University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Prank You Very Much
January 7, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Jan. 7, 2011
By Adam Lucas
Harrison Barnes stood stonefaced in a Smith Center hallway pondering the very serious question that had just been posed to him.
The question was this: Harrison, do you have any idea who completely rearranged your bedroom furniture while you were out of the room?
"I have no idea," he said (there was just a moment when because of the out-of-the-blue nature of the question, I think he considered the possibility that it might have been me). "I really don't."
By now, you probably know about the midweek sticky-noting of John Henson's automobile by an intrepid group of basketball bandits known only as Blue Steel. You might have thought the video's main result was simply the entrance of, "We're sticky-noting like Bo Diddley right here," into the popular lexicon. You might not have realized that the prank was far from an isolated incident. Instead, it was just the latest chapter in a practical joke war that has touched virtually every member of this year's Carolina team.
Prior to this week, the acknowledged best prank had come when a still-unidentified figure--and trust me, Barnes looked like he had spent plenty of time trying to unmask the perpetrator--snuck into Barnes's on-campus room and totally reshuffled the furniture. Where there was once a bed, there was now a chest of drawers. Virtually everything that wasn't bolted down had been moved.
That was a little over a week ago. Since then, the frequency of the attacks has increased. That's what happens when you put a college basketball team full of 18- to 21-year-olds on a college campus all by themselves for an entire week. Sure, Roy Williams worked his team hard this week--classes don't resume until Jan. 10--but even on Monday and Wednesday, when the Tar Heels practiced twice, that still left plenty of unscheduled hours for hijinks.
"After they got Harrison, Blue Steel [the self-given nickname bestowed on this year's six walk-ons] decided we were going to go next," said Daniel Bolick, who played a prominent role in the video of the sticky-note incident. The group had seen a similar prank on the internet but claimed to have no first-hand prior experience. Stewart Cooper showed great commitment and ingenuity by finding sticky notes on sale at the local Staples, rounding up the entire collection of 2,400 notes for "about $10." It was a terrific example of the "help a teammate" philosophy Williams constantly espouses, although probably not exactly in the same way the head coach intends.
Then, under the cover of darkness, Blue Steel went to work. The obvious question after viewing the video: did you ever think about wearing a mask or somehow concealing your identity?
Bolick was offended by the suggestion.
"No way," he said defiantly. "If we were going to get caught, we were going to get caught as Blue Steel, as a group."
But the video evidence wasn't released until after Henson discovered his car. "John was blown away and baffled," Bolick said with a grin. "He was trying to think who on the team would spend enough time to do that many sticky notes."
Henson's initial suspects were Larry Drew and Justin Watts, who had previously been the victims of a condiment attack on their vehicles. Both denied culpability. "That's when we released it to the internet," Bolick said.
None of this, of course, has any direct bearing on whether the Tar Heels will defeat Virginia Saturday at noon in what feels like an important Atlantic Coast Conference road opener. It won't help players cut down on turnovers or play stickier defense (two areas of concern Williams mentioned for his team going into ACC play). But it does contribute to that overall positive mood that seems to surround the 2011 Tar Heels at the moment.
On Friday afternoon, Tyler Zeller talked about how much he enjoyed the week with his teammates and the "very good feeling" around the locker room. Even Williams himself said, "I'm more positive, and the kids are more positive," when discussing the mood of the team. Most tellingly, the chemistry isn't just within one particular group. It seems to extend all the way up and down the roster.
Some of the players on that roster could sleep uneasily tonight when the team sets up camp at a Charlottesville hotel. Already, some members of Blue Steel have received retribution. By Friday afternoon, D.J. Johnston's car had already been hit with "a barrage of cotton balls, Saran Wrap and baby powder," prompting a mid-afternoon trip to the car wash. The lockers of Patrick Crouch and David Dupont were raided and everything--right down to the suits, dress shoes and basketball shoes they'd typically need for a road trip--was removed.
But that still leaves Bolick.
"Luckily, John said he couldn't find my car and my locker door was locked," Bolick said. "But he said he has something special for me. That's OK, though. Blue Steel is already plotting our retribution."
And with that, Bolick disappeared into the shadows of the Smith Center. But not without first casting a glance over his shoulder, just to make sure no one was back there.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
