Thirty Years Later, A Moment In HIstory Is Still A Bond

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – It took less than a second – seventh-tenths of one, actually – to execute the most famous play in UNC women's basketball history.

That sliver in time still reverberates today for the team that celebrated the title, the ones who laid the foundation, and the ones who continue to honor it.

On Sunday, the UNC women's basketball program will celebrate Alumni Day, welcoming back nearly 100 former players. This year's edition of the annual event is extra special because it's the 30^th anniversary of that victory. The 1994 players and staff will be honored at Sunday's game, taking the court between the third and fourth quarters after all of the alums are honored at halftime.

Every Tar Heel team that has followed the 1994 edition has walked in the footsteps of those champions, and on Sunday the current squad will even dress like them: the Tar Heels will take the court against Virginia at 4 p.m. in throwback uniforms that replicate the ones Carolina wore in the 1994 championship game, right down to the untucked jerseys (which required special permission to wear).

Thirty years later, the word "togetherness" still comes up often for this group of alums. Thirty years ago, the squad worked together to complete a climb from the bottom of the league to the pinnacle of the sport to win the first NCAA title in Atlantic Coast Conference history. Together, the Tar Heels executed one of the most dramatic plays in basketball history, inbounding the ball with less than a second on the clock and a two-point deficit, and sinking a three-pointer for the win. (Coach Sylvia Hatchell remembers being sure that Charlotte Smith was the right player to take the shot, while Smith remembers being so nervous she couldn't remember the play and had to ask teammate Sylvia Crawley.)

These days, the team is still together in spirit, if spread across the country. On Saturday night, reunited in Chapel Hill, the players clustered around one table at the program's Alumni Weekend dinner and crowded into the photo booth together, catching up and renewing a bond that remains strong.

After the dinner, three team members – Smith, Crawley and Carrie McKee – joined UNC head coach Courtney Banghart and Voice of the Tar Heels Matt Krause as part of a panel discussion. Asked to speak about the legacy of this team 30 years later, the panelists all had a similar theme:

Sisterhood. Legacy. Responsibility. Gratitude.

They talked about bonding through the tough times, being grateful now for all the work they put in and understanding the value of being part of something bigger than yourself.

"We learned we can do hard things," McKee said.

"It taught me it's not over until the horn goes off," Crawley said, laughing about the people, including her own father, who had left by the time Smith's shot went in.

"It taught me the importance of doing it afraid," Smith said. "People say, 'You had ice water in your veins,' I say 'No, I was scared, I was doubtful' ... in life you have to learn to do things afraid, look fear in the face and say, 'You don't own me.' It taught me to be courageous."

That courage is something the alums hope to bring to today's players, along with the lessons they gained along the way, lessons they learned together.

"UNC women's basketball is bigger than basketball," Smith said. "It's having a forever family."

On Sunday, that family will join together to celebrate an amazing moment and its enduring legacy.

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