University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Camp Holds Lessons For Campers, Players
June 25, 2003 | Men's Basketball
June 25, 2003
By Adam Lucas
For three sessions of five days each, Carolina basketball players dispense basketball wisdom to over 500 campers in each session.
Under new head coach Roy Williams, however, the players not only are the teachers--they're also the students.
The annual Carolina Basketball School comes to an end today when the last campers of the third session check out of Granville Towers. It's the culmination of a whirlwind five days for camp organizers that was made even more difficult this year by the staff transition in the basketball office. Administrative assistant C.B. McGrath oversaw camp but had less than two months to familiarize himself with what is usually a 12-month job.
"I tried to go over old camp files to see who worked in the past," McGrath said. "When you have a place like Carolina, you have people who have worked camp for 30 years. Those people don't write in and say, 'Hey, I've worked for 30 years and would like to work weeks 1, 2, and 3.' I didn't want to step on any toes by leaving anyone out, so I did some research. Obviously, we started out a little behind schedule."
With the help of everyone in the basketball office, McGrath eventually put together a camp that has by all accounts run smoothly this summer. Part of that well-oiled machine includes the team managers, who fill out the majority of the 32-member staff that works in Granville keeping over 500 10-to-18 year-olds in line.
This year, outgoing head manager Alison Whichard and incoming head manager Eric Hoots headed the managerial corps. That means they become intimately acquainted with the feeling Dean Smith often described as his "favorite Carolina memory"--the moment when camp is over and every camper is safely accounted for and back with his parents.
"Our main concern is to make sure we know where every camper is at all times," said Hoots, who worked the Georgia Tech camp as a coach last summer and will work the Stanford camp later this month. "That's our number one priority."
Hoots, a rising senior, was a Carolina Basketball School camper in 1994. It was one year after the Tar Heels claimed the national championship and Final Four MVP Donald Williams was assigned to work with Hoots's group, which made for a storybook experience for a 12-year-old.
"I still remember him reffing my games," Hoots said. "That was a big thing for a 12-year-old."
The 12-year-olds--and the rest of the campers--get a treat during each session when the current team squares off against a team of Tar Heel alumni. The current squad took the game during the first session, while the alums (led by a stellar performance from Shammond Williams) claimed last week's game by 25 points.
Roy Williams is not permitted by NCAA rules to watch those games, but word trickled back to the head coach that his team had been embarrassed--in both score and effort--by the alums. That led to a stern message from the coach to his players that such efforts would not be tolerated in Chapel Hill, even if it was only a meaningless exhibition game.
"I did let them know individually that, to me, it's not OK to lose," the Tar Heel head coach said. "If you think it is OK to lose, that's how you lose 37 games in two years...I want them to understand that winning is important. I want them to understand that it's not OK to just go through the motions, whether it's a pickup game, a pool game, or a game of marbles."
A chastened group of current Heels took the floor Tuesday in a matchup with significantly more intensity than either of the previous two games, which more closely resembled exhibitions. Tuesday's game was similar to the nightly pickup games that have been going on for over a month, with each side unwilling to give up any bragging rights.
Neither the alums nor the current Heels could get more than a five-point lead in a game played to 80 points. Eventually, with the score tied at 78, Jawad Williams hit a clinching three-pointer to seal the victory.
When they check out this afternoon, the campers--behind solid organization from McGrath and Hoots--took home a week's worth of memories. The players may have also learned a little something.
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.
