Jan. 13, 2008
For a full photo gallery from Sunday's activities, click here.
By Adam Lucas
At most January practices, stopping the dribble has been a major point of emphasis for the 2008 Tar Heels.
But on Sunday, even the Carolina coaches had a little trouble playing stellar defense.
Less than 24 hours after dismantling NC State, this year's squad was back in the Smith Center for the annual Special Olympics clinic. Bringing together approximately 100 Special Olympians from 21 counties, the event has become a highlight of the annual basketball calendar. In fact, it's become such a part of the routine that one of the first activities involved the Special Olympians presenting Quentin Thomas with a plaque featuring pictures from the past events--the clinic has been held every year of Roy Williams's tenure.
Then, the games began. With the stands pushed back and extra goals brought onto the court, the players split into skill stations. For one day, players were coaches and coaches were, well, sometimes abused.
Joe Holladay found himself at the dribbling station with Marc Campbell, Wayne Ellington, Surry Wood, and Alex Stepheson. Facing a particularly talented group of dribblers from Cabarrus County, Holladay hopped into the defensive rotation.
The drill was simple: the Special Olympians had to dribble past a Tar Heel. Wood, in particular, had a very convincing way of being faked out.
"I thought the dribblers were getting a little cocky," Holladay said with a smile. "So I had to get in there."
As he lined up across from his opponent, the assistant coach cracked, "You've never been really guarded by a 60-year-old. You're used to these 18-year-olds. This is going to be different for you."
One spin move later, Holladay was looking at the back of his foe. When he finally got a stop one rotation later, Wood greeted him with a big high-five.
Anda Abram, a Johnston County Special Olympian, was particularly taken with Patrick Moody. "I like the way he plays and his character," she said. "He's inspired me today."
That was the tone of the day. The basketball team does other youth events, like the annual holiday clinic. But what makes the Special Olympics event so enjoyable was obvious as the players split up for a 15-minute autograph session. When Jerod Haase blew his whistle to announce the beginning of the autograph period, there was a mad stampede for Moody, with Abram leading the way (she pointedly noted afterward that she had, indeed, been first to get to Moody). Meanwhile, Tyler Hansbrough sat alone, with no one in his line. The Special Olympians didn't particularly care about anyone's stats. They were just impressed to be in the presence of Carolina Basketball.
One of Hansbrough's most effective stations was at the shorter goal, which had been lowered to seven feet. That was the designated dunking station.
"I don't know if I can do this," a Johnston County Special Olympian said.
"I think you can," Hansbrough replied.
After a couple big steps and a couple power dribbles, the dunker ended up...well, about as close as you or I have ever come to dunking in the Smith Center. The fact that it wasn't exactly a clean dunk didn't seem to matter, however.
"I can do this!" he shouted, prompting a wide grin from Hansbrough.
Near success on the seven-foot goal created some exuberance back on the 10-foot rims. After the skill stations, everyone got a chance to participate in short scrimmages on the Smith Center court with the Tar Heels serving as player/coaches. "Here's the deal," one Olympian told Marcus Ginyard. "If you dunk on us, we're going to dunk on you."
There were no dunks, although Stepheson did have one ill-advised block shot. Even Greg Little got into the spirit, dropping a couple of assists to his new teammates. "Greg, what's wrong?" Wood said to the shot-a-minute Little. "Why aren't you shooting?"
After all the autographs were signed and the buses were being loaded--not all the groups were local, including a contingent from Watauga County that had an early wakeup call--the Olympians were already reflecting on what they'd learned.
Part of the day had been about throwing a proper bounce pass or sinking free throws. But up close and personal with their heroes, they'd learned more than basketball skills.
"I learned a lot today," Abram said. "I watched the game on TV yesterday when they beat NC State. When you see them in person you can see what good teammates they are. They really get along. That's something our team needs to do, so we'll try to be just like the Tar Heels."
Adam Lucas most recently collaborated on a behind-the-scenes look at Carolina Basketball with Wes Miller. The Road To Blue Heaven is available now. Lucas's other books on Carolina basketball include The Best Game Ever, which chronicles the 1957 national championship season, Going Home Again, which focuses 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.
