Lucas: The Charlotte Tournament

By Adam Lucas

Even since the last time Carolina went to the NCAA Tournament, just two short years ago, the college basketball world has changed.

Name, image and likeness was still a relatively new phrase in 2022. Now it's a way of life. Still, it was a little jarring in the minutes immediately after the brackets were revealed on Sunday night to watch CBS go to commercials for their advertisers…and one of the first faces on the screen was Tar Heel point guard Elliot Cadeau in a Marriott ad.

That appearance drew a big cheer from his Carolina teammates, who gathered at the Smith Center—another departure from 2022, when the event was held at Hubert Davis' home—to watch the announcement of their No. 1 seed in the West Region, with play opening on Thursday in Charlotte at 2:45 p.m. against the winner of the Wagner-Howard game in the First Four.

This year's event had a slightly more casual feel than past years. It feels more comfortable to be, at worst, a two seed, than sweating out every pairing wondering if that might be the Tar Heels. And once Iowa State went up on the board as the two seed in the first region revealed, with cheers throughout the room, everyone in attendance felt fairly confident Carolina would pop up as the fourth number one.

The only slight drama came when the Bowles room televisions temporarily went on the fritz. Not to worry, though—Eric Hoots immediately resolved the problem and only one team announcement was missed.

That left two 16-team regions for attendees to speculate about possible matchups and the fate of the various Atlantic Coast Conference teams awaiting selections. And by the time only the West was left, many of the Tar Heels had already worked out the likely scenario of second seed Arizona, third seed Baylor and fourth seed Alabama.

The 8-9 matchup, though, came as a bit of a surprise, especially to Paxson Wojcik, whose father, Doug, is on the Spartans coaching staff and has traveled across the country to attend several Tar Heel games this year. The younger Wojcik has waited his entire basketball career to play in the NCAA Tournament…and now faces the potential of his father on the opposing bench if both teams are able to advance. It was no coincidence that Leslie Davis' first action upon seeing that portion of the bracket was to walk over and give Wojcik a hug.

But even with all the changes, even with all that's new in college basketball, it was refreshing that when Hubert Davis gathered his team downstairs to outline the plan for the upcoming week, he delivered a very familiar message.

"I learned it from Coach Smith and Coach Guthridge and Coach Williams," he said. "We want to focus on being invited to the Charlotte Tournament. Let's try to win two games there. If we win two games there, we'll be invited to the Los Angeles Tournament. If we win two games there, we'll be invited to the Phoenix Tournament."

There will be plenty of chatter in days to come about possible matchups or potential reunions. None of that talk will come from Chapel Hill, where Davis wants to maintain the same approach they've had throughout the year—the one that was focused enough to earn them that number-one seed.

"We always talk about what is real," Davis said. "So instead of looking at 68 teams or having to win six games to win a championship, what is real is that we're playing in Charlotte against either Wagner or Howard. Let's focus on that and take care of that."

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