University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Suit And Tie
March 10, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
By Adam Lucas
WASHINGTON D.C.—Kenny Williams did much more than just make a shot.
We're going to remember Carolina's 88-71 win over Pittsburgh in Thursday's ACC Tournament quarterfinals as the Kenny Williams Game, the one when he finally drained a three-pointer after missing the first dozen of his freshman season.
But here's the thing: Williams did much more than just make a shot. The Virginia native entered the game midway through the second half in what was then a two-point game. The game had a weird flow up until that point; there had been a long stretch of action with no breaks, the Tar Heels looked a little tired, and the rotation got a little jumbled.
That's how Williams, who hadn't logged a full minute in Carolina's last four games and didn't see action in Thursday's first half, found himself playing in the event he grew up watching on television. A lifelong Carolina fan, Williams would come home from school and turn on the television, watching every possession from Greensboro (that's the city where they actually know the ACC Tournament is taking place) and imagining that one day he might be wearing that argyle jersey.
“To be able to play in this,” Williams said on Thursday afternoon, “is a big deal for me.”
So that's the frame of mind he was in when he entered a two-point game. His defensive assignment: guard Pitt junior Jamel Artis, who had already had a double-figure scoring day.
Artis, showing some veteran savvy, immediately went right at the freshman. But Williams stoned him, forcing a missed field goal.
“The defense warmed me up,” Williams said. “My high school coach always told us if you take care of the defensive end, the offensive end will take care of you.”
But first, Williams had to take care of his teammates. The Tar Heels had some good ball movement against the Panthers defense, and Williams had a reasonable look at a three-pointer near the top of the key. In another year, perhaps, he takes that shot. This time, though, he made the extra pass, finding the red-hot Joel Berry II for an even more open three-pointer, which Berry promptly drained for a seven-point Carolina advantage.
And then, after another 90 seconds of good defense, Williams challenged an errant Pitt shot and then went sprinting down the court in transition like he knew where he was going. And maybe he did. Williams found a spot on the right wing and waited for Nate Britt to deliver a perfect in-rhythm pass.
You could tell much more about Williams from the reaction to what happened next than by watching what actually happened next. What happened was that he swished his first career three-pointer.
What happened around him, though, was that his teammates and coaches went absolutely bananas. Brad Frederick rocketed off the UNC bench pumping his first. C.B. McGrath was perhaps as animated as he has been all year. Joel James, who makes a habit of swinging Williams around like a doll on the bench when the Tar Heels make a big play, roared.
“It was really wide open,” Williams said.
Maybe so. But he still had to make it.
Pitt, perhaps unnerved by the riot around them, called timeout, which allowed Theo Pinson to sprint onto the court and greet Williams.
“It's unexplainable,” Williams said of that exact moment. “It was great.”
Coming out of the timeout, Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks were still slapping at the rookie, who stayed in the game, since it's tough to substitute a guy off a cloud.
“In practice, he makes literally all of his shots,” Meeks said. “To play a freshman in a big-time game like that shows the respect we have for him and that Coach has for him. He responded by knocking down the shot.”
But Williams' contributions weren't done. The Tar Heels are staying just down the street from the Verizon Center, but were still going to bus back to the team hotel. Roy Williams came into the Tar Heel locker room and needed someone to make a call about what the squad would be wearing on the bus. Usually, that's the responsibility of a senior. This time, though, Williams went straight to his freshman.
“Kenny,” the head coach said, “suit and tie or warmups?”
The rookie, of course, initially responded the way any reasonable person would: “Warmups, Coach.”
But then Pinson, from the adjacent locker, remembered he'd left his warmups at the hotel. No worries, Theo. Kenny's got this. He'd already played good defense, forced a turnover, handed out an assist, and—oh yeah—made a shot. Might as well lean on him for one more good decision.
“Coach! Coach!” Williams said. “Let's go suit and tie!”
