Nov. 11, 2004

by Quentin Thomas

When I was a kid, North Carolina was a school that I watched a lot. At that time, I always thought I wanted to go to Carolina. But as I got older, that slipped away until Coach Williams started recruiting me.

During the recruiting process, he appealed to me because I really like him as a person and I like how he develops his players on and off the court. His statistics speak for themselves. His teams always do well, and I know that by coming to play basketball for him he will make me a lot better than I was when I got here.

I committed to Carolina without ever coming on a visit, and at the time that made me a little nervous. I had visited Kansas and Arizona State, my two other finalists, but it was during a time when early commitments were coming in fast and I wanted to go ahead and get a spot at Carolina. When I called Coach Williams to tell him I was coming, he said, "Are you sure?" He was shocked that I had made my decision so quickly. Even though it might have seemed fast, I knew it was the best thing for me. When I watched them play on TV last year, I saw that they are a team that loves to run the court, and I love to play that way. I love fast break-style games.

But Chapel Hill is still a long way from Oakland. I did want to get away from home, but I didn't know it was going to be this far. To me, going away from home meant somewhere like UCLA. But once I got here for summer school, I've never second-guessed my decision.

At home, there would be so many people around me that I know, so being away from home is making me grow up faster and adapt much more quickly. It's been a totally new experience, but the coaching staff, players, and people on campus have made me feel really comfortable.

That's been important, because I've also had to deal with some injuries this summer. Prior to coming to summer school, I hurt my ankle, and my foot was in a cast for about a month. That was a setback. Then, once I got to Chapel Hill, I found out I needed surgery on my right knee. It's the same knee I had injured while I was in high school, so they did arthroscopic surgery to clean out some torn cartilage. That was in July, and I've been working to strengthen it since then.