University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Basketball Game Notes
November 15, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2001
UNC-Hampton Game Notes in PDF Format
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Date: Friday, November 16, 2001, 7:30 p.m.
Site: Dean E. Smith Center (21,750)
Series Record vs. Hampton: UNC leads, 2-0
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Woody Durham (play-by-play), Mick Mixon (color) and Phil Ford (analysis) provide the call. A live broadcast also is available on the University of North Carolina's official athletic website, TarHeelBlue.com
Websites: North Carolina (TarHeelBlue.com), Hampton (HamptonU.edu)
Carolina Opens the 2001-02 Season at Home
The Tar Heels begin the 2001-02 regular season on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. when they host 2001 NCAA Tournament participant Hampton in the Smith Center. The Tar Heels are led by returning fourth-year starters Jason Capel and Kris Lang and head coach Matt Doherty, the 2000-01 Associated Press National Coach of the Year.
Home Openers
Carolina has won 71 of its last 72 home openers. The Tar Heels' lone loss in a home opener since the 1928-29 season was to Michigan State two years ago in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Overall, UNC has a record of 85-6 in home openers. The six losses came during the following seasons: 1911-12, 1912-13, 1913-14, 1918-19, 1928-29 and 1999-2000.
Carolina vs. Hampton Series Notes
Carolina has won its two previous meetings with Hampton.
In 1997-98, Antawn Jamison had 28 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels to a 92-69 win on Dec. 16, 1997, in the Smith Center. Carolina shot 55.4 percent from the floor as a team, including a 59.4 percent clip after halftime. Vince Carter had 16 points for UNC, while Ed Cota had 13 and Shammond Williams 11.
In 1998-99, Ademola Okulaja led Carolina with 18 points in an 86-75 win at the Hampton Convocation Center. Freshman Ronald Curry played in his first collegiate game before a hometown crowd.
Tar Heels in the Rankings
Carolina enters its 2001-02 season ranked No. 20 in the country in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and No. 19 in the Associated Press poll. UNC was No. 19 in the preseason coaches poll but fell to No. 20 in the Nov. 12 poll despite not playing a game.
This is the 17th consecutive season the Tar Heels have been ranked in the Top 20 or Top 25 in the preseason AP poll. The last time UNC was not ranked to start the year was 1984-85, but the Tar Heels joined the Top 20 at No. 19 in the second week and remained ranked the rest of the year. The Tar Heels have been ranked in the Top 10 in the country in the preseason Associated Press poll 27 times in the last 36 years.
UNC has been ranked in the preseason Top 10 17 times in the last 21 years. The only exceptions were 1984-85 (not ranked), 1995-96 (ranked No. 20 after Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace left early for the NBA), 1998-99 (ranked No. 11 after Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter left early for the NBA) and this season.
Capel Among National Candidates
Senior forward Jason Capel is one of 50 preseason candidates for the Wooden Award, presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club to the National Player of the Year. He is one of eight preseason candidates from the ACC, joining Lonny Baxter (Maryland), Carlos Boozer (Duke), Juan Dixon (Maryland), Chris Duhon (Duke), Mike Dunleavy (Duke), Roger Mason (Virginia) and Jason Williams (Duke).
Capel was named a 2001-02 preseason second-team All-ACC selection, joining Duhon, Mason, Josh Howard (Wake Forest) and Travis Watson (Virginia).
Williams Second in Preseason Rookie-of-the-Year Voting
Freshman forward Jawad Williams finished second in the voting for preseason ACC Rookie of the Year honors at ACC Operation Basketball on Oct. 28, 2001. Julius Hodge (NC State) received 40 of 74 possible votes to earn the honor, while Williams got 20 votes. Anthony Richardson (Florida State) was third with five votes.
ACC Media Tabs Carolina Fourth
Seventy-four (74) members of the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association voted on the ACC finish on October 28th at Operation Basketball and the Tar Heels were selected fourth in the league behind Duke, Maryland and Virginia. Wake Forest was fifth, Georgia Tech was sixth, NC State was seventh, Florida State was eighth and Clemson ninth.
This season marks just the third time in the 33-year history of ACC Operation Basketball that the Tar Heels were picked lower than third in the preseason media poll (joining 1984-85 and 1995-96).
In all three of these instances, Carolina was picked to finish fourth. However, in the two previous instances UNC exceeded expectations. In 1984-85 the Tar Heels tied for first place in the final ACC standings and in 1995-96, UNC finished third in the ACC.
Carolina at Home
The Tar Heels enter their 16th season in the Smith Center with a 176-27 overall record and a 77-5 mark against non-ACC competition. The only non-ACC losses were to Temple (2/21/88), Iowa (1/7/89), Michigan State (12/1/99), UCLA (1/15/00) and Kentucky (12/2/2000).
The Tar Heels went 12-2 at the Smith Center last year.
Capel, Lang Should Join Elite List of Fourth-Year Starters
This season, Jason Capel and Kris Lang should become just the seventh and eighth Carolina players to be four-year starters at UNC since freshmen became eligible in 1972-73.
Prior to this season, just six players have started for four straight years in a Tar Heel uniform - Phil Ford (1975-78), Mike O'Koren (1976-80), Sam Perkins (1981-84), Brad Daugherty (1983-86), Kenny Smith (1984-87) and Ademola Okulaja (1996-99).
Freshmen Starters
Jawad Williams is expected to be in the starting lineup against Hampton. If he does start, he would join a list of 16 Tar Heels who started in their first games as a freshmen since first-year players became eligible to play in 1972-73.
Other UNC players on this list include Phil Ford, Mike O'Koren, James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Kenny Smith, J.R. Reid, Pete Chilcutt, Rick Fox, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Ed Cota, Brendan Haywood, Jason Capel, Kris Lang, Joseph Forte and Adam Boone.
Three Walk-Ons Join the Tar Heel Squad
A trio of former UNC junior varsity players has joined the Carolina varsity squad as walk-ons for the 2001-02 season - senior forward Joe Everett, sophomore forward Phillip McLamb and sophomore guard Damien Price.
Everett is the younger brother of former Tar Heel Jim Everett, a walk-on who played for the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 UNC teams and earned a scholarship during his senior season. Joe Everett played on the Carolina JV team as a freshman and sophomore but did not play last year, while McLamb and Price both played on the JV team as freshman in 2000-01.
