University of North Carolina Athletics
Pickeral: New Face On The Bench
January 10, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers
by Robbi Pickeral, GoHeels.com
CHAPEL HILL -- When North Carolina sophomore Joel James played in his first game Wednesday night in more than two weeks, many fans were eyeing how quickly the big man might grab a rebound, score a bucket or make a big play.
Doug Halverson, though, was more focused on the nuances of wide-bodied athlete's return from an MCL sprain: Was he favoring one leg? Limping? Playing more tentatively because of his newly-healed injury?
"I'm always watching to see how guys are moving ... looking for injuries I may have to react to, blood, anything that might take them off the court and put us in a situation where we might not be successful,'' he said. "Sometimes, I do miss some of the basketball things that, as a fan, I was very aware of: how many times has so-and-so missed a shot? Turnovers? Free throws? But it's my job to be looking for other things."
Halverson, who earned both his undergraduate and master's degrees at UNC, is the new head athletic trainer for men's basketball and the JV teams. The 33-year-old spent his previous eight years working at UNC a staff athletic trainer for football (2007-2013), women's lacrosse (2005-2013), field hockey (2005-2007), and men's and women's golf (2006-2007).
And like his predecessors, he is easily distinguishable on UNC's bench by a certain piece of attire.
"It started with Marc Davis and it continued with Chris [Hirth]. And there was a lot of rhetoric from our athletic training alumni: 'Are you going to wear the sweater vest? Are you not going to wear the sweater vest?''' Halverson said, smiling. "There would have been some harsh words, or some uproar, if I would have deviated from the tradition."
His sweater vest collection, thanks to the holidays, has grown to a rotation of 8 to 10. With a nod to his new gig, many feature at least a stripe of Carolina blue, a color he wears with pride.
Halverson grew up in Winston-Salem, and although he was naturally a Demon Deacons fan (his parents were Wake Forest grads), he always had an appreciation for Carolina, he said, because his grandfather was an All-America swimmer here. That appreciation only grew as he studied at UNC, working with Tar Heels' women's soccer, volleyball, and track and field teams as a student athletic trainer during his undergrad years, then with the men's and women's tennis programs during his grad school years.
When he left for a job at Georgia State in 2004, his goal always was to come back.
A year later, he was.
He never knew if he'd have a chance to work with men's basketball, but it was a goal. Now it's a highlight—with a different sort of spotlight.
"Football, you sort of feel like you get lost in the crowd, like a little dot to a lot of fans who can't really make you out,'' he said. "In basketball, a lot of those fans are 10 feet from you. So it does feel a little bit more personal, and there was a little bit more nervous energy the first time being on the bench. And obviously the pedigree of basketball is very well-known, so to be a part of this group is exciting."
And busy. Halverson's job includes a myriad of responsibilities, from advising the coaching staff on how to keep guys healthy to working with the professionals around him when players are not. His top goal is to try to prevent injuries before they occur—then evaluate, treat and refer when they do.
There's always a feeling of accomplishment, he said, when a previously-injured player, like James on Wednesday night, successfully returns to the court.
"There's absolutely a sense of pride, of excitement, that you were able to do your part - that you were able to help that athlete have the chance to go out there and succeed,'' Halverson said. "It's their job to put in the work ... but my job is about their success, helping them succeed on the court of field of play. I had that feeling with football many a time, watching people make it back from significant injury. So you definitely have that sense of pride, knowing how many hours you put into it - how many hours the player put into it. It really is a team effort."
James, by the way, had four points, five rebounds and played eight minutes in his first game back.
