Oct. 17, 2004

by David Droschak, TarHeelBlue.com

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina's basketball history is filled with players like Warren Martin and Serge Zwikker, big men who seemed destined to ride the bench, only to become productive players.

Could Damion Grant be next?

The 6-foot-11 junior has spent more time in street clothes than in uniform his first two seasons with the Tar Heels as knee and leg problems have severely hampered his progress on the court.

But Grant is a changed man, and those who see him for the first time since he returned to campus may be shocked by his physical transformation.

The center lost 22 pounds over the summer in New Jersey, waking up at 5:15 a.m. for a running program that began a full day regimen. It concluded with late-night pickup games where Grant said he began to get his basketball skills back.

"After last season I felt it was time to put up or shut up," Grant said.

Grant recently passed all of his running tests for the first time in his career, and has opened the eyes of his North Carolina teammates.

When asked who the team's most improved player was, star point guard Raymond Felton didn't hesitate to name Grant.

"I'm impressed with him more than anybody - and he's going to play this year," Felton said. "We never wrote him off, but he had knee problems and it seemed like he was never going to get a chance to play. He got his surgery done, he worked hard over the summer, he lost some weight, and he's looking and playing great. Everything is coming together for him now."

Starting center Sean May noticed a different Grant during recent pickup games.

"The kid has really worked on it," May said. "He's dedicated himself to being in the weight room, really working on the stuff we need him to do like blocking shots and rebounding. I've told him that he's going to score points just because he's big and not to worry about scoring.

"His biggest thing is running up and down the court. Once he figures out how to do that, to bust it down at both ends, then he'll be able to give me some rest."

That could be Grant's role in 2004-05, being able to sub for May, who played too many minutes last season and often tired down the stretch of games.

"This feels awesome. I feel like a new person," Grant said of his weight loss. "My knees are good for the first time since high school. Hopefully, I can get a chance to show what I can really do.

"Right now I'm a lot quicker and my athleticism is coming back. I just hope to contribute on defense, blocking shots and getting rebounds. That's what we need. My timing on defense is a lot better. My teammates will tell you that -- don't bring it to the hole." Grant blocked two shots in the public scrimmage in the Smith Center last Friday during "Late Night with Roy."

Grant got a tattoo on his back over the summer that in part reads: 'Rise above all odds.'

Perfect for Grant.

"You want to go out there and prove people wrong, but it's not about them, it's about yourself," he said. "I've got to be true to myself.

"I'm part of a basketball program that people love, and yes, I want to be accepted, but you try to block out what the fans say."

Grant said he laughed when he first saw senior Jackie Manuel, who came running over to him with a big smile, saying now skinny he was.

"I've never heard that before," Grant said. "Right now I'm in the best shape of my life. "

Coach Roy Williams is still taking a wait-and-see attitude with Grant.

"Before I got back from the Olympics I had been told that he had participated in pickup games at a much higher level," Williams said. "Up to now he's just looked great leaning over a bicycle.

"I'm extremely encouraged by his physical conditioning, I'm extremely encouraged by the focus he appears to have and hopefully by what he does on the court," Williams added. "But I don't expect anything because I've never seen anything. I don't know if there was a single practice last year that he made it through. I'm anxious to see what's there."