University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Fans Flock to Greet New Coach
October 19, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 19, 2003
by Jim O'Connell, The Associated Press
North Carolina fans gave Roy Williams a welcome even he couldn't have expected. A standing-room-only crowd of more than 21,700 was on hand Friday night for Midnight Madness in the Smith Center, the Tar Heels' first under Williams.
School officials closed the doors to the Smith Center around 11 p.m. and started turning fans away.
"There were people sitting in the aisles," said Williams, who replaced Matt Doherty, under whom the Tar Heels missed the NCAA tournaments in two of three seasons. "The people are hungry, the people are hungry for excitement, they're hungry for wins."
Wearing a Carolina blue turtleneck and a sport jacket, Williams was introduced to the crowd at 10:30 p.m. and he broke down as the standing ovation went on for two minutes. A lot of those in the crowd bowed to Williams as he repeatedly waved to them.
"It was fantastic. It just kept going and I almost lost it. It was awfully nice," Williams said of the prolonged ovation.
"I'm excited about tonight," Williams said. "We're going to do some things here that I don't think Coach Smith would do, but that's OK.
"All I know is on Nov. 22, it's going to be a great thrill for me to walk through that tunnel for our first game."
Williams joined his new players in a dance skit before the team held a scrimmage.
The Tar Heels were one of the 100-or-so Division I schools that held a Midnight Madness to officially welcome in the start of practice at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Kentucky held Big Blue Madness for the 22nd consecutive year and like the others a ticket was hard to come by. The 8,700 tickets available were distributed in 47 minutes last weekend.
This year's theme was "The Future of Kentucky Basketball" as the program began its 101st season.
"I tell our players all the time that no one person is bigger than the program," Wildcats coach Tubby Smith said. "I have an analogy I tell them, to put your hand in a bucket of water and take it out. Do you see any water missing?"
As the men's team was introduced to the crowd, a small fire developed on one of the suspended spotlights in the arena. Maintenance workers quickly extinguished the fire and turned off the light.
Most of the Midnight Madnesses featured the stock 3-point shooting contests, scrimmages and dunking exhibitions.
Maryland coach Gary Williams suspected there would be more dunks in the brief intrasquad scrimmage at a packed Comcast Center on Friday night than in all the practice sessions leading up to the Nov. 22 season opener.
"That's what they like to do," Williams said of dunking. "This is their last night for a long time."
ill Self moved from Illinois to replace Roy Williams at Kansas and his first "Late Night in the Phog" in a packed Allen Fieldhouse included a ceremony honoring the Jayhawks' 1988 national championship team.
"You guys have already spoiled me," Self told the sellout crowd. "Now I expect this each and every night."
Indiana fans got a chance for their earliest look at freshman Pat Ewing Jr., the son of the former NBA center. The 6-foot-8 freshman has already been called a key to the Hoosiers' success by teammates. Besides being four inches shorter than his father, the uniform number will be different, as well.
Ewing, whose thunderous dunks during warmups left the backboard shaking and brought the fans to their feet, didn't take his father's No. 33, which has been hoisted to the rafters of Madison Square Garden, rather he will wear No. 3 for Indiana.
"I took one three from my dad," he said. "I haven't earned the other No. 3 yet. He's a great player, and maybe when I feel I've earned the other No. 3, I'll take it."
St. Bonaventure used Midnight Mayhem to welcome fans back to the Reilly Center for the first time since last season ended abruptly in March when players refused to play the final two games amid a player eligibility scandal.
First-year coach Anthony Solomon, a former assistant at Notre Dame, finally got to be on the court after spending the start of his tenure at the school mending fences and trying to get people to focus on the Bonnies.
"I will say that I've been tested away from the court for the first five months quite a bit, but that's all part of it," Solomon said. "There's a lot of work to be done but we like where we're headed."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo entered the Breslin Center on horseback, dressed as Davy Crockett, symbolizing his desire to lead the Spartans to the 2004 Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. His players each entered the arena dressed in a costume representing of a different stop on the schedule.
"This is always a great event because it allows us to have a little fun before it's time to go to work with the start of practice," Izzo said. "It's great to see so many people come out late at night. As a team we enjoy the chance to interact with our fans that are so essential to our success."
