Lucas: At Home With The Heels

By Adam Lucas

CHAPEL HILL—Watching the NCAA Tournament selection show with the 2019 Tar Heels is just as cool as you might expect.

It begins, of course, in Roy and Wanda Williams' home with a delicious variety of treats prepared by Wanda. Then the team gathers in the den—that's where the head coach keeps his much-discussed Off-White Air Jordan I's, just for the record—to watch the pairings. There is chatter about all the same topics the rest of the nation is discussing—who will get in, which team will be seeded where, what are the upset picks—except that the people involved in the discussion actually have some expertise on the topic.

Cameron Johnson has a blank bracket and a pen and fills in every team. Steve Robinson is on his iPad and alternates between checking statistics for certain teams as they are announced and trying to decipher what the teams announced early mean for Carolina's eventual destination.

Once the pod in Columbia is full, Sean May looks across the room at Eric Hoots. "Hoots," May says, "cancel the buses." The Tar Heels could have bused to Columbia, but no matter where they end up now, they'll have to fly.

But there is also some uncertainty. When the announcements shift to the South region, the words, "And the number-two seed in the South is…" cause the room to fall completely silent for one of the only times all evening. When Tennessee is put in the two spot, there is some cheering, since everyone understands what that could mean for Carolina.

They are correct. Within a few minutes, the Tar Heels are officially the number-one seed in the Midwest Region. The response from the players is immediate, joyful and loud. It seems authentic, and it's rewarding to see their happiness at a season's worth of work being rewarded. Remember that in 2004, Williams' first season back at Carolina, the head coach was irked when his Tar Heels showed no reaction whatsoever to being picked for the NCAA Tournament after a two-year absence. This year's response is much more jubilant.

Williams lets the players watch the full 16-team reveal for the Midwest. Then, when the show goes to commercial, he mutes the sound and delivers a few brief initial thoughts. He touches on the ticket situation for Sterling Manley, whose hometown is less than a half-hour from Columbus, and he imparts the little-known nugget that Iona's head coach, Tim Cluess, was Danny Green's high school coach. This is the kind of factoid that is available instantly, without any research, from a Hall of Famer who has spent a lifetime in the game.

Once all 68 teams have been announced, the Tar Heels don't stick around for the televised analysis. Robinson is already parsing Iona stats on his iPad. Williams mutes the television and talks to his team. Some of his comments are part of his standard pre-tournament speech. He reminds his players to take care of their academic responsibilities prior to NCAA-mandated travel two days before the game. He instructs them to respect every opponent and potential opponent.

With a team featuring numerous veterans, he tailors this year's pre-tournament message. "Right in front of me is a team good enough to win the national championship," he says. "I believe that in the bottom of my soul."

He also relays a story about Hubert Davis intended to remind his team of, as Williams calls it, the "swiftness and suddenness" of March. "Every summer, Coach Davis watches a tape of his last college game, and it wasn't a happy one," Williams says. "It meant that much to him. It will mean that much to you, and in 20 years you'll be watching this."

It's a poignant message for three seniors who are going to play their last college game at some point in the next month.

The team is dismissed after some brief instructions regarding Monday's practice time. "Thanks for coming, guys," Roy Williams says as his players head towards the front door. "I cooked all day getting ready for this."

Luke Maye and Johnson pause to hug Wanda Williams and thank her for the delicious spread, as does Garrison Brooks.

"It never fails," Williams says with a grin as he prepares to sit down with his coaches and begin the logistics and scouting breakdown for the week's tournament planning.

"I gave them a little hint, and the seniors immediately picked up on it. The freshmen have no clue."

The learning process for March has begun.

University of North Carolina Athletics

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