University of North Carolina Athletics
Droschak: Gaining Believers
February 26, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2006
by David Droschak, TarHeelBlue.com
CHAPEL HILL -- With a crew of freshmen and no stars coming back from the national championship team, a season of near-misses was predicted. There would be turnovers, poor shot selection and not much leadership, right?
Instead, it has turned into a Fabulous February for streaking North Carolina as Roy Williams has positioned himself as the leading candidate for ACC coach of the year.
"In this last little stretch of games our freshmen have grown into sophomores," said senior David Noel. "As a matter of fact, I think they came in as sophomores, that's how good they've been playing."
The No. 21 Tar Heels (19-6, 10-4) have won eight of nine after losing three of four in mid January. What's even more surprising is the margin of victory in those wins. Seven have come by double digits, including a week in which North Carolina beat arch-rival N.C. State by 24 and dusted off Maryland by the same margin on Sunday night.
So much for near misses as the Tar Heels approach the magic 20-win mark and have clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament.
"I never try to have expectations," Williams said. "I always have hopes and my hopes are high. It's a group I'm just enjoying the heck out of. They are competitive."
The key has been a group that has absorbed Williams' basketball knowledge like a sponge.
"They have accepted what I'm saying and not how I'm saying it or how ugly a face I'm making when I'm saying it to them," Williams said. "It's a fun, fun group."
This five-game winning streak gave North Carolina a 7-1 month and rocketed the Tar Heels into second place in the ACC standings with one week remaining in the regular season.
"It is a big thing for us," said Noel. "We recognize where we've come from and it has been satisfying to do the things that people never thought we could do. We're going to take this and continue to build our confidence."
UNC managed another big margin of victory despite not shooting well in the first half. That's what happens when you're on a roll - one that rivals any stretch last year's stars produced.
It was fitting the highlight of the night was produced by UNC's best players of the month - Noel and Tyler Hansbrough.
The play started out innocent enough with Noel at the top of the key before he fired a pass between the legs of Ekene Ibekwe to Hansbrough for a hoop and a foul.
"It wasn't planned," Noel said of the fancy assist. "I was just happy it got through and coach wasn't going to cuss me out."
Noel followed up his 25-point, 11-rebound effort against the Wolfpack on Wednesday with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals against the Terrapins, who were picked ahead of the Tar Heels in the ACC preseason poll but has lost to UNC by 15 and 24.
Maryland coach Gary Williams had nothing but praise for the job his counterpart has done with his team, saying the key has been the coaching of Noel and Reyshawn Terry.
"Whatever Roy has done with Terry and Noel has been tremendous in terms of how solid they have been all year," the Maryland coach said. "Sometimes it's hard for veteran players to accept when a freshman comes in like Hansbrough who gets so much attention. But it looks like the Carolina players have done a great job of including him."
And Gary Williams also noticed something else important while his team was absorbing a drubbing Sunday night at the Smith Center.
"They look like a team that believes in what they're trying to do," he said.
And now they're not the only ones believing.
David Droschak is the former sports editor for the North Carolina bureaus of the Associated Press, the largest news-gathering organization in the world. In 2003, Droschak was named the North Carolina Sportswriter of the Year. He currently works in public relations at Robbins & Associates International, based in Cary.
