University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Heels Make Like Eagles, Beat Noles
February 18, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2002
By Adam Lucas
TarHeelBlue.com
Carolina basketball's previous experience with Eagles hasn't been all that great. There were the much-lamented Boston College Eagles in the 1994 NCAA Tournament, which defeated the team with perhaps the most raw talent in school history. There's Marquette, which eventually changed its nickname to Eagles, which defeated the Tar Heels in the 1977 NCAA championship game in a crushing defeat.
Sunday afternoon about 2:30 in the Carolina locker room, Al Wood made a little eagle history of his own. Part of a group of nearly 15 former players spearheaded by Dean Smith's first point guard, Mike Cooke, that made the trip to Chapel Hill from all across America to show support for Matt Doherty and the UNC basketball program, Wood's pre-game message to the team focused on the way that eagles handle a storm.
Here's your wildlife lesson for the day: an eagle knows ahead of time when a storm approaches. Instead of turning tail, the bird flies to a high spot and waits for the winds to come. Those winds pick the eagle up and raise it above the storm, allowing it to fly unharmed above while a storm rages below.
A lot of heads were doubtless nodding in the Tar Heel locker room when Wood explained his message. This team, perhaps more than any other in UNC history, knows about storms. It is directed by a floor general who has spent most of this season hearing about a 17-year-old who is supposedly going to come in and take away his job. It is led by a pair of seniors who have seen more turnover (and turnovers) during their careers than in any other four-year period since the Vietnam War. It includes three freshmen who came to Carolina to be a part of a tradition but suddenly found themselves having to spend far too much time explaining losses.
So maybe that's why the team latched onto Wood's analogy. "It means a lot when people who really mean something to this program have something to say," said senior Kris Lang.
Almost everyone who meant something to the program had something to say on Sunday. Even the much-maligned fans made their voices heard-over 17,000 turned out on a Sunday afternoon and, somewhat more amazingly, stayed in their seats until the game was over.
Tar Heel fans have taken their share of criticism over the years, but it's become increasingly obvious that the 4,500 who weren't in attendance Sunday aren't representative of the 17,000 who showed up. The crowd for the Florida State game was vocal, into the game, and positive. The next time anyone criticizes Carolina fans, ask them how their team's crowds were during their worst season in 70 years.
Maybe Sunday's crowd seemed to enjoy the game because the players seemed to enjoy it. For the first time in months, Jason Capel smiled. Carolina coaches stress getting the inside hand on the ball after missed free throws. After Capel back-tapped a missed Tar Heel free throw that led to another Carolina possession, he went over to Doherty and smiled. "Inside hand," he said.
"Jason was out of that funk tonight," Doherty said. "He was laughing...and making little plays."
Everything, from the offensive rebounding to Adam Boone's three-point shooting, just seemed to work. And let's not forget about Melvin Scott, who hit all of his five shots from the field and has clearly emerged from his midseason slump.
From the pre-game to the post-game, and maybe for the first time this year, this Tar Heel team really seemed like one that could stand in line with the past 30 teams and not hang their head. The credit for that can be shared by the coaching staff, players, and the former players who cared enough about the program to simply be present.
And now, maybe eagles don't seem so bad after all.
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.
