The wait is over. The brackets are out and Jacksonville, Florida is the destination for the UNC men’s basketball team’s first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
***Listen to the story***
UNC checks in as the No. 4 seed in the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and will face No. 13 seed Harvard, winner of the Ivy League, Thursday at 7:20p.m. in the Sunshine State.
The Harvard players react to their NCAA selection announcement (Crimson Athletics)
“I really, really enjoy and like (Harvard head coach) Tommy Amaker. We competed against him when he was at Duke and I was an assistant here. I talk to Tommy on the road all the time; I think he’s a marvelous person. He’s done a really nice job there. Our team will be focused on Harvard. We won’t be looking past them,” UNC head coach Roy Williams says.
The winner of the Carolina-Harvard game will play the winner of the game between fifth-seeded Arkansas and 12th-seeded Wofford Saturday in Jacksonville.
Big Ten champion Wisconsin is the top seed in the West region and should the Tar Heels survive the opening weekend, would likely face off with the Badgers and National Player of the Year candidate, Frank Kaminsky, in the Sweet Sixteen.
Carolina has struggled to put together a complete 40 minutes of clean, air-tight basketball this season. But Coach Williams says people shouldn’t be questioning his team’s desire and want-to.
“I say some things a lot of times about sense of urgency, but our guys have tremendous heart. I’ve had some really good teams that maybe didn’t have a sense of urgency on every possession, but that didn’t mean they didn’t want to win as much as anybody else. Everybody is not built like Tyler Hansbrough or Raymond Felton. People want to criticize our kids, that’s okay, they don’t have anything better to do,” Coach Williams says.
Junior forward Brice Johnson, who’s quietly rounding into form, says the Tar Heels proved the doubters wrong with their inspired play in the ACC Tournament.
Brice Johnson and the Tar Heels came up just short of an ACC title vs. Notre Dame (Todd Melet)
“People probably counted us out at the beginning of the [ACC] Tournament. They didn’t think we’d make it this far. We really showed a lot of toughness and heart to come in and be able to go four days in a row and make it to the championship,” Johnson says.
Johnson says despite the disappointing defeat to Notre Dame in the ACC Championship game, he’s confident in UNC’s upward trajectory.
“I feel great. Even though we didn’t get this win, we did grow on all levels as a team. We just need to cut down a little more on the mistakes, and we’ll be right there. We are a great team. We’re starting to gel together and starting to play a little more to our potential,” Johnson says.
Coach Williams agrees with Johnson. He’s happy with the growth of his team heading into the Big Dance.
“I think we’ve grown in the four days we’ve been here [in Greensboro]. We’ve shown some toughness during those four days. We played better defensively,” Coach Williams says.
Justin Jackson on the dribble (Todd Melet)
Coach Williams is also quick to point out that success in the ACC Tournament is not a direct correlation to NCAA Tournament success. He gives a little history lesson.
“My teams have taken me to seven Final Fours. Only one time, did we ever win the conference tournament. That was in 2008. Every other time, we lost, even in 2005 and 2009 when we won the national championship, we lost in the conference tournament. This has a chance to make a really good run. We’ve got some things we’ve got to improve on, there’s no question,” Coach Williams says.
And if the Tar Heels do continue to improve, who knows? 2015 could offer a memorable postseason run.
Click here for a printable 2015 NCAA Tournament bracket.
