University of North Carolina Athletics
Versatile Scott Looking Forward to Upcoming Season
September 10, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 10, 2002
By Adam Lucas
Do not make a mistake anywhere near the vicinity of Melvin Scott. Do not brick a three-point attempt. Do not wear an ugly shirt. Do not do anything that remotely might come back to haunt you.
The street-smart sophomore from Baltimore has the quickest lip on the team, and he doesn't limit his commentary to basketball. Last spring, players were going through offseason workouts in the Smith Center. Jackie Manuel had just finished an intense weightlifting session and was feeling a little queasy, so he sought refuge in the trainer's room.
In came Scott with a devilish smile. "Hey Jackie," he said. "How about a big ol' Big Mac with a large order of fries?"
The reason he can get away with the razor-sharp tongue is that he's equally hard on himself. As a high schooler, he used to rise at 5:30 in order to get to Southern Baltimore High early enough to work out with head basketball coach Meredith Smith.
ut he still conserved enough energy to be all over the floor in afternoon practice. Southern had a drill that involved running the length of the court 10 times in one minute, with five sets of the drill spaced 45 seconds apart. Completing the running was never a problem for Scott. It was what he did during the break periods that was strange.
Other players grabbed their shorts or even lay down during their 45 seconds of rest. Melvin Scott jogged. And then, when players who had failed to complete the drill had to do it again, he ran with them too.
"He hates to lose," Smith said. "In pickup games he would take the worst players and expect to win. Sometimes just by his sheer force of will, he would win games he had no business winning. But when he would take those guys and lose, he might kick the basketball up in the air. I could beat him in table tennis, and we always had to play until I let him win."
Obviously, then, last year's 8-20 season didn't sit well with him. Beyond just the surprising record, he spent the season trying to learn the point guard position on the job after spending most of his high school career as a shooting guard. His assist-to-turnover ratio ended the season under 1:1, and his usually reliable outside stroke suffered under the weight of his other responsibilities.
This season, he will return to the more comfortable environs of the shooting guard position. As he looks toward his sophomore campaign, Scott describes a career arc that sounds reminiscent of one of his frequent summer pickup opponents, Shammond Williams.
"I'm a scorer," Scott said. "I can pass the ball, but I was on the wing for my whole high school career. I knew coming in here that I would have to play some point guard, but my natural position is the two-guard. At the next level, I know I'll have to play the point. I just want to do whatever the team needs me to do."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com
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