Column
What happened? Why didn't the North Carolina Tar Heels lift the NCAA men’s college basketball championship plaque Monday night? The underdogs played a nearly flawless first half and built up a 15-point lead at the intermission.
At this point, I left home and ran a few errands knowing that even in a game of runs, the Tar Heels would maintain their lead and become the 2022 champions. But what a difference a 20-minute run to Walgreens made!
When I walked back through the front door, Kansas was only down by one, and the momentum was clearly on their side. But the Tar Heels kept their composure and played very competitively until they eventually fell to a most physical and determine Jayhawks team. Kansas’ victory thwarted all the plans that I had for this particular column and an accompanying sports feature. The plan was to get quotes from North Carolina fans who are current and former Delta residents about their history of following the baby blue basketball dynasty. Two brothers-in-law, a former little league player that I use to coach, and a fraternity brother were all destined to be prominently quoted about how they became Tar Heels fans.
As for me, it would have been sweet because all of the stars seemed to be aligned just right. Exactly 40 years ago in the same city, New Orleans, the Tar Heels with a freshman guard named Michael Jordan took down the mighty Georgetown Hoyas with Patrick Ewing. This was where I became a North Carolina fan as a seventh-grader. Since then, the Tar Heels have given us faithful four championships, three Final Four appearances, and two national runner-ups.
It also seemed like it would be a year of destiny because in 2017, the day before the Tar Heels cut down the nets, the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks had done the same. And with the latter winning their second championship in five years, I thought that these two border states would have college basketball bragging rights for the next year.
However, many of the preseason predictions held true. Many prognosticators picked Duke, Kansas, or Gonzaga to win it all. As for us Heels fans, we know the taste of victory and the despair of defeat. But with such a high-profile program, there aren’t too many seasons that pass without championship aspirations. And the 2022-2023 season appears to be one of them. With rookie head coach Hubert Davis experiencing the ups and downs and eventual overachievement of this season, expectations are very high for the next. Should stars Armando Bacot and Caleb Love decide to return to school, the Tarheels will be talented, experienced, and battle-tested looking to avenge the 2022 season. There are also two top 50 prospects coming in next year who will be playing significant roles on what looks to be a deeper, more talented team. Many college basketball aficionados have North Carolina projected in the middle of the pack of the top ten preseason poll. As a longtime fan, the heart says every year that we have a chance to win it all. Next year, the heart and the head could be on one accord.
Patrick Ervin has been writing about the Mississippi Delta for more than 25 years. He can be reached at ervinconsulting@gmail.
