May 5, 2005

by Rick Brewer, Sports Information Director Emeritus

Carolina will play basketball next season.

There apparently is some thought that will not be the case. A few people seem to be wondering if there is even a need to do so.

These doubts have surfaced following the announcements that Raymond Felton, Sean May, Rashad McCants and Marvin Williams will make themselves available for the NBA draft. With Jackie Manuel, Jawad Williams and Melvin Scott graduating, Carolina will be left with its most inexperienced team in history.

There has been some criticism of the four underclassmen leaving school early. Instead of being the favorite to repeat as national champions, the Tar Heels now face a major rebuilding task.

But, there's nothing wrong with the players' decisions. In some ways those choices were made for them because of their performances during Carolina's championship run.

Dean Smith had the best philosophy about players giving up their eligibility early to enter the NBA draft. He pointed out if any other student had the opportunity to leave school early for a million-dollar job he would certainly take it.

And these players aren't giving up their education, just their eligibility. They will have the opportunity to finish their degrees during summer school in the upcoming years. Players like James Worthy, Michael Jordan, J.R. Reid, Jerry Stackhouse, Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison did just that. Stackhouse took the time to finish two years of classes for his degree.

Baseball players regularly leave school if they are drafted following their junior seasons. Some golfers and tennis players also become professionals before graduating. It's only athletes in the more high-profile sports of football and basketball that get so much public attention.

May seemed intent on returning next year until the days following the Final Four. That's when Coach Roy Williams began to talk with NBA general managers and scouting directors. The consensus seemed to be that May's stock had soared during the latter part of the season and he would be a lottery pick in the draft. The same was true for Felton and Marvin Williams.

May was a first-team selection on a couple of All-America teams. If balloting had been done after the NCAA Tournament he would have probably been the National Player of the Year. He certainly would have been the pre-season choice for that honor next fall.

He was outstanding down the stretch last season. Starting with an 85-83 win at Maryland on February 27, he dominated the final 11 games. May averaged 22.2 points and 11.6 rebounds in that period, while shooting 62.3 percent from the floor. He turned in one of the greatest performances against Duke in the history of that rivalry with 26 points and 24 rebounds. He made 10 of 11 field goal attempts, grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 26 points in the national championship game against Illinois.

Felton won the Bob Cousy Award as the best point guard in college basketball. His quickness and ball handling were two of the biggest reasons the Tar Heels led the nation in scoring.

He averaged 15.4 points and seven assists during the last 13 games of the season. He finished off the year with 33 points and 14 assists at the Final Four. He made the biggest plays in the closing moments of the title game with a key steal and a big defensive rebound when Illinois was shooting to tie the score. He then added the clutch free throws to seal the win.

McCants had the ability to score from anywhere on the floor. Teams couldn't afford to sag back on May too much because McCants was such a threat.

He was hampered late in the season with a stomach virus and missed four games. But, he was almost full strength during the NCAA Tournament, averaging 17.0 points in that six-game stretch.

Marvin Williams was a star off the bench and probably would have started for any other team in the country.

Jawad Williams may have been the team's most consistent player in the first half of the season until being slowed by a foot injury. Manuel was Carolina's best defender and Scott saw reserve action behind Felton, Manuel and McCants

A check of the records has been unable to find any national championship team that lost all five of its starters. One of the closest to doing that was Indiana's unbeaten 1976 title team that had four seniors, including Scott May. Only junior center Kent Benson returned in 1977. In fact, it's hard to imagine any team losing its entire starting lineup, plus two of its top three reserves.

Perhaps the biggest previous season of personnel losses at Carolina came from the 1972 Final Four team. Three starters were lost to graduation--forward Dennis Wuycik, forward Bill Chamberlain and guard Steve Previs. Junior center Robert McAdoo left for the professional ranks. In addition, Kim Huband, the top reserve at guard, was a senior. Craig Corson and Bill Chambers, two of the top frontcourt backups, also graduated.

But that team did return George Karl, the starting point guard, and Bobby Jones, who played almost as much as the starters up front.

The 2006 Carolina team will be without seven of its top eight players from last season. Only David Noel remains from the eight-man rotation that Roy Williams used during the year. Quentin Thomas saw spot action in every game behind Felton and Reyshawn Terry did play in 32 games. But, no one else saw any quality minutes.

"I know some people will be licking their chops at the thought of playing us," says Williams. "But, we'll show up."

The nature of college basketball means great success will result in personnel losses. No one should blame any player for a personal decision or the job Williams now faces in putting a new team together.