University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Basketball Notebook
September 21, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 21, 2005
By Adam Lucas
Eight Tar Heels logged at least 10 minutes in the 2005 NCAA championship game. Only one of them, David Noel, is attending classes in Chapel Hill this fall.
It's not quite equivalent to being the new kid in school, but it is striking to see Noel wandering the halls of the Smith Center without best friend Raymond Felton or cracking jokes while doing shooting drills without partner in crime Jackie Manuel nearby. For three years, the players were inseparable. Now just Noel remains.
But the Durham native says the first month of the fall semester hasn't been lonely--perhaps because he hasn't had time to be lonely. He's essentially taken over the role of the face of the Tar Heels, which comes with significant responsibility--and time commitments. In the past week alone, he's participated in three photo shoots and done a handful of interviews.
The most recent shoot happened Monday, as Noel joined fellow seniors Damion Grant and Byron Sanders on the floor of the Smith Center for the annual Carolina basketball poster shoot. This year's poster features the seniors among a variety of artifacts--including, of course, the very popular 2005 national championship trophy--from the history of the Smith Center, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this season. The poster will be available at Late Night with Roy Williams on October 14 as well as exhibition games while supplies last.
"Right now, it's still fun to have all these things to do," Noel said. "I don't have too much more to do. Once the season starts it may be a little hectic, but I'm going to be the same person regardless. I consider it to be a blessing."
But being the senior leader isn't solely about photo shoots and interviews. Last year Jawad Williams organized most of the informal team pickup games. This year that responsibility has been passed to Noel. When coaches need to arrange a team function, they usually turn to Noel first.
"I've taken it upon myself to do a lot of those things," he said. "I want to get us on a schedule and make sure everyone can schedule themselves accordingly. I definitely take that as part of my leadership role."...
The 20th anniversary of the Smith Center is a time to celebrate the history of the building, but it's also a time to make sure it doesn't move from historic to decrepit. The building's staff has worked diligently over the summer to freshen up some areas of the structure. Improvements include better presentations in the existing memorabilia room (a comprehensive Carolina Basketball Museum will be part of the new building planned for next door to Koury Natatorium, and fan input is welcome here); more photos throughout the facility, including giant action shots in the stairway leading to the locker room and on the wall outside the locker room; and a revised listing of team accomplishments outside the basketball office that will now include ACC regular season championships and Final Fours in addition to NCAA titles and ACC Tournament titles. But the most noticeable improvement is one that's currently in progress--the old "checkerboard" video boards are gone and are being replaced with bigger, sharper boards that represent the cutting edge in stadium technology. Two of the four boards are already in place and the other two will be added in the days to come...
As astute fans know, the Smith Center rafters also need some shuffling in order to accommodate new banners. By the season opener fans can expect a new scheme on the end of the building that holds the giant American flag--that part of the arena will house five national championship banners (1924, 1957, 1982, 1993, and 2005) while the American flag and state flag of North Carolina will hang over center court...Thanks to the hard work of Pete Brennan and numerous Outer Banks volunteers, Nags Head will play host to a 1957 team reunion tonight. Over 800 Tar Heel fans have registered to attend, making the gathering--which will also feature Roy Williams, Eric Montross, Woody Durham and more--comparable in size to the biggest Rams Club meetings ever. Check back late tonight/early tomorrow morning for an update from the celebration...
There's been a slight renovation in the players' lounge as well--the pool table is gone and has been replaced by a ping-pong table. There are already some Forrest Gump-esque budding ping-pong champions among the Tar Heels, most noticeably a certain tall freshman. "We've started calling Tyler (Hansbrough) `Psycho,'" Byron Sanders said. "He wants to spike everything. He's about to hurt himself playing ping-pong." Rumors persist of Hansbrough ripping off his shirt, Incredible Hulk-style, during one particularly heated game...The Tar Heels received their 2005 championship rings to a rousing ovation Saturday night at halftime of the Wisconsin game. Don't expect to see many players flashing theirs around campus. "I wore my ring that whole night," Wes Miller said. "But then I took it off and put it on my desk. I'm going to give it to my mom to put it in a safe. It's something I want to have and I'll never get tired of looking at it but it's too nice to wear around."...
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Late Night with Roy Williams will take place on October 14. Doors open at 5:30, a volleyball match against Georgia Tech will be played at 6:30, and the Late Night festivities will begin shortly thereafter. The event will feature much of the same skits and fun as in previous years, but with one notable addition--the 2005 national championship banner will make its debut. Fans have the chance to sit on the front row for Late Night through the power of TarHeelBlue.com auctions...To clear up a popular recent question, there will be no Blue-White scrimmage this season. Roy Williams has never been a big fan of the game, and the Tar Heels will instead play two scrimmages against outside opponents. Fans who fondly remember going to a football game and then the Blue-White game can pull the same double this year, as Catawba exhibition on Nov. 12 is the same day as the Maryland football games. Times for both games will be announced in about a month...In case you've missed it, Eric Montross will join the Tar Heel Sports Network radio crew this season, creating a three-man booth with Woody Durham and Jones Angell. Montross also joins Angell as Tar Heel Monthly columnists. The seven-footer's first column will appear in the basketball preview issue, which features the above photo of Noel (for a bigger version, click here) on the cover and will ship in approximately three weeks...
Exhibition game tickets are on sale now and will be available online at the TarHeelBlue.com online ticket office later today--check back later this afternoon or early tomorrow for online purchases, the easiest way to buy Tar Heel hoops tickets. Fans can also call 800-722-HEEL. All exhibition tickets are $10 and are general admission. You can also check the online ticket office later today for information on the mini-season ticket package, which is $290 and is also available now. Individual game ticket sales will begin on November 1. Not all games will be available.
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.
