University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Things Change For Noel
February 8, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2003
By Adam Lucas
How things change.
Last fall, David Noel was walking back to his dorm room in Hinton James North with teammates Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott. Noel's shots weren't falling, he didn't have his rhythm, and people were mumbling that he should've stuck with football, at which he starred in high school as a wide receiver.
Actually, it wasn't just "people" wondering if he had picked the wrong sport. It was Noel himself. Walking back from study hall that night with the two sophomores, he voiced for the first time a thought that had been eating at him for a couple weeks: "I wonder if I should've played football instead."
Six minutes against Penn State. Ten minutes against Rutgers. One point in the Old Dominion, Kansas, and Stanford games combined.
Am I playing the wrong sport?
But something subtle happened against Iona that went unnoticed everywhere but in the North Carolina basketball office: David Noel found himself. It was lost in the blur of a disappointing loss, but Noel got the start due to Jawad Williams' illness and played 37 productive minutes. After the win over St. John's the next day, when most of the rest of the Carolina world was paying attention to Rashad McCants' 21 points or Jawad Williams' 17, Noel quietly told a writer that he thought he was on the right track.
"I got so much confidence last night," he said then. "I saw that I can play with these guys." The coaches noticed, and Matt Doherty continued to try and build Noel's confidence. That's why as soon as the FSU game was over, the rapidly emerging freshman found Doherty and expressed gratitude for getting him to this point. "I told him thanks for believing in me," Noel said. "He gave me the opportunity to come in here and be a walk-on, and he believed in me when Rashad was not 100 percent. He could have easily started someone else, but he believed in me."
Wake Forest believes now. Duke believes now. And Saturday afternoon, Florida State got a first-hand lesson.
He did the things that will get noticed, of course. He made the game-winning free throw, the game-winning steal, he grabbed four rebounds, and he had another pair of spectacular dunks. But here's what you might not see if you only look at the box score.
Take one of those dunks, for example, which came on a follow off a Jawad Williams miss. It was early in the second half, and Noel had a good look at a three-pointer from just right of the top of the key. Instead of taking it, however, he swung the ball over to Williams in the corner, who was even more wide open. Then, instead of standing around and watching his teammate shoot, he headed towards the basket, where he was in perfect position to snatch the ball off the rim and jam it home.
Now things have come full circle, because Noel is playing so well that he's overshadowing great efforts from his other teammates. Jawad Williams, who has developed into the type of leader that makes people quietly whisper "George Lynch," (No, he's not there yet, but he sure is closer than anyone might have expected) had a key block with eight minutes left when Florida State was threatening to stretch their lead. Jackie Manuel had four blocks, one of them a crucial rejection of Anthony Richardson with the clock under two minutes. Melvin Scott dove on a loose ball and called a timeout with 3:30 left that preserved a Tar Heel possession, a possession that led to...a Noel pump fake and two-handed slam that gave Carolina a one-point advantage.
Raymond Felton handed out six assists and committed just one turnover and led the team in rebounding with seven. Will Johnson came off the bench and hit a three-pointer, and Byron Sanders grabbed a pair of rebounds. Even Rashad McCants, who is going to be the subject of much speculation in the coming days, drew a pair of charges, defensive plays that will eventually help get his offense back on track.
But in the end, after everyone had played their roles, there was just David Noel. With the game tied, Florida State went to former McDonald's All-American Anthony Richardson, who had a team-high 17 points. And, well, let's let Noel tell it.
"He had the ball on the left side at the top of the key," Noel said. "I figured he was going to rip through and try to drive me. I stuck my hand in and got a piece of it, and I got it. I didn't know how much time was left, and once I got close to the goal I just jumped. When I looked, there were five seconds left, and I couldn't believe there was that much time."
Incidentally, you didn't miss anything because of the foul. Noel, who has the most diverse repertoire of dunks on the team, said afterwards that he was only planning a "regular" two-hander on that play, "anything to get the ball in the hoop."
The freshman from Durham, the only kid who played any minutes for either side on Saturday who is paying his own tuition, then stepped to the free throw line and hit one of two shots. It was the first time he had officially won the game for the Heels, although he had shot those shots plenty of time in his backyard.
"I've shot those so many times," he said. "I'd be outside playing, and steal the ball from myself, and then I'd say, 'He was fouled, one-and-one at the free throw line.' I've done silly things like that all my life. To be in a situation like that tonight was crazy. I never thought that would happen."
So, David, when you were shooting those shots in the backyard, who did you pretend to be?
"Grant Hill," he says.
How things change.
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.
