University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Back To His Roots
October 11, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Oct. 11, 2011
By Adam Lucas
When Dexter Strickland wanted to return to his roots, he didn't go to Rucker Park or The Cage on West 4th Street. He went to YouTube.
Strickland spent most of his sophomore season battling a nagging knee injury. His numbers, especially in conference games, were not spectacular--6.2 points per game against league foes, 37.4% shooting from the field, and just 3-for-21 from the three-point line.
But by the NCAA Tournament, when he says he was playing pain-free for the first time, his stats crept up to 10.3 points per game and 55.7% from the field. He was terrific against Kentucky in the 2011 regional final, when he scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds, had three steals, and didn't commit a turnover while playing ferocious defense.
And yet, when he evaluated his sophomore campaign, he decided he could have done more. A trip home to New Jersey--when the Tar Heels played the Wildcats in Newark last March, Strickland was greeted like a conquering hero--reminded him of the player he still believes he can be.
"I think going home helped me recognize who I am," Strickland says. "Before I came to Carolina, I was always a scorer. Once I came here, people started to see me as a defensive player. I want to be a defensive player, but I want to find myself again as a scorer.
"When I went home, I touched base with what kind of player I really am. When I was in the recruiting process, I sent highlight videos of myself to some of the coaches. I watched those, and I watched some high school YouTube videos. It gave me a sense of my game again, of how I can fit in with Carolina while still being myself."
Strickland is one of the most consistently frank Tar Heels, so it feels fair to be straightforward with him. This type of talk can set off warning bells. It sounds like it is teetering on the fringe of being individualistic, and it almost sounds like he's set to veer off a path that so far has been very successful for him at Carolina.
But the junior does not have a history of being selfish. In fact, his Tar Heel career has been exactly the opposite. He arrived in Chapel Hill after a prep career spent with the ball in his hands as a scorer. Not the type of scorer who stands on the wing and fires jump shots, but the kind who gets into the lane and creates baskets. Then, in his freshman season at Carolina, he was asked to play point guard, putting him in the unfamiliar role as facilitator. Then, as a sophomore, especially after the emergence of Kendall Marshall, he spent more time at shooting guard, a position that in college often requires standing by the three-point line and being ready to chuck a jumper.
That, Strickland says, is not him. But he also says he's capable of blending the way he wants to play with the expectations set forth by Roy Williams. He is well aware that he'll be watching his YouTube videos from the bench if he can't find the right mix.
"I have to focus on what will help our team," Strickland says. "It doesn't matter that in high school I felt the most comfortable scoring off the dribble. For our team to win, I have to be able to catch and shoot. That's one of the things I've been working on most this summer. My outside shooting and my midrange game are there. I don't think Carolina fans have seen the type of player I can become. That's why I'm so excited about this year."
He is reminded that playing outside the framework of the Carolina style of play, and especially outside the framework of this particular offensively bountiful team, can be a quick way to lose minutes.
And then, for all his talk about a different game or even a different Dexter Strickland, his plan for his junior season sounds exactly like the player everyone already knows.
"At the end of the day, Coach Williams wants someone who plays hard and gives everything he has," Strickland says. "That's what I did in high school, that's what I've done here, and that's what I'm going to do this year. I'm going to give my all. I'm going to play defense as hard as I can. And when you work hard like that, good things happen."
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 and Facebook.
