March 5, 2008

By Adam Lucas

Looking back, it almost seems comical.

Think back. On Nov. 19, 2004, no one knew if Quentin Thomas could handle adversity. He was a freshman, and thanks to the absence of Raymond Felton, he was going to start his very first game. By the way, the game was in Oakland. Yes, Thomas had committed to play his college basketball in a spot 3,000 miles from home, and his first game would be...back home.

That night, he took the floor in front of family and friends and looked overwhelmed. He scored just two points, turned the ball over three times, and by the second half had relinquished his point guard role to Melvin Scott.

It was a challenging way to start a college career. And would you really expect Thomas's career to begin any other way?

We have come a long way from that night in Oakland, when his mother sat courtside with a white shirt with a blue number-11 on the back. How far have we come? Well, do you remember when Thomas's haircut was actually a point of discussion?

I do. And I know it was, because throughout his freshman year the email inbox would receive three or four questions per week about his hair.

Dear Mailbag: Do you think Quentin Thomas should be allowed to wear corn rows? Would Coach Smith allow that?

Answer, with four years of hindsight: Can anyone in Tar Heel nation imagine Thomas without corn rows? And let's be honest. A lot of the folks who were doing the questioning were just jealous they didn't have enough hair to pull off that look themselves.

Thomas's parents, John and Loretta Thomas, heard the questions about their son's hair and his ball-handling and his leadership skills. What's worse, they had to hear those questions from 3,000 miles away. Imagine your son going through troubling times and not being able to wrap your arms around him anytime you want.

It wasn't long, though, before they started hearing something else. It was audible on their television in Oakland, and at first it sounded like a "Booo." But it wasn't. It was a "Cuuuuuuueeee."

"I couldn't believe it," John Thomas said. "He would get off the bench and walk in and they would all say his name. At first, I said, `They must do that for everybody.' I couldn't figure out what was going on."

What was going on was that the home crowd was adopting the Oakland native who was an entire country away from home.

Make a free throw?

"Cuuuuuuueeee."

Cross over a defenseless defender at midcourt?

"Cuuuuuuueeee."

See him on Franklin Street?

Hey, why not? "Cuuuuuuueeee."

But it has never been louder than it was minutes before tipoff against Florida State. The students in the risers had signs emblazoned with one simple letter: Q.

When Thomas was introduced during pregame ceremonies and went to greet his parents, he wrapped his arms around his mother and said, "Mom, don't cry."

"He knew if I cried, he would cry," Loretta Thomas said. "So when he told me not to cry, I knew I couldn't cry."

Well, now we know they're definitely related. That sounds just like something Quentin Thomas would say.

Senior night always begins with those hugs and kisses and tears being held back. It does not, however, always begin with Surry Wood scoring a quick career-high four points, two on a righthanded layup and two on a lefthanded layup.

"Surry, were those plays designed for you?" one reporter asked Wood after the game.

This is a question that had never before been asked in the Carolina locker room.

"Uh, no," Wood said.

Wood had to play through a four full minutes; "I was sucking wind," he admitted. He chose not to flash a tired sign at the Tar Heel bench, although it would have been one of the most memorable moments of the season. After all, you know the rule. It goes back to Dean Smith and it is immutable. Give the coaches the tired sign, and you're on the bench until you're ready to go back into the game. When you're ready, you check back in.

Had Wood given the tired sign, he could've simply inserted himself back in a few minutes later. Imagine the look on Roy Williams's face.

Wood was trying to drop a class earlier on Tuesday when a member of the economics department told him, "Good luck tonight. I'll be cheering for you and Q."

"That was the first time that senior night hit me," Wood said. "I could be anybody, and I usually am anybody. But it was cool for them to specifically say they would be rooting the seniors on tonight."

That's true, of course. No matter what else happens--and plenty has happened, as you could tell from the way the live microphone picked up Wood telling his coaches, "I'm not telling that story," as he prepared to address the crowd--this is their night. We call it senior appreciation, but it's never quite clear if it's meant for us to appreciate the seniors or the seniors to appreciate Carolina Basketball.

Usually, you get a little of both.

Factor in the 90-77 win over Florida State and Thomas has now been a part of 115 victories since that night in Oakland. With three more wins, he'll set the all-time Tar Heel record.

"I'm still pinching myself that this kid got to come to Carolina to play, went through the adversity he went through, and still came out a winner," said John Thomas. "He will cherish this. I have always told him that character will take him a long way, even more so than basketball."

While Mr. Thomas was in the Tar Heel locker room with video camera rolling--"I'm going to watch this over and over," he said--Mrs. Thomas sat outside the hallway on a chair, patiently awaiting her son. The evening's second hug--and maybe those tears--were yet to come.

Two questions for her, before senior night is over. First: what has Carolina Basketball meant to Quentin Thomas?

"It has caused him to mature," she said. "It's been more than even he could describe right now, but it will be beneficial for him for the rest of his life."

And what has Quentin Thomas meant to Carolina Basketball?

"That's hard to say." (Again, there is no question they are related. Here is a Thomas refusing to brag. That sounds familiar.) "All I know is that my son gave it all he could. He gave Carolina Basketball commitment. He always wanted to get better. I hope that was accepted."

Accepted? Maybe.

Respected? Definitely.

Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.