University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Bersticker Ready For Swan Song
October 19, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 19, 2001
By Adam Lucas
TarHeelBlue.com
This is that kid who sat behind you in class at Carolina. Remember that kid? He was easygoing. Played a little golf. Came to class with his cap with the interlocking "NC" pulled down low to his eyes. The kid was mellow but also had a little fire, and he had Dave Matthews on his CD player.
The only difference between that kid and this kid is that this one is 6-foot-10. Although it seems like he just got here, Brian Bersticker is beginning his senior season in Chapel Hill. During his almost five years at Carolina, he has seen it all, from a pair of Final Fours to this preseason, when some prognosticators don't even have the Tar Heels in the top four in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
This kid is playing this year as a graduate student after wrapping up his undergraduate degree last spring. In addition to a different scholastic situation, his basketball role should also change this year.
It's almost an annual rite of fall. If the leaves are beginning to change colors, then it's time to wonder about Bersticker's role with the UNC basketball team. Because of his height, he's usually slotted into the post in any discussion of Tar Heel hoops.
The truth is that he's more comfortable away from the rim.
"I'd rather face the basket than have my back to it," he said. "I feel like my face-up game is the strongest part of my game right now."
That's why he has always struggled a little to fit in with the Tar Heels. You're 6-foot-10? Then head down to the post and work on your hook shot.
There have been flashes from the Kempsville High alum. He had a terrific ACC Tournament in 1999, scoring 12 points against Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals and then sinking two key baskets against Maryland in the semis.
He'll get the chance to do that more often this year, as Matt Doherty adapts his second team to its personnel. Gone are the days when every Carolina team had to have the same rigid requirements--a big center in the middle, well-defined forwards, a point guard, and a shooting guard.
Combo guard Melvin Scott will see some time at the point this year, and Jason Capel is moving from small forward to power forward.
And then there's Bersticker, who has range out to the three-point line but usually is asked to play in the post.
"Brian Bersticker is a great shooter and very good shot blocker," Doherty said. "He can stretch the defense with his shooting range."
So what, exactly, is Doherty planning on doing with his versatile senior? That's what the team is trying to figure out in preseason practices.
They took Tuesday off after three intense practices, went twice on Thursday and will do so again on Friday while the rest of the student body enjoys fall break.
"The first day of practice is always intense," Bersticker said. "The second day is usually pretty good too. But this year, all our practices have been the highest intensity we've got. They've been the most intense since I have been here."
He's been here longer than anyone else on the roster other than Orlando Melendez. The pair both were on the 1997-98 team but have red-shirted at some point in their respective careers. Bersticker beat fellow seniors Kris Lang and Jason Capel to Chapel Hill by a year. The class he entered with is gone now, and at least five of his former teammates should start the fall in the NBA.
In about six months, it will be time for the kid in the hat to start thinking about his senior speech. He won't be sitting behind you in class--he'll be seeing what his basketball future holds.
"It's a wild feeling knowing that this is my last go-around," he said. "I just want to be remembered for going hard and trying to lead, whether I play 15 minutes or I play five minutes a game this year. Playing time has never been the biggest thing I've wanted to do."
Adam Lucas is the co-publisher of Basketball America. He is a lifelong observer of UNC sports and can be reached at JAdamLucas@aol.com.
