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University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: A Senior Moment
March 27, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 27, 2005
By Adam Lucas
SYRACUSE--Melvin Scott sat in front of his Carrier Dome locker, a strand of Syracuse Regional net tucked behind his ear, his regional championship hat perched just right on top of his head.
He is a senior, but he wasn't quite sure of the protocol for these things.
"I'd really like to go to Franklin Street," he said. "I'd like to see all those people congratulating us and stuff. I've heard about it. But I want to see it for myself."
That's how long it took to sink in. Not when Raymond Felton was cold-bloodedly draining six straight free throws down the stretch. Not when Rashad McCants was draining a three-pointer from the top of the key. Not even when Roy Williams came over to the assembled Tar Heel fans after the 88-82 victory over Wisconsin and raised his arms in triumph, mouthing, "Thank you," to each and every one of them.
Even through that point, it seemed like any other Carolina Final Four. We know how to do these things. We have experience. We win the regional, we cut down the nets (or sometimes not, as in the case of a couple notable years), and we're happy for about a day before we start stressing out over the Final Four matchup.
Oh, and we go to Franklin Street to cut loose a little bit. Some blue paint, some high fives with complete strangers, some celebrating. This is what Carolina does. We know these things the same way we know how to draw oxygen into our lungs. It is just habit.
But then there sat Melvin Scott realizing, for the first time, that he was about to spend a Final Four week in Chapel Hill. It seemed almost inconceivable that a Carolina basketball player could be a senior and not yet know what it's like to spend a week with classmates patting him on the back, with professors giving them a wink on the way into class, with businesses on Franklin Street displaying windows full of "Road to the Final Four" signs.
But Scott and classmates Jawad Williams and Jackie Manuel didn't know. The closest they'd come--and this seems almost ridiculous to even consider--was the NIT in 2003, when the campus was captivated by general admission seating in the Smith Center and students packed the stands.
Can you imagine that? The NIT seeming like a big deal? That is how far Carolina basketball has come in two short years under Roy Williams.
A challenge: name two teams still alive in the 2005 NIT. While you're thinking about it, we'll be over here working on the embroidery for the newest Final Four banner.
It is so much harder than Jawad Williams ever believed it could be. He arrived at Carolina a brash 18-year-old who thought going to Final Fours was as simple as signing a letter of intent with the University of North Carolina. He is now a wizened 22-year-old who strokes his goatee, wise-man-on-the-mountain-style, while answering questions and knows being one of the four teams still remaining with a chance to win the national title is equal parts skill, good fortune, and dedication.
"I thought a Final Four was guaranteed when you came to Carolina," said Williams, his cell phone perched on his lap, a series of can-you-believe-we-did-it phone calls having just been made. "it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of intelligence, a lot of perseverance. Now I can say I've done something Antawn (Jamison) and those guys have done. That means a lot."
That's what this means for that class. They were a couple of Clayton Hanson three-pointers (he only finished with five trifectas despite seemingly making twice that many during a three-minute stretch in the second half) from remaining tagged with the designation "the 8-20 class" forever. That's been retired now. From today forward, you'll know them as "the 2005 Final Four"--and maybe more--class.
There were two freshmen in the Carolina locker room who arrived in Chapel Hill about eight months ago and now will play in their first Final Four. It may, perhaps, seem a little bit easy to Marvin Williams and Quentin Thomas. Sign with the Heels, go to Final Fours. In the years to come, hopefully, that's how it will be.
To his credit, Thomas did not pretend to have the same level of appreciation for the slot in St. Louis as his senior teammates. As he pondered the question, he didn't appear to be the point guard who gave Carolina two solid first half minutes and an assist in relief of Raymond Felton. He didn't appear to be the Oakland native who has three more chances at going to one of the nation's best sports stages.
He just appeared to be a Tar Heel fan. A very, very appreciative Tar Heel fan.
"Those seniors have been through so much," he said. "It's almost unbelievable to me. There's no way I can appreciate it as much as they do. There's no way.
"But I'm going to try."
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.
