University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: The Carolina Family
November 26, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
The Carolina Family is something that might sound a bit hokey to outsiders, but it's real. It's something that Edgar Farmer Jr., head coach of the Wofford Terriers, and his assistant and former Tar Heel Ed Geth know about. Farmer was the video coordinator for the 1994 NCAA championship team and also played junior varsity for former Tar Heel assistant Randy Wiel.
That Carolina Family is thought of as something that players can rely on after college is done. But it starts while players are at Carolina. Sylvia Hatchell has built a program that does not rebuild - it reloads. After losing two standout post players, Carolina went into then-No. 2 Oklahoma's gym on Sunday and beat a team with two of the best post players in the country, Courtney and Ashley Paris.
Iman McFarland, who started against Oklahoma and remained in the lineup against Wofford, is the epitome of the Carolina Family. She has sacrificed personal glory to contribute to the team and is now being asked to groom the next generation. The willowy 6-3 senior is not flashy. For McFarland, her 12 points and nine rebounds is a gaudy stat line. But when she is employing her array of post moves and soft jump shots, it shows how skilled of a player that she really is.
She'll never swat shots away one after another like LaToya Pringle or dominate the paint like Erlana Larkins. She has never been one of the first, second or even third players mentioned when people talk about this team. But she was someone who Farmer mentioned without being asked.
"You can see how she impacts the game, not just in stats, but she makes a lot of hustle plays, a lot of glue-type plays to me," Farmer said. "If you're watching the game, you see she's really making an impact. She makes the game easier for other people."
Now, she is making things easier for the 6-5 freshman Chay Shegog. Just as going up against Larkins likely helped her hone a nifty up-and-under move she used and Pringle helped her learn a fade-away, she and Jessica Breland are helping shape Shegog, who had her first double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
What you don't see McFarland do is almost as important as what you do see - she doesn't make mistakes. What she does, however, is get her hand in the passing lane to knock a ball away. She can get great box-out positioning on a girl nearly double her size. She is great at using a head fake to get a defender to foul her. She or Heather Claytor might lead the team in floorburns.
"Iman is an intelligent player," Hatchell said. "She can be a stabilizer for us. She knows that she's got to box out and do certain things. I think she knows what her limitations are, what she can and can't do. She's played with Erlana and LaToya and them for three years. So she's played against some really tough players. She's gotten a little bit of experience backing them up. So the stability that she can give us is important."
She's the type of player that Farmer can appreciate. Clearly, his Wofford team was out-manned in this game. But his goal goes beyond winning and losing. He wanted his personal best from each of his players. He wanted to see those same types of hustle plays and effort that he sees in McFarland, and he felt he got that. The Terriers got back on defense, took smart shots, moved the ball well and were fundamentally sound.
Listening to Farmer talk would make even the most jaded person want to get out on the court and do defensive slides or run wind-sprints. It's part of the reason some coaches on the recruiting trail call him `The Preacher Man.' But there's also another reason.
"I don't care where it is, how hot it is, what gym you're in - all the coaches throughout the country know Edgar as the coach with the suit," Hatchell said. "That's his identity. Some of them call him `Preacher Man' because he always looks like a preacher because he's always dressed up. But he always looks first class and professional, and that's what he is. No matter what the situation is, Edgar is first-class in everything he does. He's a great reflection on Carolina and our program."
Farmer and the Terriers have faced Carolina each of the last five seasons, but this was the first time that the game had not been in Carmichael Auditorium. But he had his own history in the Smith Center. He was struck by entering the media room, which used to be the weight room, and said he could practically hear Coach Wiel's voice.
But what really touched Farmer was that many of his former junior varsity teammates and their families were there to support him. When the Tar Heel PA announcer called Farmer's name and reminded the crowd of his history with Carolina, nearly everyone stood and applauded loudly. Farmer was noticeably moved by the warm reception.
"That makes you feel special when a place that you called home for a long period of time welcomes you back. I thought the crowd reception was very humbling. It made me feel special to be a part of the North Carolina family," Farmer said. "This place will always hold a special spot in my heart for as long as I walk this Earth. So when they say that the sky is Carolina blue because God made it that way, I'm starting to believe it because part of me has Carolina blue blood running through my veins."
