University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag November 29
November 29, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2005
By Adam Lucas
Mailbag readers, you're slipping. Carolina is shooting just 60 percent from the free throw line, missed crucial free throws in the season opener against Gardner-Webb, and made just 16 of 30 attempts against UC-Santa Barbara. And yet we received only one email regarding free throws this week. That's like going a week last year without a query regarding the status of Justin Bohlander. Doesn't anyone have home remedies for the Heels? Wasn't anyone on a team that shot 98% from the free throw line in high school? Come on, people, it's early in the season but that doesn't mean you can't be in midseason form.
Just to preempt some of the free throw questions, the answer is yes, the Tar Heels do practice them. In fact, they practiced them in abundance after the narrow escape against Gardner-Webb, with every player shooting at least 50 in the next practice (not 50 in a row, but 50 at various stages of practice in order to simulate the tiring effects of a game).
Don't forget that you can submit your questions for the next Mailbag here. The Keeper of the Mailbag, Lauren Brownlow, decides what makes the cut and what doesn't, so it pays to be nice to her. Questions may be used either in the online version or in the Tar Heel Sports Network pregame show (the Mailbag segment usually airs approximately 30 minutes before tipoff).
I was wanting to know your thoughts on Tyler Hansbrough's responsibility of playing center this year and the gap Sean May left him to fill. Also, do you think Tyler will be a contender for rookie of the year in the ACC or perhaps the NCAA?
Baxter Overman, Rocky Mount
Let's take the last question first: Hansbrough is a definite contender for ACC rookie of the year. In fact, the ACC media made him their preseason choice for that honor. His top competition is likely to come from Duke's Josh McRoberts and Greg Paulus. Nationally, it might depend on how many games the Tar Heels win. Many of those national honors often go to players from winning teams.
Hansbrough has handled his center responsibilities better than anyone could have expected. He hasn't seen the same type of competition he'll see every night in the ACC, but Gardner-Webb's Simon Conn is a better player than most casual fans realize (just ask Duke's Shelden Williams, who struggled against Conn this summer in international play).
"It has gone about as well as it can go," he said recently. "I think I'm improving every day in practice. When we get into ACC play I'll figure out what it's like to play in the ACC. Hopefully I'll adjust to having really big guys guarding me."
Like May, Hansbrough is likely to fully blossom when he's paired with another true frontcourt presence with similar skills and rebounding ferocity, something Carolina doesn't have this year--but is on the way for the 2006-07 season. In the meantime, we'll just have to enjoy his unusual brand of intensity. If you missed some of the comments on that particular trait from Friday night, make sure to check them out. Roy Williams often marvels at the intensity displayed by Jerod Haase during Haase's Kansas Jayhawk playing career. He may have found another similar player in Hansbrough.
"I love it when I see Coach Williams get intense with us," Hansbrough said in response to Friday night's fireworks from the head coach. "It fires us up. I think he knows whenever he gets intense like that he's going to motivate us."
Two questions actually...
First... There's been considerable talk about what can be done to increase the Heels' Smith Center homecourt advantage. The reasons that additional student seating won't be added near the Smith Center floor has been discussed ad nauseum, and those explanations seem reasonable enough. However, why not move the student riser seating to the opposite end of the court? Much as moving the band to the other end made sense because Coach Williams preferred that those tunes be blaring in the ear of the visiting coach, it would seem a sure bet that there would be an advantage to having the student section near the visitor's bench. Additionally, it would put the student section behind the visitors basket during critical stretches at the end of games, providing a more difficult backdrop for clutch free throws. Thoughts?
Second... (and perhaps this question would be better directed to the CAA) Bravo to Carolina for not imitating the student ticket distribution methods of a certain technical college a few miles down the road. The lottery system makes great sense for a university that actually wants their students to spend the lion's share of their time on academics (as opposed to camping in front of large building that resembles a high school gymnasium). However, during holiday breaks (such as Friday's game against UCSB), a large number of tickets distributed to students often go unusued- understandably given that so many students head home for the holidays. To avoid those empty seats, why not make student seating over the holiday break available without a ticket and on a first come- first serve basis?
Nate Montgomery, Chapel Hill
(UNC Genetics & Molecular Biology graduate student)
Two good questions, Nate. Genetics and molecular biology, huh? That's unusually highbrow company for the Mailbag. The only genetics we know anything about are the ways that Walter Davis's family tree can send nephew Hubert Davis to Chapel Hill and create a sweet-shooting guard (and talented new ESPN college hoops analyst).
The risers probably won't move because it would likely force the relocation of numerous permanent seat holders. When the risers were added in their current position, that wasn't necessary. And while it would probably be a positive to have the students closer to the visitors, it could also present some ugly situations. Even at the ACC's most notorious arenas the school provides a buffer for visiting teams from opposing fans. We here at the Mailbag have the utmost confidence in Carolina students, but ask yourself this: imagine Carolina has just lost on a buzzer-beater to a heated rival. Players from that heated rival fire the one-finger salute at the fans.You're just feet from the opposing bench. Are you absolutely certain nothing that would reflect poorly on Carolina would happen? If so, you're a better person than me.
You're right, the second question is probably better suited for the CAA. We'd like to hear from them with some of the pros and cons of that plan. Personally, I'd favor going to a first-come, first-served policy for students for all home games. It would be nice to see the most dedicated students get the best seats. But you're also right that it would create missed class time issues, and that's probably why you're a grad student in molecular biology and genetics and I'm just some guy with a pen and notepad.
After watching the game against Cleveland State, one freshman stood out to me. That was Bobby Frasor. I loved how he handled the ball, played good defense, nice passes, and great shooting form. A typical coach's son. That got me wondering what other Carolina players are coach's kids? And who are they?
Walter Hornsby, Aiken, SC
Carolina didn't just bring in a highly touted recruiting class this year. They brought in a class with an unusually high basketball IQ.
Frasor's father was a highly successful prep coach and Marcus Ginyard's father is an assistant coach at Bishop O'Connell High (where he assists Joe Wootten, the very successful son of prep coaching legend Morgan Wootten) and Mike Copeland's father is also an assistant at the high school level. Tyler Hansbrough's father was a standout athlete.
A quality background is an important factor to Roy Williams, who has consistently said it's one of the things he values most about this team. "I do think we are going to be an intelligent basketball team," he said recently. "I think we are really going to be unselfish and I think we are going to be an intelligent basketball team."
So far, he's been correct. Through three games, seven different Tar Heels have already scored in double figures--eight different Heels scored 10+ points all of last season. The Heels also have 64 assists through three games, six more than they had at this point last year.
It's also an unusually fundamentally sound group of freshmen.
My son and I were having a discussion about Wes being on scholarship. According to sources we have researched he is not. What is the deal? I know he is from Charlotte so he can get in state rates but is he on some other academic scholarship? We really enjoy his style of play.
Dave and Stephen Cleary, Brevard
Wes came to Carolina as a walk-on. He was placed on scholarship last year because the Tar Heels had an extra grant (remember, the 5/8 rule is gone--the only NCAA scholarship restriction currently in place is a cap of 13 scholarship players). Miller is aware the scholarship is a year-to-year situation.
By the way, the dark secret in Miller's family is that he grew up as a Wake Forest fan and even admits to idolizing (it brings up terrible memories to write these words) Randolph Childress. Fortunately, he has since seen the light and now attributes those years to "20 years of brainwashing." Miller, who probably had his best game as a Tar Heel against UC-Santa Barbara, is one of the rare players who received a second chance to become a Tar Heel.
He visited Chapel Hill during his senior year of high school and discussed a potential opening with former head coach Matt Doherty. For the kid who grew up shooting baskets out in the driveway with his dad, Ken, being pursued by North Carolina was extremely flattering.
"The fact that I was wanted by North Carolina coming out of high school was a huge deal to me," Miller says. "I was right there about to commit. But I took a visit to James Madison and at the last minute felt like I wanted to go somewhere where I would play right away. At the time there were so many guards here and so many guards coming in. To turn down Carolina was very difficult for me."
Most players don't get a second chance to follow their dreams to a high-profile ACC school. But after playing over 17 minutes per game for James Madison as a freshman and appearing in all 30 games, Miller started to wonder if the door might still be open for him at Carolina--with Roy Williams taking over for Doherty, there were no guarantees. JMU released him from his scholarship in May and he met with Williams a few days later.
This time, he didn't second-guess himself. He wanted to be a Tar Heel.
"I had a decent first year at James Madison but for a variety of reasons I just wasn't happy with the situation," Miller said. "But you can't talk to any schools until you're released, so it's an awkward situation. Once I was released from my scholarship, I started talking to a bunch of schools trying to figure out what I was going to do. I talked to some schools in the Ivy League.
"Out of the blue I happened to talk to Coach Holladay and he told me Carolina might be interested in me as a recruited walk-on. I came down and visited and my dad and I must have talked to Coach Williams for two hours. It just felt like the right fit. Growing up in North Carolina, I'd always dreamed about playing for Carolina. Talking to Coach Williams and thinking about the tradition and everything that is Carolina basketball, it was a pretty easy decision."
Is it possible to find a suitable affiliate in Raleigh for the Coaches weekly Radio Show? 850 the Buzz has terrible reception after 7 PM. I can't believe that there isn't a radio station with enough wattage that would be interested in becoming an affiliate for Coach Bunting or Coach Williams' radio show in the Raleigh area.
To make matters worse, since 850 the buzz is a Duke affiliate, Duke bball was aired over Coach Bunting's show tonight (Wed., Nov. 23). Tonight is not the first occurrence as Coach Bunting's show was not broadcast a couple of weeks ago due to due to Duke bball.
Tom Taylor, Raleigh
We addressed this briefly in the radio version of the Mailbag before the UC-Santa Barbara game but since it's been such a popular question, wanted to cover it in print as well. The good news is that the Duke/Roy Williams Show conflicts should be over with one possible exception. The only remaining Blue Devil game on a Monday is on Jan. 2, a 4:30 tipoff against Bucknell. Depending on the length of their postgame show, that could present an issue with the scheduled 7 p.m. start of Roy Williams Live. There's no question that it's extraordinarily odd to have a station airing programming from two heated rivals, but such is life in the crowded Triangle. 850 has a priority contract with Duke, so the Devils will always earn the airtime in the event of a conflict.
100.7 provided the perfect Triangle affiliate for Carolina sports for many years. Unfortunately, the format change at the station meant the Tar Heel Sports Network needed a new FM home. But FM stations often don't like to air non-game programming such as coaches' shows. You can always invest in Carolina All-Access, but we know that's not a financially reasonable alternative for some fans. The affiliate situation is reviewed every summer and we'd expect it to be given close scrutiny after the end of the basketball season.
Brownlow's Down Low
What former UNC basketball players are still involved in basketball, be it in the NBA, NBDL, overseas, coaches, management, administration, whatever? You provided us with the seniors from last year and Ed Cota, but what about all the others that we loved to watch and have always wished the very best?
Thomas Morris, Hillsborough, NC
Lauren writes:
Whew. I'll do my best:The Albuquerque NBDL team recently waived Brian Morrison, and Makhtar Ndiaye was also waived by Adecco ASVEL Lyon. He had been known as a motivating force on the team for the younger players (sound familiar, 2005 national champs?).
On a more positive note - Jason Capel was signed to play for the Roseto Sharks in Italy, entering his fourth year of professional basketball in Europe. Joe Forte signed with Apollon Axaia Clauss in Patras, Greece. Both Dante Calabria (the topic of a story in the December issue of Tar Heel Monthly) and Kris Lang play for teams in Italy, also (Armani Jeans Milano and Caffe Maxim Bologna, respectively). Union Olimpija in Ljubljana, Slovenia signed former Tar Heel Vasco Evtimov to a one-year deal.
Perhaps one of the standout European players is Ademola Okulaja. He's out with an injury, but he averaged 11 points a game last season, and a picture of him on Eurobasket.com was captioned "Ademola Okulaja: The Warrior." He played for the German National Team alongside Dirk Nowitski, and he stars for Pamesa, a Spanish team located in Valencia. So, it's lucky for you all I speak Spanish, or else you wouldn't know that the Europeans also recognize him as an: "especialista en robar balones" (Specialist in stealing balls).
Shammond also plays for a Spanish team, the Winterthur F.C. Barcelona. He is averaging 13.9 points a game, and - characteristic Shammond - his "percentaje de tiros libres" (free throw percentage) is 100. Donald Williams is the third Tar Heel to play for a Spanish team, having just signed a one-year deal with Caja Rural Melilla in Spain.
Derrick Phelps signed a one-year deal to play in Bamberg, Germany. Last season, Derrick joined former Tar Heels Randy Wiel (head coach) and Walter Davis (assistant coach) during their brief stints for the Eiffeltowers Nijmegen in Holland.
After 1993, Henrik Rodl just couldn't stop winning championships - he led the ALBA Berlin team to seven straight German League titles. Last season, they hired him to take the head coaching position and he led the club to first place with a 22-8 record. Rodl was rewarded with a contract to continue as the team's coach this year.
Former Dean Smith assistant Dave Hanners joined Larry Brown in Detroit assistants two years ago and Brown added another former Smith assistant Phil Ford and 1993 national champ Pat Sullivan to his staff last season. Hanners and Ford followed him to New York as assistants, while Sullivan went off to New Jersey to be an assistant. Pat joins former Tar Heel John Kuester, who is also an assistant coach in New Jersey. Mike O'Koren is in his third season an assistant with the Washington Wizards, Doug Moe is in his first season as an assistant to George Karl in Denver, and Robert McAdoo has been as assistant coach for the Miami Heat since 1995. Oh, and in case you didn't know, Donnie Walsh is the CEO of the Pacers and Mitch Kupchak is the GM of the Lakers.
But they're not the only former Tar Heels in coaching. Most people know Matt Doherty is in his first season as head coach at Florida Atlantic University, Jeff Lebo is entering his second season as head coach at Auburn, and Buzz Peterson is in his first season as head coach at Coastal Carolina. But did you know that Tony Shaver is in his third season as the head coach at William and Mary? Or that Butch Estes is in his second year as the head coach at Miami-Dade Community College?
Joe Wolf is in his second season as head coach for the CBA's Idaho Stampede.
Scott Cherry is in his sixth year as an assistant at George Mason, Rick Duckett is in his fifth year as an assistant at South Carolina, Brad Frederick is in his seventh year as an assistant at Vanderbilt, and Mike Ellis is the assistant athletic director at Virginia Commonwealth University. After two years of pro ball in Europe, Jonathan Holmes is in his first year as an assistant at Montreat. Ed Geth is entering his second year as an assistant coach of the Wofford University women. Ed and his wife Lisa also have two children: Mya, 7, and Ed, Jr., born in June. If you want to catch Ed in action, the Wofford women visit Chapel Hill on December 8.
A lot of high schoolers are benefiting from mentoring of the former Heels. David Neal is head coach of Apex High School's varsity. Warren Martin is head coach of the JV and assistant to the varsity men's basketball teams at East Chapel Hill High School. Lee Dedmon is the principal of the Highland School of Technology (a magnet high school) in Gastonia, NC. Jeff Wolf is the head coach of the varsity basketball team at Kohler High School in Kohler, Wisconsin. As of 2004, Bobby Jones was the head coach of the boy's varsity at Charlotte Christian School Brian Reese was a Boys and Girls Club speaker in his hometown, The Bronx.
Not all the Heels have opted for basketball-related careers. Steve Hale is a pediatrician in Essex Junction, Vermont. Pearce Landry, the former Morehead scholar walk-on, is working for Wachovia in Greensboro. Dennis Wuycik is a publisher who publishes, among other things, the ACC Area Sports Journal. Rick Fox is pursuing his acting career. You might have caught him in Holes as Clyde "Sweetfeet" Livingston. According to www.imdb.com, he shot a movie with Alec Baldwin, Luke Wilson and Jeff Goldblum called "Mini's First Time," but it wrapped about a year ago and had no information about a release date.
Oh yeah, and Jim Delany has been Commissioner of the Big 10 since 1989.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and 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 Going Home Again, click here.
