Oct. 2, 2007

The following story appeared originally in the October 2007 issue of Tar Heel Monthly. All new subscribers through Oct. 15 receive a free copy of the basketball preview, which includes a special cover story on Tyler Hansbrough.

By Turner Walston

There's a whole staff preparing for the men's basketball team's first performance--and it's not Roy Williams and his assistant coaches.

Late Night with Roy and the Tar Heels will kick off basketball season on Friday, October 12. It isn't simply a blue/white scrimmage. It's also introductions, skits, dances and giveaways. Unlike any other night on the schedule, Late Night--which will again be hosted by ESPN's Stuart Scott--is exclusively about fun.

"Late Night is something where I think you can have the more entertainment-value type of product," said Bonnie Clarke, assistant director of sports marketing. Clarke is in her second year in charge of coordinating the event. She's getting help from students on the Carolina Athletic Association's sports marketing committee and the dance team, coached by Mark Lyczkowski.

Every year, Tar Heel fans get a different show from Late Night (this year, expanded coverage is available at THB.com with Tar Heel Tip-Off presented by The Road to Blue Heaven, which includes a two-hour season preview show from 2-4 p.m. plus live coverage of all the Late Night festivities). In his playing days, David Noel entertained crowds as "Divine Noel." Wes Miller had a spot-on Roy Williams impersonation. This year, it's up to someone from the current roster to be the star. To help them, the sports marketing committee are the writers and directors behind the scenes, Clarke said. "They tell me what's in, what's out, and what ideas they think the students would like," she said.

"We try to pull from pop culture, because we want it to be something that's relative to the audience," said committee member Sarah Covill. The idea is to present the basketball players as people, she said, "...and funny people at that."

The content of the skits won't be revealed until the night itself, so some questions will keep fans in suspense. In 2006, Marcus Ginyard followed up David Noel's Divine with "Martha Vineyard." But who will fill Wes Miller's shoes as the Roy Williams character? Did "Roy" leave with Miller or will someone take over the role, a la James Bond? "We will miss Wes a lot," said committee member John Palmer.

Since 2005, teams have been allowed to begin practice at 9 p.m. Friday rather than midnight Saturday morning, so the idea of "Midnight Madness" is a little dated. "It's a `matinee madness,' definitely not a Midnight Madness now," Clarke said.

The midnight event attracted mostly passionate students, an audience that is no stranger to the wee hours. Clarke said the rule change allowed for a more diverse audience, adding children, parents and professors to those dedicated students. "You try to make the skits cool, but you also can't make them all rap music or all oldies," she said. "We try to hard to make a skit from each genre of music."

Clarke said sometimes players themselves contribute skits. "Bobby (Frasor) has come up to me, and he has a few ideas of his own," she said.

This year, new technology will add to the production value of the show. As players are introduced, Clarke plans to project video highlights onto the court. "We'll have some pyro and effects that are a little more high-energy than we've ever had in the past," Clarke said. She is also considering playing "commercials" featuring the players on the Smith Center video boards. The audience will help, too, with thousands of handheld blue lights.

Late Night guarantees some intriguing one-on-one match-ups. Even before they can officially practice as a team, the Tar Heels will face off with another conference champion. Lyczkowski's dance team captured the 2007 ACC championship title this spring. The dancers will have a week of rehearsals to get the players ready for Late Night.

Lyczkowski said the players know what to expect from the show, and come into the week of rehearsals with open minds. "They all take pride in it. They all practice together and they all want to look good," he said. "None of them want to look bad in front of the country or their friends and fans."

But do the players get stage fright performing with the dance team? "If they do, they hide it really well," Lyczkowski said.

And what about the man himself? Williams himself doesn't lend his own ideas to the show, but he requires that the show be classy, fun and full of energy. "It's something with his name on it, so we really do our best to hold up that end of it." Lyczkowski said.

"[Williams] specifically tells us `Don't tell me what's going on,'" Palmer said. "It makes it a good time for him as well."

The organizers said they are aiming for more crowd involvement in 2007. "Get there early," Lyczkowski said. "Get a good seat, because you never know what could be asked of you. You could be one that's performing as well."

Following the skits and dances, the team will do what they do best: play basketball. "We let them do what they do, and usually they do a great job showing off and getting the crowd excited about the season," Clarke said.

The lights will dim after the scrimmage, and Clarke will start to plan Late Night 2008. Is it all worth it? She thinks so.

"I'll never forget it when Jackie Manuel said `This is one of my favorite nights of the year,'" she said. "For this one night, it's `Lights, Camera, Action' for the players and the fans."