University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Same Smile, Different Outlook For Forte
June 27, 2005 | Men's Basketball
June 27, 2005
By Adam Lucas
He is the perfect paradox: he stands out on the basketball court, but quietly. He is thoughtful, but has had trouble with immaturity. He has the mature understanding of the game the NBA covets, but may have played his way out of the opportunity.
Joseph Forte, perhaps the least appreciated star in the Tar Heel pantheon, returned to Chapel Hill this summer. He took two classes in the first session of summer school, a routine he plans to follow every year until he earns his degree. He was a regular at evening pickup games, showing every bit of the smooth game--he can score anywhere from 3 feet to 13 feet to 23 feet--that made him the co-ACC Player of the Year in 2001.
His jersey hangs in the Smith Center rafters thanks to his selection as a consensus first-team All-American that season. He had the ability to float through a game seemingly effortlessly only to show up with 25 points on the stat sheet. Most fans remember the scoring, but his rebounding and assists--his 16 rebounds at Duke in 2001 remain a signature performance--but his name comes up more often in sentences that begin, "Whatever happened to..." than in ones that start, "The best Carolina players ever were..."
Forte spent this past season in Asheville, where he helped the NBDL's Asheville Altitude win the NBDL championship. But he doesn't plan to return to Asheville, and not just because the Altitude is moving to Tulsa.
"The D League is a way to build," Forte says. "I'm just trying to get NBA teams to take a look at me. I'm waiting on the Draft and once that happens we'll see where I might be able to fit."
If no NBA teams call, the Greenbelt, MD, native plans to play overseas next season.
Forte knows the questions that linger about him have less to do with basketball ability and more to do with maturity. His attitude caused him to fall out of favor in both Boston and Seattle, and a third chance has been difficult to earn. He left Carolina prepared for the basketball element of being a pro, but not some of the other aspects.
"Basketball-wise, I think I was ready," he says. "But I wasn't emotionally ready. I needed a little more maturity. If I had my time in the NBA to do over again, I'd change the way I carried myself and the way I approached things.
"I had to learn the hard way what the definition of `professional' is. It's how you carry yourself on and off the court. I had to learn to be responsible for myself."
In many ways, that knowledge has made him the perfect tutor for the group of Tar Heels hoping to hear their names called in Tuesday night's NBA Draft. All of them--Rashad McCants, Jawad Williams, Raymond Felton, Sean May, Marvin Williams, Jackie Manuel--have the game to play professionally. They've been through the workout process, watched NBA games on television, tried to do their own research.
When they've returned to Chapel Hill between workouts over the past month, Forte has tried to teach them the elements of the NBA grind that aren't as obvious. Even though he still possesses the baby face and quick smile he flashed as a Tar Heel--"I'm the same guy, the same smile," he says--he's a wizened veteran of the pro nuances.
"Being around these guys has really taken me back," he says. "It reminds me of myself, and it makes me want to help them do well. It's a different type of approach. I've been away for four years and now I'm not worried about myself. I'm worried about helping them.
"I've tried to share some stories with them. I want to give them little tips. Things like making sure to wear a suit to interviews with GMs. They have to know that other guys will go harder at them because they've got that North Carolina reputation. Those are the kind of little heads-up things that might help them have a smoother transition."
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.
