University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Clinic Provides Holiday Break
December 31, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2004
By Adam Lucas
Carolina administrative assistant/assistant strength and conditioning coordinator Jerod Haase had to break some bad news to Melvin Scott on Friday.
Surveying the Tar Heel senior working with the hundreds of 1st- through 8th-graders who attended Friday morning's holiday kids clinic, Haase could come to only one conclusion: "Melvin, I should really charge you $40 to attend this clinic."
The reasoning seemed clear, as Scott seemed to be having at least as much fun as many of the campers, whose $40 admission fee will be used by the basketball office for a variety of charitable projects. But the Baltimore native wasn't just a typical counselor. He also helped provide the musical entertainment for the morning. Before the players spent approximately 35 minutes signing autographs for the attendees (and, in many cases, their parents), they were asked to perform a song over the Smith Center PA system.
The players grouped together in a tight huddle. Then, suddenly, they began belting out a harmony--not necessarily good harmony, but harmony--version of the Barney theme song, punctuated by Scott exclaiming, "It's the remix!" and then adding a few personal touches to the tune.
Although the music was, of course, Grammy-worthy, the real reason that families began lining up outside the building at 6:45 a.m. (registration began at 8:30, no activities were held until 9) was to spend some quality time with the Tar Heel players and coaches. The morning began with player-led stretching drills, during which Haase proved to be diabolical with a whistle. One shrill whistle blast, he explained to the campers, required them to scream, "We can't hear you!" at the player leading the stretching.
Virtually everyone got the one whistle treatment (Rashad McCants, still battling the flu and needing treatment for a tweaked knee suffered Thursday night, missed the early part of the clinic but participated in the autograph signing), especially freshmen Marvin Williams and Quentin Thomas. Williams later redeemed himself, however, by participating in the championship finals of the "bacon" drill, which requires all participants to lie flat on their backs and simulate a piece of sizzling bacon. The noise from hundreds of campers--and one smiling very talented basketball player--pretending to be a piece of sizzling bacon is at least equivalent to the sound of the riser fans bouncing around before tip-off of any home game.
Campers were divided by height and age into over 20 groups, each of whom got to work with each Tar Heel at a different basketball-oriented station. They picked up the finer points of shooting from Jawad Williams--who always began each session by calling his group in close to him and providing a few words of encouragement--and learned the art of the bounce pass from Raymond Felton.
Scott, Sean May, and Felton took turns fielding questions from the campers in the area of the Smith Center usually reserved for media members, and some of the questions were considerably tougher than what they usually face from the fourth estate. When May was asked how many points he scored the previous night, he wasn't exactly certain, first guessing 15 but eventually landing on the correct number of 16.
But when he was asked how many three-pointers he'd taken in his career, the response came quickly: "Eight. And I'm 0-for-8. But I'm getting better. I'm pretty sure the coaches are going to design some plays for me to get that shot pretty soon."
The players weren't above planting a few questions for their teammates. With Felton holding the microphone and facing 35 inquisitive kids, May got the attention of one of the campers. Suddenly, that particular camper was frantically raising his hand, breathless for Felton to call on him. When he was recognized, he promptly asked the key question of the day: "Raymond, why don't you pass the ball to Sean more?"
Glancing over his shoulder, where the 6-foot-9 May was dissolving in laughter, Felton responded with his typical quickness. "I can't," he said. "If I did that, he'd be getting like 40 shots a game."
The final 30 minutes of the clinic were devoted to autographs and pictures, not necessarily in that order. Some campers seemed frantic to secure the signatures of every player on the roster on their sharp new Carolina basketball poster; others hung close to the player who'd been the friendliest to them during the morning (Williams and Noel, as usual, seemed to become the pied pipers).
At noon, the sound of one shrill whistle blast ceased to mean, "I can't hear you!" and instead returned to its previous purpose--directing the players to the locker room, where they had a 12 p.m. pre-practice meeting.
With that, Scott had participated in his last holiday clinic. Unless he pays the entry fee next year.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. His book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about the book, click here.
