Lucas: A Brief History Of Biscuits

By Adam Lucas

With an experienced, deep team returning from last year's squad that made a run to the national championship game, it's no surprise that this year's Tar Heels have already had a team member etch his name in the Carolina Basketball history books.

We're talking about Jackson Watkins, obviously.

When the Carolina guard made one of the most electric shots in Smith Center history on Tuesday night, swishing a three-pointer with ten seconds remaining to get the Heels to 100 against The Citadel, he became just the eighth player in program history to sink the biscuit basket multiple times in his career.

To give you an idea of the rarity of this event, there are also only eight players in program history who have seen their jersey retired. It's that level of exclusivity. Historians even quibble about whether the actual MultiBiscuit Club total should be seven or eight; Wayne Ellington did it twice, but one of his came in double overtime against Clemson (Ellington is also the answer to another trivia question, as he's one of only two Tar Heels to both make a biscuit shot and have an honored jersey--the other is Joel Berry II). True biscuit purists prefer for the shot to take place in regulation, as it has done in 43 of the biscuit games.

The MultiBiscuit Club is an honorable group with specific parameters. The shot had to take place at the Smith Center, of course. That's the only venue where the Bojangle's biscuit deal (two sausage biscuits for $1, although many fans still believe it's free biscuits, as it was when the promotion began) is active. Road games and neutral sites don't count. Neither do exhibition games or postseason games. The biscuit deal is generally believed to have begun during Roy Williams' first season, the 2003-04 campaign, so only shots since that date are eligible.

And, as with any legendary feat, there's a bit of intrigue. Documented play-by-play accounts aren't available for many games in the first two seasons of biscuit history. Even after extensive archival research, there are six biscuit games in history for which the biscuit bringer is unknown.

Want to earn a permanent place in Tar Heel lore? Figure out who helped the Heels cross 100 points against George Mason and Coastal Carolina in 2003; Georgia Tech, Loyola (Chi.) and Cleveland State in 2004; and William and Mary in 2005.

According to the available records, there are currently 29 different Tar Heels who have made a biscuit shot. and no one has ever made more than two. Yes, that includes Dewey Burke, someone for whom biscuits became such a way of life that the delicious treat permanently attached itself to his nickname.

That is likely because Burke made what until now had been perhaps the most unlikely biscuit shot in history. On Jan. 3, 2007, the guard made two three-pointers in the final 48 seconds, propelling the Tar Heels to a 102-64 win over Penn. His final trifecta, with nine seconds remaining, is the most buzzer-beating biscuit basket of all time.

Choosing between biscuit games is like selecting a favorite child. But close observers believe there are only true choices of the most dramatic game in history. The first was Burke's performance against Penn. And the other, of course, was Watkins on Tuesday night.

The shot against the Bulldogs capped the most unlikely biscuit mark in history. The Tar Heels had just 87 points with 2:20 left (in contrast, the Heels had 92 with 2:20 left against Penn in 2007). But as with any great historical achievement, there is always an unsung hero who sets the stage for others to receive the glory.

In this case, it was Tyler Nickel. The Carolina freshman scored eight points in 50 seconds to get the Tar Heels close enough for the crowd to start murmuring, "We want biscuits." Then Creighton Lebo knocked down a jumper to push the total to 97. And then, well, just let Watkins tell it:

"'We're going to have a shot at 100,' popped into my head as soon as Beau got the rebound off their quick shot," Watkins says in a tale that is likely headed straight to the Smithsonian for preservation. "As I caught the ball in the backcourt, I didn't even consider dribbling the clock out. Wrong or right, there was business to be done. I knew Creighton or I would get the shot as I took it up the right side. I pitched it ahead thinking he might get a quick one, but it was slightly behind him, so it got fired back to me. At that point I knew it was going up. I've taken a lot of threes in my life, most catch and shoot or dribbling towards the hoop. But very rarely do I dribble away and shoot a deep fading three…I understand that I'm not Kobe.

"But I am the Biscuit King. I knew it was nothing but net the moment it left my hand, very similar to the way I knew I would brick my first free throw in the last biscuit game. I saw it swish and heard the building explode and let out a roar of my own, too. I hadn't had that release of emotion in a while—it was excitement, joy, intensity, passion, and just a pinch of surprise balled into one scream. The chest bumps with Duwe, Leaky and RJ were ones of love."

And of history. In the aftermath of his biscuit buzzer-beater, Watkins was featured on SportsCenter and received messages from a veritable who's who of college basketball. His shot, with ten seconds left, came just one second earlier than Burke's nine-second three-pointer.

But like all the biscuit makers before him, Watkins knows exactly what the true significance of the shot should be.

"The most memorable thing was getting to share it with my teammates," he says. "Out on the floor and on the bench, it was clear we were all having fun together. That's what this whole experience is about."

Players Mentioned

Creighton Lebo

Tyler Nickel

Jackson Watkins

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