University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Basketball Notebook
November 29, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2005
By Adam Lucas
Fans lucky enough to have tickets to Tuesday night's showdown with Illinois will notice some changes to the Smith Center as soon as they take their seats. The once-lonely 2005 national championship banner has been joined in the rafters by banners from 1924, 1957, 1982, and 1993. Each banner looks very similar to the 2005 version, although each one sports the specific Final Four logo of that year. The 1982 style, with the navy background and trumpet symbolizing the New Orleans location, is begging to be made into a throwback shirt...
Could it be that Roy Williams is mellowing? When asked two years ago about his feelings of conference pride, he gave one of the most memorable answers of his Tar Heel coaching career and ensured no Carolina fan would ever look at a chocolate nut sundae the same way.
His answer this time was a little less, well, descriptive.
"It is a source of pride, there's no question about that," he said. "When I watch the games I do cheer for our guys. You like to talk to kids about playing in the best league in the country and any information you can get that validates that statement is good for us."...
Tonight's game at the Smith Center will be billed as a championship rematch. That's not entirely accurate, of course. Much will be made of how no one in this year's Carolina starting lineup started last year's game. But at least four of the five were actually in the Edward Jones Dome. David Noel and Reyshawn Terry were on the Tar Heel bench. Tyler Hansbrough and Bobby Frasor attended as fans. The lone outlier was Marcus Ginyard, who watched the game at home with friends and family.
"I think we were more excited than the guys were," Ginyard said last week.
Frasor, an Illinois native, found himself in the center of controversy. All his friends rooted for the Illini; he supported the Tar Heels. He made sure to get the last word the next day at school, sporting a Carolina t-shirt throughout the day...
David Noel was honest about the possible impact of the freshmen playing in their first game that will receive national attention.
"They're going to be nervous as all get-out," he said.
Remember, the last time the young Heels were nervous as all get-out, they fired the ball all over the Smith Center in the first 10 minutes of the season opener against Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs, by the way, picked up a good road victory Monday night by upsetting Minnesota (and former Tar Heel Adam Boone, who received a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA)...
You know you've got some Carolina fans on your holiday shopping list. There's an easy way to make them happy: get them a copy of Led By Their Dreams, the behind the scenes chronicle of the 2005 championship season packed with full color photos. The book also comes with a CD featuring the Tar Heel Sports Network radio call of the championship game. And if they've been really good this year, combine the book with Team Carolina, the behind the scenes championship DVD...
Assistant coach Joe Holladay, who also scouted Illinois prior to last year's national championship game, was the assistant coach in charge of preparing this year's scouting report on the Illini...Williams has talked to all four of Carolina's NBA early entries in the past week...If you've procrastinated on joining the high definition TV craze, it might be a good time to give in. Tonight's game will be broadcast in HD on ESPNHD.
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.
