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University of North Carolina Athletics
Car-O-Lines: Peppers, Curry Make Rare Two-Sport Pair
February 22, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2001
By Rick Brewer, SID Emeritus
Is Julius Peppers the finest two-sport athlete ever to play at North Carolina?
That's a question that's getting asked more often these days as the Tar Heels' brilliant defensive end has again become one of the key figures on the Carolina basketball team.
Not only does the 6-6, 270-pound sophomore from Bailey, N.C. make big plays for the Tar Heels, but he often does so in dynamic fashion.
His ability on the football field has never been in doubt. From the first day he walked on campus, Carolina coaches knew he had the potential to be one of the premier players in the country.
The only question some people in the program had was where to play him.
At Southern Nash High School he had been a star defensive end and tailback. Carolina had recruited him to be a defensive end. But, he had the strength to play tackle and the mobility of a linebacker.
He also had the skills to be a tight end, interior offensive lineman or fullback. Opposing quarterbacks only wish he had been shifted to that side of the ball. Last fall he led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 15 sacks and set a school record with 24 tackles for losses.
On the basketball court, he has become the top frontcourt reserve for Coach Matt Doherty. His excellent hands make him a great inside target. His strength and leaping ability have produced some of the most spectacular dunks of the season.
But, Peppers doesn't rely strictly on power for his points.
He has good basketball savvy and a nice shooting touch from 15 feet. It's become obvious he could have been recruited to play basketball in the ACC if he had not been such a high-profile football star.
Peppers displayed all his skills in a recent 96-82 victory over Maryland. Starting in place of an injured Kris Lang, he scored a career-high 18 points.
With Carolina's outside shooters struggling early in that game, it was Peppers who kept his team close with his inside scoring. He had 12 points in the first half, including two of his familiar, awe-inspiring dunks.
You're awed at the fact the rim, backboard, and basket support are still in one piece when he's finished.
He also scored in less dramatic fashion when he took two passes from a double-teammed Brendan Haywood for simply layups.
But, his real highlight-film play came when he sprinted across the baseline, took a pass from Ronald Curry and somehow put in an unbelievable twisting reverse layup with three Maryland defenders all around him.
Although he usually doesn't end up with a lot of rebounds, he's impossible to move around inside. He boxes out well, freeing teammates to grab missed shots. His combination of quickness and strength also make him an above average defender.
Still, it's hard to say he's definitely the best two-sport star the Tar Heels have ever had. After all, there's another candidate on this same team in Curry.
For some reason when people talk about the school's finest multi-sport athletes, Curry often gets overlooked. One factor may simply be some fans have almost impossible expectations on the quarterback-point guard from Hampton, Va.
But, he's on his way to setting almost every Carolina record for total offense and passing on the football field. Forced to play football as a true freshman because of an injury to Oscar Davenport in the season opener, he had to place all his emphasis on that sport. Thus, he never seemed to get in top basketball shape that year.
Then a torn Achilles tendon in football midway the following fall wiped out his 1999-2000 basketball season.
Now he's the starting point guard for the basketball team as a junior. He hasn't been a big scorer, but that hasn't been his job. His main responsibilities have been to run the offense and play defense.
Being a football quarterback and a basketball point guard are a tough combination for anyone to master, even someone as gifted as Curry. But, he is such a tremendous athlete and competitor that by next year he will probably also be more of a scoring threat, too.
Maryland Coach Gary Williams talked about both Peppers and Curry after the recent game in Chapel Hill.
"They have improved a great deal as a team since we last saw them," said Williams about the Tar Heels. "I think Curry and Peppers having more time away from football to get in basketball shape has been a big difference.
"I saw Curry in high school and I know the kind of ability he has. I never saw Peppers, but he had to have been a great basketball player. He does things on the court you can't teach."
Over the years Carolina has had other two-sport athletes. But, combining football and basketball has become increasingly difficult. Until 1940 schools did not begin their basketball seasons until January. With that break between the end of football and the start of basketball, there were numerous players who starred in both. Even through the 1960's, when basketball did not start until after December 1, it was easier than it is now.
But, with the basketball season now starting in November and players also having to deal with football bowl practices, it has become unusual to find someone who can be a true star in both.
Monk McDonald in the 1920's and Andy Bershak and Paul Severin in the late 1930's were among the best to accomplish that feat in the past.
All-America tight end Charles Waddell was a reserve on the 1973 and 1974 basketball teams, but wasn't as prominent a player as Peppers and Curry are today.
Because of the necessary practice and training, it's difficult for any athlete to attempt to play more than one sport. Matching basketball with another sport is particularly challenging because the student doesn't get a break as would occur with a fall sport and one played in the spring.
In fact, Carolina has had a number of football players who have also been key members of the baseball team. Danny Talbott, Charlie Carr, Ken Willard and Bill Paschall have been among the most prominent of that group.
Other football stars such as Mike Voight, Curtis Johnson, Marcus Jones and Tim Goad have been participated on the track team.
But, in recent years, competing in basketball and any other sport has become much more rare.
In the past, there have been a couple of unusual combinations. Wilmer Hines, the Southern Conference singles and doubles champion in tennis, was captain of the 1933 basketball team. Vic Seixias was a basketball reserve in the late 1940's before also starring in tennis. He won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and was a longtime member of the U.S. Davis Cup team.
Charlie Shaffer, captain of the 1964 basketball team, also was a fine tennis player, and lettered in that sport three times. Bobby Jones scored points for Carolina in the early 1970's at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the high jump.
Rip Ryan, a basketball player in the late 1940's, was also an All-America shortstop.
Then, of course, there's Marion Jones, the starting point guard on Carolina's 1994 women's basketball team that won the NCAA title. She also was a track standout and is now the premier track and field performer in the entire world.
This list doesn't even include John Johnson, class of 1916, and Albert Long (1955), who each lettered in four different sports, or Carolina's large group of three-sport lettermen.
Plus, mention has only been made of multi-sport athletes here. So people like Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm, Charlie Justice, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Lawrence Taylor, Antawn Jamison, Don McCauley, Sue Walsh and B.J. Surhoff aren't included.
Marvin Allen, Carolina's first and longtime soccer coach, used to say that Justice would have been the finest soccer player in America if he hadn't been playing football.
For those who did participate in more than one sport, it's hard to compare athletes from different time periods. But, it's a safe bet there's never been two Carolina players on the same team, who both competed in football and basketball, who could match the athletic ability of Peppers and Curry.
They are throwbacks to a time when it was common for athletes to compete in both these sports. It's hard to imagine any pair doing it as well as these two.
