My friend Eli Evans still loves Carolina basketball.
Earlier this week, I visited a dear friend at his apartment in New York City. Eli Evans, one of UNC’s most distinguished alumni, is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and may or may not have recognized me.
Now in his early 80s, Evans was president of the student body at Carolina and creator of the Center for Jewish Studies at UNC. A native of Durham, he has written several best-selling books about growing up in the South. And he has always loved the Tar Heels.
During the visit, I pulled one of the Carolina basketball books off his shelf and looked for a story to read Eli that might connect us during the 90 minutes we spent together. I chose a masterpiece written by fellow alum Alfred Hamilton after the Tar Heels won Dean Smith’s first national championship in 1982.
It was more about the university’s first NCAA title in 1957, when Eli was in school, and how the players on that undefeated team beat Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in triple overtime at Memorial Auditorium in Kansas City, a challenge akin to playing one of Smith’s or Ol’ Roy’s great teams in Greensboro or Charlotte.
The story begins with Joe Quigg, one of the heroes from Frank McGuire’s miracle season, watching Smith’s team 25 years later trying to defeat Georgetown. And Hamilton deftly intertwines narratives on both championship games, from Tar Heel point guard Tommy Kearns jumping center against “Wilt the Stilt” to Michael Jordan hitting the winner over the Hoyas in New Orleans.
Eli seemed like he was listening intently. But only when I read the parts that covered his days as a student, did he nod and smile. They say dementia attacks short-term memory first, and the oldest recollections are the last to go. It seemed that way with Eli.
Hamilton writes how Lennie Rosenbluth, the 1957 national player of the year, had fouled out in the final minutes of regulation and watched nervously from the bench as Quigg stepped to the foul line in the third overtime, his team trailing 53-52.
“I’m glad it was Joe taking those shots,” Rosenbluth recalls, “Every kid pictures himself shooting two free throws to win the national championship and making them. Joe lived that.”
Quigg, of course, sank both shots and the Heels won. Eli smiled and laughed. He remembered.
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