University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Terry Continues Evolution
September 21, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 21, 2006
TarHeelBlue.com will have a new player profile each Thursday leading up to the season opener on Nov. 14 (next week's subject is Wes Miller). We'll also have the return of the popular Basketball Mailbag on Nov. 7. For even more basketball coverage that you won't read anywhere else, order your full-color, all-glossy Tar Heel Monthly basketball preview issue now.
By Adam Lucas
With less than eight months left in his college experience, it's finally time to write a new storyline for Reyshawn Terry.
Prior to this season, the preseason word on Terry was always the same: great athleticism, raw talent, needs to put it together and become a complete basketball player. Those were the heady days when Rashad McCants would proclaim that Terry was "more athletic than Lebron James" and everyone would shake their heads in disbelief.
Really? Reyshawn Terry? The same player who didn't start a game his first two seasons and scored in double figures just three times in his first 57 career appearances?
No one's doubting McCants now. Not after watching Terry finish his junior campaign as Carolina's second-leading scorer (14.3 ppg) and third-leading rebounder (6.2 rpg). The Winston-Salem native also turned in three of the most memorably athletic plays of the 2005-06 season--a drive and one-hand slam over NC State's Andrew Brackman, a double-pump reverse layup against Virginia in the ACC Tournament, and another high-flying dunk against Murray State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
He's always had those physical abilities. But now, as a senior, he wants to add some intangibles.
"I'm a year older and a year better," Terry says. "I have a more prominent role now, so I have to be a leader. It will be interesting to see how this year's team works. And I have to be a leader for them. I've been trying to do the small things during pickup games, to show them what we expect. I want to teach it to them like it was taught to me my freshman year."
Of course, Terry might have a slightly different teaching style than some of his predecessors. Usually shy with anyone other than his teammates or close friends, he speaks much more freely in pickup games--whether his opponent is a timid freshman or a seasoned NBA veteran.
But if he carries over that confidence from pickup to real competition, he'll be an important offensive asset for the 2006-07 squad. How important was his offense to last year's team? He was usually the primary wing scoring option charged with taking defensive attention away from Tyler Hansbrough. When he was scoring, the Tar Heels were very effective. When he wasn't, well, check out the stats: he averaged 15.4 points per game in Carolina victories and 11.0 points per game in Carolina losses. That 4.4-point differential is almost triple the number of any other player on the roster.
It's no surprise, then, to look up Terry's statistics in Carolina's two NCAA games last season, when the Tar Heel offense bogged down: he shot 5-for-20.
As a junior, Terry occasionally showed visible signs of frustration when faced with adversity like the struggles in Dayton. So Roy Williams's summer sendoff for his rising senior had less to do with shooting mechanics or ball-handling (previous summer areas of emphasis) and more to do with maturity.
"He asked me to focus on my mentality," Terry says. "I can't let the small things, like a call by an official, bother me."
Williams has a dramatically different roster to work with this year, including three new post players--Brandan Wright, Deon Thompson, and Alex Stepheson--who can share the burden in the paint with Hansbrough. That means Terry, who at a deceptive 6-foot-8 is the third-tallest player on the team, is free to stay on the wing and create mismatches with his length and athleticism.
"In our system, the 3-man is pretty much always on the perimeter and the 4-man spends a lot of time in the post," Terry says. "I like to play the three, and I feel more comfortable there. Our depth this year means we have a lot more versatility, so I can get the 3-spot down pat to the best of my abilities."
Adam Lucas's third book on Carolina basketball, The Best Game Ever, chronicles the 1957 national championship season and is available now. His previous books include Going Home Again, focusing on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.
