and nine games. And something happened Sunday that has never happened to him before—Roy Williams told him, "Good job."

This is big news in the world of Jalek Felton. Really big news. Since the heralded rookie's arrival on campus this summer, Williams has, uh, provided some advice on everything from Felton's conditioning to the way he wears his shorts (yes, this is a real topic the duo have actually discussed).

Felton will readily admit that it hasn't been easy. Well, here's what he says, which will give you some idea of his life over the last three months.

Question: has college basketball been harder than you expected?

Felton's answer: "Not really. It's faster…"

Question: Let me rephrase that. Has playing college basketball for Roy Williams been harder than you expected?

Felton's answer: "Oh yes. Every single day. From the first day until today, it's been tougher."

But there's more. And this is what gives you some hope that the Jalek Felton we see right now may be different than the player we see in February and March. Because unprompted, he offers this expansion on his answer.

"It's bringing so much more out of me," says the player who can't immediately recall a previous time in his life when he has come off the bench in a basketball game. "I've learned I can do things I didn't know I could do, and it's all coming from Coach Williams. Being tough and being a positive teammate and maturing to become a young man—all of the things I'm learning are the little things that are going to help in the long run."

Williams has proven to be the master of mixing in just enough encouragement with his stern coaching to turn lost freshmen into…eventually…Carolina basketball players. Sometimes, a simple "Good job" means more than a month of post-practice sprints.

It didn't look like Sunday would be the day Felton would hear those words. With about ten minutes left, he coasted up the court while Brandon Robinson dribbled the ball frontcourt. Williams, of course, noticed the lack of hustle. He first reacted by putting his hands on his head and leaning back in his seat, a familiar pose to anyone who has watched him try to coach the best out of a freshman who has never before had to care about things like running up the court.

At the next stoppage, Williams reminded Felton to hustle all the time. Felton didn't make direct eye contact during the full conversation, which quickly led to him being substituted out of the game. As Joel Berry entered the game for him, Felton didn't stop to tell him who he was guarding. The entire sequence had a predictable outcome: a stern lecture from the head coach, punctuated with an enthusiastic clap of the hands from right in front of Felton. This is the problem with playing for Roy Williams: he doesn't care who you are, how many Instagram followers you have, or how popular you are on YouTube. You will play his way, you will sprint down the court every time, you will defend...oh, and if you do all these things, you have a decent chance of playing for a national championship. But it's a hard lesson at the exact moment he's standing in front of you and you wonder if you ever really knew how to play this game.

"Right at that moment, you just want to cry out of frustration," an honest Felton said. "The only thing to do is go out and try to keep making plays."

Every single Tar Heel freshman for the last 15 years has been there. One of them is Kendall Marshall, the Tar Heel point guard alum whom Felton says has been very helpful over the course of his freshman season. Another is current teammate Luke Maye, who was sitting next to Felton during the lecture. Maye gave the freshman a quick tap. "Stay focused," the junior leader said.

What happened next wasn't entirely expected: Felton did stay focused. After three minutes on the bench, he reentered the game and had perhaps his best stretch of the season.

He very nearly had a nice feed to Maye, a play that was broken up by the Tulane defense but was exactly the kind of play Williams wants his point guards to make. He hit a three-pointer. He stopped a potential dribble drive by a Tulane guard. He drove to the rim and earned a pair of free throws, hitting them both with a form honed by attending Muggsy Bogues' camp in Charlotte for many years. He found Garrison Brooks with a beautiful look after more dribble penetration, a textbook "assist the way we keep them" according to Dean Smith after Brooks missed the initial shot but hit the follow. Then he fired another laser to Brooks for an easy bucket, this one an assist the way the scorebook keeps them. He hit Maye ahead of the defense for an easy opportunity, then drove the baseline and left a neat bounce pass to Maye for another hoop.

At the subsequent timeout, Williams greeted his freshman at the bench. "Good job, Jalek," he said.

By the time the flurry was over, Felton had a career-high in points (nine), assists (three), and times hearing "Good job" (one).

He might forget the points. He may not recall the exact nature of the assists. But even Joel Berry knows Felton will never forget his first "Good job" from Roy Williams.

"I definitely remember the first time Coach told me, 'Good job,'" said Berry. "I totally understand the position he's in. And the first time I finally got one, it made me want to continue to play better and get more of those."

Felton has every possible tool he could need. He has amazing physical talent. He has a Hall of Fame head coach who believes he can be great. And he has teammates who are showing him exactly what to do on a daily basis.

"I'm hoping the younger guys notice what's going on," Berry said. "When I can get here early before everybody, I try to come in and take extra shots. I try to lift after games and do all the extra stuff. All the guys who are playing a lot of minutes, we're the first ones in the gym, and we know what it takes to get to that national championship level. Hopefully, the young guys will notice it and they will catch on."

Yes, hopefully. December of freshman year can be rough. Marcus Paige sat despondent in the Tar Heel locker room and wasn't sure he'd be good enough to play college basketball. Berry pondered quitting the game. But they never stopped learning, never stopped trying--and Williams never stopped coaching.

"I'm gradually learning about how what I do flows with what we do," Felton said. "It worked a little bit better tonight. And you never know. Little steps can end up being big steps."

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Jalek Felton

Luke Maye

Brandon Robinson

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