University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 3 UNC Turns To DeGraffenreid To Replace Latta
January 29, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - There aren't any spinoffs of "The Ivory Latta Show'' in the works at North Carolina. For freshman Cetera DeGraffenreid, the Tar Heels' newest point guard, that's just not her style.
"'The Ivory Latta Show,' it was great, but I'm not really going out there trying to put on a show,'' DeGraffenreid said Wednesday. "I'm just trying to play basketball and have fun. I guess that's my show.''
Everyone wondered how the Tar Heels would replace one of the most popular players in women's basketball after she set the school's scoring record, led North Carolina to two Final Fours and invigorated the program with her feisty Latta-tude.
But ultimately, coach Sylvia Hatchell didn't have to look far, turning to last year's state high school player of the year and a McDonald's All-American to help keep her program among the nation's elite.
Midway through a rough stretch that includes a loss at top-ranked Connecticut and games against No. 4 Maryland and No. 10 Duke, the third-ranked Tar Heels (17-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) have been beaten only by teams ranked No. 1 at the time on their home courts.
"It's tough for a freshman to come in and lead a team that's in the top five in the country,'' Hatchell said. "That's asking a lot, but she's tough.''
DeGraffenreid didn't have much time to adjust from playing at a rural high school in western North Carolina to matching up with perennial powers Connecticut and Tennessee while also orchestrating the highest-scoring and perhaps fastest-paced offense in the country.
That challenge, it turns out, is what drew her to Chapel Hill.
"You watch it on television, you see the (way) they play - that's why I came here,'' DeGraffenreid said. "It's a winning tradition. You've just got to keep the winning tradition up, and do everything you can to help the team - not necessarily come in and try to take anybody's role or be better than somebody else.''
There are plenty of differences between the two point guards, from their personalities to their on-the-court styles.
The ebullient Latta always was a serious threat to score from anywhere on the court, breaking Tracy Reid's 9-year-old school scoring record with 2,285 points before she was drafted 11th overall by the WNBA's Detroit Shock.
The softer-spoken DeGraffenreid has the ability to pile up the points, too - she averages 11.5 points, has led the team in scoring in four games and had a season-high 20 last week against Boston College. But she considers herself more of a distributor and a defender who's tied for sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in steals.
"When I was younger, I really didn't play defense - defense is one of the things that has actually improved since I got here,'' DeGraffenreid said. "Driving, it just comes naturally - when I see it, I just go. I'm looking to dish off, really, but if I can take it all the way then I'll take it.''
DeGraffenreid originally wasn't supposed to start her career at this pace; Hatchell's plan was for her and fellow freshman Italee Lucas to learn the position from senior Alex Miller.
But when Miller tore ligaments in her left knee in the season's fourth game, the freshmen were placed on the fast track and DeGraffenreid has established herself in the starting lineup.
"We knew she was going to play, but not as much as she's had to,'' Hatchell said. The freshmen "were thrown into the fire from the beginning.''
