University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Ship Shape
September 15, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Sept. 15, 2011
By Adam Lucas
NEW YORK CITY--When Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes and John Henson were still in their NBA decision-making process last spring, they had a meeting with Roy Williams. He provided them with information from his professional basketball contacts, of course. They talked about their future job prospects, naturally. And the head coach also reminded them of one important detail about the 2011-12 season.
"In the last discussion I had with them before they made their decision, I reminded them we were going to play on an aircraft carrier," Williams said.
The Carolina head coach was at the New York Athletic Club on Thursday afternoon for the Carrier Classic Tip-Off Luncheon, an event hosted by ESPN's Jay Bilas--who will serve on the network's broadcast crew along with Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale--to promote the Nov. 11 season-opening game between the Tar Heels and Michigan State. Much of the 90-minute session was devoted to thank-yous and sponsor introductions, but it also was the first time the Carrier Classic seemed to move from an idea--hey, it would be cool to play on an aircraft carrier--to an actual event that is going to happen, with real logistics and real teams and players involved.
This is really how Carolina will open the much anticipated 2011-12 season, in the San Diego harbor in front of a national television audience, with thousands of servicemen and women in attendance, on Veteran's Day. It's an idea Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis first proposed back in 2004, with Jacksonville and Norfolk the two locations that were being discussed.
Various issues scuttled those plans, but Hollis wasn't willing to abandon ship. Now, seven years later, Carolina and Michigan State will play in the signature event of the first month of the college basketball season. Just like the last significant meeting, in the 2009 national championship game, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan will be in attendance. This time, they will be serving as the event's honorary captains. The trophy for the game's winner is being built by Newport News Shipbuilding, the same company that builds aircraft carriers.
On Thursday, both coaches indicated the opportunity was about more than just grabbing an early-season RPI-boosting win.
"This game is not a gimmick," Izzo said. "I tell our players that going to college is about making big memories and doing things like going to the Final Four. I'm not sure our team will ever participate in anything that will make more of a memory than this."
Williams--who was brought to the microphone with an introduction by Bilas that included the line, "I have never seen one player or one person or one coach who has outcompeted Roy Williams"--had a similar reaction.
"Tom and I have both had our teams take us to Final Fours," Williams said. "But I think this will provide more memories for me than anything I've ever been involved with."
Dozens of members of the military were on hand Thursday, with many asking Williams for a picture or an autograph. Their presence was a vivid reminder that while we've been thinking of the USS Carl Vinson as a singular venue for a college basketball game, to them it's a home and a job and a way of life.
"If we can draw our country together even a little bit and show how we can work together as one," Williams said, "that will be one of the most satisfying things I've ever been involved with."
By the time the ceremonies are over, there will be an actual basketball game played (according to event promoter Morale Entertainment Foundation, no tickets will be available to the general public; Rams Club members will be hearing more about tickets in the near future). With Hollis making many of the initial plans--the Spartans athletic director is known for innovative game locations, and once investigated the possibility of playing a game in front of Cinderella's Castle on the grounds of Walt Disney World--Michigan State was always assumed to be one of the teams involved.
"This thing was getting closer to being finalized in April," Izzo said. "I knew it was going to be us and Carolina. I was licking my chops, thinking they've got three guys leaving for the NBA. I was in my car and I had the radio on, and they said they were coming back. It took me a while to recover after I drove off the road."
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.
