University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Everything But the Shoes
March 20, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2005
By Adam Lucas
CHARLOTTE--As it turns out, he is not perfect.
That's the big news from Charlotte, where all Marvin Williams did was roll up a double-double by halftime against Iowa State, amassing 12 points and 10 rebounds in 13 first-half minutes. Coupled with his 20-point, 8-rebound performance--which included the One Shining Moment-worthy one-handed slam that launched a thousand highlights shows--against Oakland in the first round, he had himself quite a debut on the national stage.
He isn't going to be our little secret much longer. Truthfully, word was already out. The national basketball types knew about this kid down in Chapel Hill who was coming off the bench and doing things very few Tar Heel freshmen had done before. Carolina fans, of course, knew all about him. But the casual college basketball fan might not have been able to tell Jawad Williams from Marvin Williams from Roy Williams.
Now they can, and they'll spend most of this week reading stories in the national print media and watching stories like the one Bonnie Bernstein did on CBS Saturday afternoon (which borrowed heavily from this story) about the Bremerton native.
Even Roy Williams fueled the fire after the win over the Cyclones, saying, "Marvin Williams is probably our most complete player." And here's the thing--he's right.
So remember that you heard it here first: Marvin didn't do everything right this weekend. There was the small matter of his footwear when the team arrived in Charlotte. It turns out that the freshman (along with fellow rook Quentin Thomas) made a rookie mistake and forgot to pack his dress shoes in his travel bag. When the team arrived at the Charlotte Coliseum Friday night, he was clad in jacket, tie, dress pants...and basketball shoes. A team official picked up the missing dress shoes Saturday in Chapel Hill and brought them back in time for Sunday's game.
Be honest. Doesn't it make you feel a little better that Williams doesn't do everything right all the time? He dunks, he rebounds, he shoots mid-range jumpers, he passes, he gives just the right amount of deference to the upperclassmen (in Carolina's postgame press conference, he sat quietly and answered just two questions while Sean May and Raymond Felton fielded most of the queries). But he's still capable of forgetting his shoes.
He is old enough to know exactly how to control his body around the basket and keep from falling prey to that reckless abandon that overtakes so many young players near the hoop. He is young enough to still allow Jawad Williams to paternally rub his head in congratulations after a big play, as the Tar Heel senior did after the freshman's basket gave Carolina a 73-54 lead against the Cyclones with 7:20 remaining.
That moment--the completely unscripted interplay between a senior and the young pup--revealed one of this team's greatest assets. They've got the old guys--Jackie Manuel, Melvin Scott, and Jawad Williams. They've got the somewhat old guys--David Noel, Raymond Felton, Sean May, and Rashad McCants. And they've got the young guy--Marvin Williams.
And despite the vast talent in every one of those classes, there seems to be no jealousy at all between any of them. That's something that has undone some of the very best Carolina teams. It won't hamper this one.
"A lot of us have friends on Wake Forest," Sean May said in response to a question about the Deacons' early exit. "As juniors and underclassmen we have to look out for our seniors. It's a tough feeling for Taron Downey and Jamaal Levy and we don't want Jackie, Jawad, and Melvin to have that feeling. As underclassmen we have to do our part."
They might need to look out for the freshmen, too. Or at least remind them to pack their shoes.
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.
