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Good years to be at Carolina

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Staff

For all of us who observe, reflect and comment upon sports, the shifting of seasons in those sports – from off-season to pre-season, from regular season to post-season, or just from no-season to football season – always provides fertile ground for new perspectives and stories.

In a remembrance this week on the WRAL.com website, UNC senior Sam Rosenthal reflected on the past four seasons of Carolina hoops, side-by-side with his four years as a student in Chapel Hill (wralsportsfan.com/unc/story/4755491).

From the surprising success the Tar Heels enjoyed when Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, et al. were upstart rookies in 2005-06 to the genesis of the experienced juggernaut that finished 36-3 for the 2007-08 season and that is enjoying similar success in the current campaign, Rosenthal’s article chronicles four years of college on his own terms and those of his classmates, while recognizing the kaleidoscopic stamp that Carolina basketball has also left on each of those years.

My own four years in college, 1981-84, although not spent at UNC, seem equally as memorable when considered in connection with the seasons of Tar Heel basketball they paralleled.

My freshman year – which coincided with Sam Perkins and Matt Doherty’s rookie season – saw Carolina struggle only a bit during January (like the Grinch, stuck in that chimney) before gelling toward the end of the season and ultimately going far, even by Carolina standards. Led by the magnificent senior Al Wood, the 1980-81 Tar Heels captured the ACC Tournament title and reached the NCAA Finals before being derailed a game short of their ultimate goal by Isiah Thomas and Indiana.

With Perkins and James Worthy and his classmate Mike Pepper providing powerful scoring punch, Wood had concentrated his senior season on rebounding and being a leader. But when push came to shove in the NCAA semifinals, Al gave one of the memorable shooting performances in college basketball history, dropping in 39 points to almost single-handedly down a great Virginia team led by the towering Ralph Sampson.

Two nights later, I was in attendance at the NCAA finals, which were being held that year in my college town of Philadelphia, with Haverford buddy and fellow transplanted Tar Heel Ed Cone. That game was given a surreal funk by the assassination attempt on President Reagan just hours earlier. And more funk came as Carolina misplaced its offensive compass after halftime, ultimately taking it on the chin, 63-50, against an Indiana team that seemed to come from nowhere to grab the title.

Carolina’s finish the next season, 1981-82, afforded a tonic for all that had gone wrong in Coach Dean Smith’s six prior visits to the Final Four. After a season-opening win against Kansas, in a game that
had not been televised, I talked to my friend Curt Dansby, trying to get a feel for what kind of a player the new freshman, Mike Jordan, was.

“Does he play inside?” I asked, and Curt said, “Yeah.” “Or is he a shooter?” I asked, and again Curt said, “Yeah.”

Somewhere in a closet I still own a “He Threw The Ball To James Worthy” t-shirt.
The following season – my junior year – was a weird, transitional one for college basketball, with an experimental, close three-point line and shot clock that had not been used before. The Tar Heels had difficulty finding the right combination at the point to replace departed senior Jimmy Black.

Carolina began that 1982-83 season 3-3, then rose to No. 1 at mid-season with 18 straight wins, then proceeded to lose three straight. The Tar Heels never quite found their leader and eventually went down at the hands of Georgia in the Final Eight, 82-77.

Finally, in my senior year of 1983-84, UNC had what has been called the most talent ever to be assembled on one college basketball team. Freshmen Kenny Smith and Joe Wolf joined a roster that already included Perkins, Jordan and Matt Doherty, along with sophs Brad Daugherty and Steve Hale. These Tar Heels went undefeated in the ACC and lost only one regular-season game, against Arkansas, when the talented Smith suffered a wrist injury while being fouled on a breakaway.
Smith’s injury – or rather, his return several weeks later from the injury – proved to be a disruptive force that tipped the season in an ultimately gone-south direction. Still ranked No 1, as it was all season, Carolina dropped a close decision against Duke in the ACC Tournament semis, then lost to Indiana – again – in the second round of the NCAA Tourney.

I still remember where I was standing when I was told, shortly before my graduation, that Jordan had decided to skip his senior season and leave UNC for the NBA.

Ah, but every college student should be so lucky.

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