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Senior Night just ain’t what it used to be.
It’s not anyone’s fault, more a by-product of making college sports better for the athletes, who for years had very little freedom of movement from one school to another. That’s why the transfer portal is good, giving young men and women a form of free agency if they are not happy with their situation.
Now, NIL, that has not happened as it was intended when deemed by the NCAA as NOT pay for play. That athletes are getting paid to transfer – and we’ll worry about your NIL responsibilities later – has made rosters in basketball and football more like scrambled eggs than the right to choose.
Truly, one of the reasons turning pro was so hard for James Worthy and Michael Jordan was because they wanted to play their senior years at Carolina and walk onto the court teary-eyed before the start of their last home games. Phil Ford, who could have turned pro whenever he wanted, cried like a baby while standing at center court with Tom Zaliagiris and Geoff Crompton at Carmichael before their Senior Game against Duke on February 25, 1978.
Tar Heel seniors since, such as Marcus Paige, made their coaches like Roy Williams cry with their words to the crowd after their last game. For four-year players, it still has a special meaning, saying goodbye to their fans to whom they had become members of families, most of whom they have never met.
But players turning pro, the portal and recently the COVID fifth season have made things uncertain. Armando Bacot is having his second Senior Night after deciding to take that fifth year, and R.J. Davis says he hasn’t even thought about coming back for his fifth season like Bacot.
The current Tar Heels have three transfers who are playing their super senior night games.
The most bittersweet case is Cormac Ryan, who went through his true Senior Night at Notre Dame last year and now will do it again before the Heels take on the Fighting Irish tonight at the Smith Center. Ryan loved his time in South Bend but surely wishes he had another season in Chapel Hill.
Jae’Lyn Withers and Paxson Wojick are graduate students, but Withers I guess can return for a fifth year since he only played three seasons at Louisville. So, clearly, there is something lost with the abstract nature of college sports.
From the 25-year-old Ryan to 21-year-old Harrison Ingram to 19-year-old Elliot Cadeau, these newcomers have helped give us a great season so far and still have some important games to play.
To all of them, thank you, and keep Going, Heels!
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
“making college sports better for the athletes”
Perhaps, but what is the purpose of college sports? I would suggest that the student is left behind in this mess, and it is the students that should be first and foremost.
This year has worked out quite well for NC, but what will this chaos bring in future years? There is not a transfer playing for NC that I do not like, but this is not a true college team as it was when ” turning pro was so hard for James Worthy and Michael Jordan was because they wanted to play their senior years at Carolina “.
It is the students that suffer from having a pro team rather than a college team. Loyalty is lost and loyalty is a trait to be cherished.