Roy Williams kicks off his fourth Late Night as Carolina's coach tonight.
 
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Lucas: Live From Late Night -10:05 p.m.
 

Oct. 13, 2006

Late Night With Roy Photo Gallery

By Adam Lucas

Late Night really isn't all that late this year.

For the first time, it'll be more like Mid-Evening with Roy Williams, as Smith Center doors open at 6 p.m. tonight and the basketball action starts at 7.

That might be a welcome change for the event's namesake, however. For the second straight year, Williams will begin the day of Late Night very early. He's hosting a breakfast this morning on the floor of the Smith Center to raise money for cancer research.

Williams will address the breakfast participants this morning and we'll have quotes later this morning. As for what else this blog will hold today--it's largely up to the readers. Drop me a line and let me know what's on your mind regarding Carolina basketball. As many reader emails as possible will be addressed.

8:00 a.m.: Roy Williams, his coaching staff, and a host of Tar Heel hoops celebrities are introduced at the Fast Break Against Cancer breakfast. Mary Brooks Seagroves organizes the event, which is in just its second year but has already become a staple of the opening of basketball season. Luminaries in attendance include Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Lennie Rosenbluth, Pete Brennan, Al Wood, Hubert Davis, and several other members of the Carolina family. Woody Durham MC's the event.

8:20: Williams addresses the crowd with a few comments about this year's team. "If this year's freshman class buys in like last year's freshmen, we've got a chance to be a good club," he says. Since he's in front of fans, he also mentions the way he's often approached by folks who tell him they've already made their Final Four reservations.

"I don't understand that," Williams says. "Why look four or five months ahead? I want everybody out there to enjoy the journey. Don't just think about the Final Four. Think about those first two NIT games in Charlotte and our home opener against Gardner Webb."

The head coach makes it a point not to watch his players play much basketball during the summer, but the entire team had their conditioning tests this week. They do two tests--one is a mile run. The other is a series of six "33's" on the floor of the Smith Center. Williams is pleased that two freshmen--Brandan Wright and Wayne Ellington--made their "tough times" in both tests (read the previous link for an explanation of tough times).

This year's schedule is loaded with late-starting games. Don't expect much sympathy from Williams, though. "I get a lot of people telling me how tough those 9 p.m. games are," he says. "And then I have people telling me how tough the 7 p.m. games are. I don't want to hear that. Just get here. I know the 9 games are hard, and the 7 games are hard, and all the games are hard. But it's only 16 or 18 times per year and they're going to be a lot of fun."

8:45: Former walk-on Michael Norwood, who lost his daughter Nell to cancer, addresses the crowd. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how I would give anything to have one more hour with Nell," he says. Suddenly the problem of who will be the starting point guard doesn't seem quite as important.

8:55: This year's Fast Break auction is a rousing success, raising almost $60,000 to fight cancer. The highlight is the opportunity to go into the locker room for a pregame talk before a nonconference game and then join the Tar Heels on the bench. Bidding starts at $5,000...and rapidly moves over $20,000. Eventually two bidders bid $25,500 apiece for the exclusive privilege at one game each.

9:15: The breakfast breaks up. Now the Smith Center is turned over to Clayton Womble, Angie Bitting, and their legions of building operations workers. They have one of the toughest tasks of the day: turning the floor from a breakfast-hosting social event into tonight's Late Night stage. At least this year there's no volleyball game.

10:45: The email box is already filling up. Like last year, we also want to know where you're checking in from--we've had some international comments in the past. The first question of the day comes from Carlton Merritt, who wants to know about autograph opportunites tonight. There's not a specific autograph time. But there are already several autograph seekers standing in the Smith Center parking lot hunting signatures on basketballs. It's also worth remembering that the players and coaches sign a certain number of balls each year to be sold to the general public, with all proceeds benefiting local charities. Call the basketball office at 919-962-1154 for more information.

11:15: Thomas Millisor checks in from Richmond, where he's planning to leave shortly to take in Late Night. Thomas wants to know who will take over David Noel's starring role. That's a great question. Noel was the most natural actor in the history of Late Night. This year's highlight might be Wes Miller's annual Roy Williams impersonation. It's Miller's final opportunity to perform, so hopefully he's been studying game tape.

11:20: John Oldham (whose wife is the aunt of Tar Heel baseball radio favorite Benji "Boom Boom" Johnson) checks in from Wilmington with an idea: TarHeelBlue should auction the chance to follow me around this weekend, going from the breakfast to Late Night to the football game to tomorrow afternoon's Fall World Series game. My wife says she bids $20 for someone just to get me out of the house. She's kidding, I think.

John also asks about tonight's timeline. The doors open at 6, the women start at 7, and the men start around 8. It will be finished much, much earlier than in year's past--probably around 10. The main basketball portion of the night will be a 20-minute scrimmage with a running clock.

Also, my wife just raised her bid to $50 and said she'll make you dinner.


12:05 p.m.: Ladies and gentlemen, Roy Williams has left the building. Not for good, though. He went to address students in The Pit and will return shortly.

A reader question from Jason Willoughby: "Will Late Night with Roy be televised?" Yes, portions of it will be on ESPNU beginning at 10:30 tonight. If you're not one of the two people we know personally who get ESPNU, you can catch a live audio broadcast on Carolina All-Access.

We've been getting some interesting response to the uniform changes (an example is at the right). Shoot me an email and let me know what you think of the new gear. We'll have the completely unscientific results later.

12:55: I am now going to print, verbatim, an email I just received. It is as follows:

"Hey, could y'all do me a huge favor:

TELL COACH Roy Williams THAT ADAM L. AND KRISTEN H.OF WAYNESVILLE NORTH CAROLINA SAYS HOWDY AND WE ARE HUGE HUGE CAROLINA HOOPS FANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO HEELS NUMBER ONE ALL THE WAY Y'ALL HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Don't say TarHeelBlue.com isn't down with the kids. Also, for the record, I am not from Waynesville. So I didn't send that email to myself. All together now, everyone say, "Haaaayyyyyy!" to Waynesville.

1:00: Justin Skinner wants to know what time he should get here to get good seats. Good question. There are already people lined up outside (getting ready to go chat with them now). My guess is there will be two main groups: the group that absolutely has to be here before the doors open and the group that will get here around 6:30. Roughly about three lower level sections are reserved for the GAA and roughly two sections are reserved for the basketball office, player families, etc. (Who does the basketball office think they are anyway?) If you're one of the early arrivers, the best available seats are the two midcourt sections across from the benches. Also, don't underrate the ring in the upper level. Those are good seats.

Of course, none of that answers the question. If you want lower level seats, I would guess--and this is just a guess, nothing more--you need to be here when the doors open. If you want really good lower level seats you probably will want to be here by 4.

Side note: why is it that when a male from the ages of roughly 12 to 32 walks into an empty gym, the first thing they have to do is try to touch the net? Aren't all nets the same height? Gene Hackman, playing head coach Norman Dale in one of the greatest sports movies ever, proved that in Hoosiers. We just had a net-touch attempt here in the Smith Center. Let it be known that I did not try to touch the net when I walked in. Probably because they don't have any ladders out here right now.

1:30: Massie Minor wins again. The Charlotte native is at the front of the Late Night line for the second straight year. He arrived in front of Entry A with a crew of three others at 11 a.m. Always striving to improve, this year Massie brought a grill with them and there are brats ready as we speak. This is how Late Night should be done.

1:45: Roy Williams and Joe Holladay walk by Entry A after their daily walk around campus. "Thanks very much for coming out," he says to Massie's crew. Steven, who is also in his second straight year at the front of the line, laughs. He just said thank you to us," he says. "That's crazy."

By the way, the award for the youngest fan in line goes to John Gray, Jr., an 18-month-old from Roanoke Rapids. He and his father arrived this morning at 5 a.m., at which point they decided to take a nap in the car. They're now second in line at Entry A. Which means John Gray, Sr., has four hours ahead of him to entertain an 18-month-old before the doors open.

2:15: A few quick reader questions. Mark Townsend writes from Irvine, CA, and wants to know if this year's team could challenge the all-time Carolina per-game scoring record (91.3 ppg) set by the 1987 team. Funny you should ask, Mark. The Tar Heel Monthly basketball preview issue, which ships out Monday, is all about the possibility of averaging 90 points per game. There are several stories in that issue about what it takes to reach 90 and how this team fits that criteria. The short answer is that Roy Williams believes this team could score at least 90...and if he thinks so, I do too.

Al-Sharik Barksdale checks in from Times Square and wants to know if this year's very talented roster could experience any chemistry problems. It's possible. Any time you have a large group of very talented players, you're going to have a lot of guys who think they should play a lot. But you can only play five at a time. That's why one of the biggest issues surrounding this team is who will replace David Noel as the designated leader. That's a very big role, and there's not an obvious choice to fill it.

Off to Chapel Hill Sportswear for the book signing with the 1957 stars. Rosenbluth, Brennan, Quigg, Lucas...which one of these names does not belong? Come say hello if you can.

That reminds me. Although I didn't try to touch the net, I did walk through the big array of lights surrounding the home tunnel and give it the ol' "From Apex...the power forward..." intro bit.

We'll have more updates around 4:30 or so. Keep sending those emails until then.

5:45: OK, that was an unbelievable book signing turnout. Many thanks to everyone who waited in those long lines. It's great to see that kind of attention for the 1957 team, because they really deserve it.

Speaking of great crowds, there's a really good crowd outside the Smith Center right now. There's some discussion of it potentially being the biggest turnout anyone can remember this far in advance at Late Night. We'll have a photo shortly thanks to ace photographer Jeffrey Camarati.

5:55: Some quick answers to emails:

Melissa Mann, Amy Mansfield, and Jennifer Brooks went by the basketball office earlier today to pick up a basketball poster. That's when they bumped into Roy Williams, which was a perfect autograph opportunity...except they didn't have a pen, and neither did Coach Williams. That's OK, it'll be a funnier story that way.

Christy Bray wants a Fall World Series update. It's 2-0 in favor of the Gatzkrieg (Matt Danford and Joe Pietropaoli, ace captains). Game 3 is tomorrow after the South Florida game, so everyone should stop by.

David Houtz checks in from Baghdad, Iraq. He's the winner of the distance award at this point. He also wants to know if there's any way other than ESPNU to see/hear the festivities. You can go the All-Access route, and that's about it.

More later. At the moment we have to bolt down the computer because they're getting ready to open the doors, which means a mad dash for seats. Attendance update coming shortly.


6:10: If you're not here, you're not getting a lower level seat. The non-reserved portion of the ring is gone, and people are starting to fill in the upper level. I think people might be excited about Carolina basketball.

Brian Hunt wanted to know if he got here at 10 if he could still get a seat. Probably so, because it'll almost be over by then. Tonight's festivities will be over by 10:30 at the absolute latest, probably earlier.

6:25: A handful of players are out shooting around. Let's go ahead and get this out of the way now: the guy who will be on the bench who most fans won't know this year is Marc Campbell, a transfer walk-on from UNCG.

By the way, I'm disappointed at the lack of amazement at the news reported above that two different people paid $25,500 apiece to sit on the bench at a game. Does that strike anyone else as a lot of money?

6:35: To answer a jersey question, the stripe across the shoulders on the home uniforms is Carolina blue, not navy. One thing we have learned through your emails: people either really like or really dislike the jerseys. Poll results later. One thing we can all agree on: they're better than the silver-shoulder disasters the Tar Heels wore against Illinois last year.

Jim Skinner writes in from North Dakota and says there are a lot of Carolina fans in North Dakota. He also wants to know if there's a cable channel that shows only Carolina games. Unfortunately, no. But if they want to take Lifetime off my cable and create that channel, I'm fine with it.

Scott McKellar has a great email: "Any chance you need a cohort? Woody had his Mick; The Deano had his Gut. Whaddya say? "Adam and Scott" -- sounds smooth as butter... You have a sweet gig following our boys in blue."

The gig is very sweet, Scott. Let's not forget that I'm at "work" right now. Best job in the world. Unfortunately, there's no cohort position currently available. But you're first on the list.

Scott also asks about the practice schedule--because of the noon kickoff, the players will be back in the Smith Center tomorrow at 8:15 a.m. They'll get in the first real practice of the season and then head to the football game.

6:45: If you're a Division I basketball player, never play one-on-one against a ballboy. That's what we learned from watching William Graves challenge a kid about half his size. Needless to say, it went a little something like this:

Graves makes shot: complete silence.

Ballboy makes shot: Crowd goes wild.

Hey, we've got scrimmage rosters. On Blue: Ty Lawson, Reyshawn Terry, William Graves, Dewey Burke, Wes Miller, Alex Stepheson, Brandan Wright, Mike Copeland. On White: Marcus Ginyard, Wayne Ellington, Bobby Frasor, Quentin Thomas, Deon Thompson, Danny Green, Surry Wood, Marc Campbell, Tyler Hansbrough.

So, who've you got? The person who emails in closest to the final score of the scrimmage (include the winning team and remember it's 20 minutes with a running clock) gets a book.

6:55: They just played "Pour Some Sugar On Me" over the stadium PA. Ben Alexander and I discussed the probability that when Def Leppard finished writing that little ditty, they just sat back and congratulated themselves for writing the perfect song.

Just bumped into someone who went to the fair earlier today and now is at Late Night. That's a full day of cultural activities. People who didn't grow up in this area don't understand what a big deal the fair is. I'm not a big Gravitron guy, but I love the Zipper.

7:05: It's really loud in here. Stuart Scott was just introduced. How much does he love Carolina? He came from Bristol this morning and will leave first thing in the morning--really, really early--to go to Los Angeles. Then he's doing an NFL game in Phoenix this weekend. He also stopped by football practice at Kenan this afternoon.

Upper level is full on the sides and about halfway full in the end zones.

Stuart just announced the men and the women are going to win national championships this spring. So, now that we know, it'll be a lot less stressful watching games this year, right? Yeah, I didn't think so.

7:20: Surprisingly, Ivory Latta got a really big hand. No one could have predicted that. Now a handful of the women's team is dancing to a song that I'm going to guess is called "Showstopper." Seriously, I feel about as old as Methuselah right now.

7:30: Sylvia Hatchell just did, um, some kind of dance no more than two feet in front of me. It was good preparation for Tyler Hansbrough later tonight, let's put it that way. Which reminds me, ace manager Preston Puckett predicts that Brandan Wright may unseat Tyler as the worst dancer of the night. Surprising, but true.

The ladies are doing an American Idol skit that involves Erlana Larkins as Simon Cowell.

Heather Claytor just did a fairly credible Tim McGraw impression that got the crowd singing along. Also, she and our boy Massie are now in some kind of bizarre stare-off that involves Massie popping his Carolina blue Elvis costume.

Some things just don't translate to the blog.

7:35: Stu Rigot, a UNC Law student, writes in saying it looks like Rey Terry has added a good bit of muscle and wonders how that will benefit him this year. According to Terry, he actually hasn't added a ton of weight. But he's definitely more defined. He's always been a tremendous athlete and there's no question the muscle will help him take the pounding he'll receive in the ACC this year. There were times last year when he was too content to fire away from the outside without taking advantage of mismatches. This year, he should be able to do that even more effectively. You're not going to find many 6-8, 232 pound guys--even in the ACC--who can credibly go inside and outside the way he can.

A large majority of you folks out there think the White team is going to win the scrimmage. Keep those predictions coming.

7:45: Stuart Scott just spotted someone in the crowd with an NC State shirt. Hilarity ensued.

Joshua in Charlotte wants to know if any practices are open to the public. Not unless you're a member of The Rams Club. Members get to attend one practice per year.

One of the coolest emails of the day: Mark Lloyd (class of 2003) writes from the USS Iwo Jima in the Arabian Gulf. Everyone here appreciates everything you're doing there, Mark.

His question: Will the seniors be able to lead this team? That's an interesting question, because Rey Terry probably isn't a natural leader. And as Roy Williams pointed out yesterday, Wes Miller leads more by his example. He's constantly in the gym. It might be that someone from the sophomore class turns into the vocal guy on the court.

The women just started an 8-minute running clock scrimmage. This means I have to pay attention, becasue it's easy to get hit in the nose with a ball sitting here.

Attendance update: there are about 5 rows of empty seats in the end zones of the upper level.

7:55: The women's scrimmage is over. White takes a 15-9 decision, so if you had the white, good choice.

We've got some surprising results from the uniform poll. The people who dislike the uniforms are very passionate about their dislike. But they're outnumbered by those who like the changes. The final tally from among hundreds of voters was about 60% for, 40% against.

One point several people made that I'll agree with: if the stripe is something that shows up on every team in the country, it's going to be less appetizing. Carolina basketball is special and doesn't need a cookie-cutter uniform.

Matt Hartman wants to know if the Tar Heels will play more full-court defense this year. Answer: yes. Thanks for an excuse to pump the Tar Heel Monthly basketball preview. It has a whole story about this year's defensive approach.

Kris McGrath just walked by. You might not know her name, but she's sort of the Frank McGuire of Late Night. She used to work in the marketing department, and most everything you've seen tonight, she brought with her from Kansas. Her role is now being filled by Bonnie Clarke. Early returns indicate Bonnie has done a very good job so far.

8:05: While Stuart Scott was trying to explain the new fan shirt, which can be bought at the Student Stores and Chapel Hill Sportswear, Roy Williams walked out of the tunnel. Pandemonium ensued. Attendance update: completely full.

The Clef Hangers just sang the national anthem. I'm 99% sure my wife would leave me for a Clef Hanger. If you're on campus and haven't seen one of their shows, check it out.

8:15: Men's team introductions. Wayne Ellington was first. Some thoughts:

William Graves mimed hitting an upper deck home run. Credit for originality on that one.

Pretty sure Deon Thompson's family is right behind me. Either that or someone else was yelling, "Big DDDDDD!" at the top of their lungs.

Hey, Marc Campbell has a little rhythm.

Ladies love Bobby Frasor.

Standing in the tunnel right now, I bet Tyler Hansbrough is way more nervous than he is anytime during a game.

Marcus Ginyard brought out a remote control car. Nice touch.

Tyler Hansbrough threw up the "Poplar Bluff" sign coming out of the tunnel. Then he snapped the basket support in half.

Dewey Burke is old school. He just ran out of the tunnel and stood in line. That's how they did it at Late Night in 1957.

Also, the ladies love Wes Miller.

Overall impression: I think the salute might be the big thing this year. I just saluted my laptop.

8:25: Glenn Holland checks in from Mexico City. His dad, Gehrmann Holland, was on the '57 title team. Glenn wonders how the freshmen are fitting in. So far, very well. The basketball part is well known, of course. But they've also fit in well to the overall team dynamic. Remember that last year's freshmen were very close, so it's up to those guys to integrate the new freshman class and try to make the team as cohesive as they were last year.

First dance of the night. Standout dancers: Q, Danny Green, Deon Thompson, William Graves, and of course Dewey Burke.

Tyler and Brandan Wright need to have a dance-off for the title of World's Most Self-Conscious Dancer. Of course, they're also better at playing basketball than almost anyone else is at doing anything.

8:30: The freshmen just did a top hat-and-tails number. Now it's a send-up of the MTV show Next (again with the Methuselah). This skit includes Marcus Ginyard in a dress doing his best to fill the David Noel role. He and Graves are going to hope not too many photos of this survive. Now Tyler is up, wearing a purple top hat and a disco-type glitterball shirt. Ginyard played it perfectly: as soon as Hansbrough walked out, Ginyard said, "I saw you dance last year. Next!" Ginyard is really getting into this.

I can see the future. There is a strong chance Wes Miller is getting ready to dance to that new Justin Timberlake song.

Just saying, I called it.

8:40: Ben Jones wants to know if the banners have been rearranged since the rafters are full. Not yet. The 2006 banner was added behind the '05s. You will see a very different rafter setup for the 2007-08 season.

Full team dance at the moment, to Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy. Whatever happened to old Fred? Really thought those guys had a long career ahead.

Ben Alexander, producer extraordinaire, just leaned over and said the following: "Dewey works it, doesn't he?" And the sad part is I had to agree.

8:50: The Live from Late Night courtside location is right next to marketing honcho Michael Beale, who is on a headset connected to Bonnie Clarke in the back as they try to coordinate the various comings and goings on and off the court. Sitting here, you really appreciate how much Stuart Scott loves Carolina. Because there are times all they tell him is, "We need to kill some time," and then he goes out there and talks, off the top of his head, about why Carolina is the greatest place on earth. It sounds easy on the page, but it's harder in front of 20,000 people.

Now we're in the middle of a Mr. ACC skit. Deon Thompson was Mr. Miami, Wayne Ellington was Mr. Durham, etc. Wes Miller also turned in his usual pseudo-Roy Williams performance, which included a cane and heavy favoring of his back. Thankfully for Wes, Coach Williams laughed.

9:00: They just showed a video of last year's team set to Five For Fighting's Hundred Years. The video, which was put together by Jones Angell and Ken Cleary and is absolutely outstanding, accomplished one main thing: it reminded everyone that they really, really loved last year's team. Kind of makes you wish we could all go back to about Nov. 1, 2005, and start taking people by surprise all over again.

Now the seniors are dancing to I've Had the Time Of My Life. Very touching.

9:10: Team circle dance. Which means the coaches are on the way. While standing outside earlier today, Joe Holladay was asked earlier today if he had anything special planned. "I think I'm going with the usual," he said, and then he proceeded to unleash moves never before seen in the Smith Center parking lot.

I'm pretty sure C.B. McGrath just did a soft-shoe tap-dance.

Tyler really can't dance. At all. Not even a little bit.

Apparently the kids these days (Methuselah, you know) really like a song called Walk It Out. Roy Williams just danced to that song at midcourt.

It would be hard to find a cooler guy than Steve Robinson. The guy just oozes mellow.

9:15: Scrimmage about to start. Last call for email predictions.

9:25: Update: my wife says she wouldn't leave me for a Clef Hanger. Whew.

Still waiting on the scrimmage. This is what's called in professional Late Night terminology, "Lag time."

9:30: Let's go ahead and nip this future Mailbag question in the bud. Jordan (the brand, not the man) sent Carolina some special black basketballs that the team is using during Late Night. No, that won't be the game ball.

Attendance update: they closed the doors at 7:50 because the only available seats were in the last couple rows of the upper deck and there was concern about people walking up that far with it being pitch dark inside. Now that the lights are back on, fans who waited outside are being let in to watch the scrimmage and fill those extra couple rows of seats.

9:35: There is a little bit of teaching tonight. C.B. McGrath is teaching the freshmen how Carolina runs one of their fast-break drills, which is a staple of the start of every practice. A half-hour from now when everyone is raving about the freshmen, remember that they still don't even know where to stand in drills.

9:45: Little sloppy here in the first couple minutes of the scrimmage. Danny Green hit the first basket of the night on a jumper. Starting lineups are Blue: Copeland, Lawson, Miller, Wright, and Miller. White: Frasor, Thompson, Ginyard, Green, and Hansbrough.

Now 5-3 White. Green has all 5 points. This might be a good time to mention that unscientifically, he had the highest win-loss percentage of any player during summer pickup action. His team just wins. Coaches notice things like that.

Now 8-3 White. Rey Terry made the mistake of trying to foul Hansbrough on a breakaway. Hansbrough just smirked, took the foul, and dropped it in.

Clock is under 15 minutes. 8-7 White.

One thing we have learned about Alex Stepheson: he's brave. He just delivered what was described by Jones Angell as a "forearm shiver" to Hansbrough. 11-9 White.

9:55: Wayne Ellington with a couple nice jumpers and it's 26-17 White with around 6 minutes left. Might be time to delete any emails predicting a Blue victory.

Ty Lawson just had maybe the best individual play of the night, a spinning bank shot in the lane. 28-20 with 4 minutes left.

10:00: Ty Lawson just learned something about Danny Green--the sophomore blocks a lot of shots. Lawson thought he had a clear path to the basket, but then Green swooped in and rejected it.

Final score: White, 38-22. First impressions are that there will be some buzz about Ellington and Green after this game.

One other thought: there were some times when you looked at the Blue team or the White team and thought, "Hey, that would be a pretty good team." And then you realized there was a whole other team of Tar Heels still left. This is a deep team.

Bubba Veronee wins the score guess contest. Send me your mailing address, Bubba.

Don't forget that the first exhibition game is Nov. 1. Both exhibition games will be live (audio and video) on Carolina All-Access. The first TarHeelBlue.com Mailbag of this season is coming up on Nov. 7, so we're looking forward to another season of your questions and answers. Don't forget about tomorrow's Fall World Series action tomorrow at Boshamer after the football game.

Thanks to everyone for following along tonight. Just like every year, it was a lot of fun.

Adam Lucas's third book on Carolina basketball, The Best Game Ever, chronicles the 1957 national championship season and is available now. His previous books include Going Home Again, focusing on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.