University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Shopping With The Heels
December 14, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2003
By Adam Lucas
You really haven't lived until you've seen Damion Grant shop for Barbie dolls.
That's what happened Sunday night at the Wal-Mart in Durham, where the entire Carolina men's basketball squad took part in what was an annual tradition for Roy Williams at Kansas.
The idea is simple: administrative assistant C.B. McGrath contacted Orange County Social Services weeks ago to get information about needy families in the Chapel Hill area. McGrath assigned a family to each player, and as the Tar Heels filtered into the Wal-Mart, they were handed a sheet listing the ages of each member of their assigned family and a few items on each person's Christmas list. Each player was asked to spend $50 on each person on his list, and each list had about three people on it.
Before turning his Heels loose in the store, Roy Williams gave the squad a brief scouting report.
"Understand that for some of these people, this may be all they get for Christmas," the head coach said as shoppers began to gawk at the very tall men wearing windsuits gathered around the sweatpants aisle. "Put thought into this like you are shopping for your little brother or little sister."
And the amazing thing was that they did just that. Some brought girlfriends to help them with the shopping process, since most Division I basketball players have very little experience picking out clothes or toys for six-year-old girls. Those who came solo got plenty of assistance from the coaches' wives, as Williams's wife Wanda, Joe Holladay's wife Roi, Jerod Haase's wife Mindy, Steve Robinson's wife Lisa, C.B. McGrath's wife Kris, and basketball office staff member Armin Dastur all participated and were instrumental in guiding some selections.
As Grant perused the toy aisle in search of something for the 8-year-old boy on his list, he pondered one of life's great mysteries: "Whatever happened to G.I. Joe?" Eventually, he settled on a different action figure and a Barbie--which required some input from Dastur--for the 3-year-old girl on his list.
Other players spent much of their time putting together some fashion. David Noel, accompanied by his girlfriend Holly, spent several minutes pondering over the correct item to go with the black pants he had already picked out for the teenage boy on his list. Finally settling on a black-and-white long sleeve shirt, he assessed his handiwork with a broad smile. "I've got him a hot outfit," Noel said.
Without a doubt, though, the award for player you'd Most Want To Shop For You went to Jawad Williams. The Cleveland native has almost a whole basketball team of nieces and nephews, so he was relatively undaunted by his list of children. Williams, who stocked his cart until it was overflowing, had one simple rule guiding his choices--"I have to get them something I would wear." That standard landed someone on his list a heavy winter jacket for just $15, several outfits, and even a pair of shoes for the mother in his family. Despite appearing to have gone substantially over the $50 per person limit, Williams checked in at $12 under the $150 ceiling for his three people.
While some Carolina fans probably spent the evening rehashing Sunday's ugly victory over Akron, there was no basketball talk among the team during the nearly two hours of shopping. No shot selection, just size selection.
"This is good for us," Jawad Williams said. "We would've been sitting home thinking about how bad we played, but we get to do something for someone else."
That's exactly the goal their head coach had in mind. Roy Williams stood by the checkout register monitoring his players' progress, blending into the crowd nicely in a sweater and jeans. Only the occasional customer realized he was anything more than the average Wal-Mart shopper, usually when he raised his voice to rib one of his players who was checking out. Players who were guided by coaches' wives usually nailed the $50 per person spending limit. Players who went largely on their own tended to be more hit-and-miss.
As Jackie Manuel approached the checkout line, his coach gave him a knowing look. "Jackie, you've got no chance at hitting the limit," Williams said. "You've got C.J. (Hooker) and Byron (Sanders) helping you. You've got no chance."
"No, Coach, my girlfriend was helping me too," Manuel replied with a smile.
"Well, maybe," Williams said.
Score one for the coach--Manuel was $12 over, the most of any player. The full squad did remarkably well, going just $7 over cumulatively. The head coach picked up the tab, which will eventually either come out of the team's money they made by signing autographs or out of the coach's wallet.
Williams began the shopping tradition about ten years ago at Kansas with the encouragement of former Jayhawks player Roger Morningstar. In addition to the Wal-Mart items, which will be dropped off at Orange County Social Services Monday morning, each family also gets a $50 grocery gift card.
"The kids really take it seriously," Williams said. "They really get involved with picking out exactly the right thing."
Some Tar Heel fans might have left the Smith Center disappointed after Sunday's halting game against Akron. All the sparkle that was missing from that game, though, will probably be found at ten different homes across Chapel Hill on Christmas morning when a vanload of unexpected presents are found under the tree.
The Heels might not have hit many shots on Sunday. But they sure hit a few hearts.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
