University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Be Great
October 14, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Before he has scored an official Tar Heel basket, Theo Pinson has already made a major contribution to the 2014-15 Carolina basketball team.
Unless maybe it was one of the other freshmen instead. Or perhaps Kennedy Meeks.
A little over a week into preseason practice, "Be great" has firmly taken hold as this year's team mantra. It's been hash-tagged repeatedly in tweets from a variety of players, and it's even made appearances in a handful of Late Night with Roy Williams videos in situations as diverse as exploring a haunted house or playing field hockey.
But what exactly does it mean, and who came up with it? That's not exactly clear.
"Kennedy started it," Isaiah Hicks proclaimed confidently.
"The freshmen started it," announced Desmond Hubert.
"I think it was started by Theo, along with some of the freshmen," Luke Davis said.
Pinson won't speak to the media until after his first official game, part of a longstanding Carolina tradition (although a good way to get to know the gregarious rookie is with this exclusive Q&A). Meeks, however, gives the freshman some credit.
"I think Theo started it," Meeks said. "We both kind of said it at the same time. But he originated it, so I'll give him credit for that."
Whoever was the actual Tar Heel inventor, it's gone viral-at least within the confines of the basketball locker room. There are two ways to use it: first, as a goofy sort of encouragement in virtually any situation. In the above video, teammates exhort each other to "Be great!" while clearly overmatched against the field hockey team.
"You can apply it to grocery shopping or something that makes no sense," Davis said.
But although it's found multiple applications outside the Smith Center, the phrase retains a sense of meaning to this year's players. Carolina hasn't been to a Final Four since 2009, and hasn't been to a regional final since 2012, a lengthy drought for a proud program. The past two seasons have often been about the players who weren't on the roster.
This year, with a full set of players who went through a rollercoaster 2014 that showed them both how good they could be and how quickly it all could end, plus a talented freshman class, they're setting their own expectations higher.
"When it's time to buckle down and practice, or when we're not taking something as seriously or going as hard as we should, we say, 'Be great,' with a serious face, and all of us know what that means," Meeks said.
"It means that in everything you do, you should try to be great," Hicks said. "If you're in the weight room and someone is struggling, you tell them, 'Be great! Get better!' That's something we try to do for our teammates."
Davis has one of the longest Carolina perspectives among the active roster, being one of the last bridges between the Kendall Marshall-Tyler Zeller-John Henson group of 2012 and the current group headlined by Marcus Paige.
While he acknowledges the saying is a little quirky, he's also noticed that it represents a new attitude.
"It's the first time our team has been open about winning," he said. "Sometimes, guys aren't comfortable about saying their goals. We really want to be good this year. It's the first time I've heard our team talk about it out loud. Everybody is on the same page. We want to be great."
