Black Lives Matter to Carolina Basketball for generations.
Roy Williams and former players from all six of UNC’s NCAA championship teams produced a compelling video message, affirming that Black Lives Matter to them — always has and always will.
Williams found the common link that has existed in Chapel Hill for more than six decades, beginning with the 1957 national championship team that had no African-American players but tried to include one under coach Frank McGuire.
After his arrival at UNC from St. John’s, McGuire recruited Wilt Chamberlain out of Overbrook High school in Philadelphia and was frustrated that Chamberlain could not get into school here.
When Dean Smith joined The Irishman’s staff in 1958, he asked about integrating the program. McGuire had mixed emotions, because he had brought his 1952 St. John’s team, with black star Solly Walker, to play in the Eastern Regional in Raleigh — and the hotel they stayed at made Walker sleep in a custodian’s stock room.
“Frank didn’t want his players subjected to that kind of treatment in the South,” Smith recalled years later after recruiting Charles Scott.
That may be one of the reasons that 1957 National Player of the Year Lennie Rosenbluth and All-ACC point guard Tommy Kearns jumped at Williams’ invitation to appear on the UNC video. “Lennie was so happy to do it he was almost crying,” Williams said.
Players from Smith’s first national champions in 1982 – Jimmy Black, James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Michael Jordan – plus George Lynch, Eric Montross and Donald Williams from Smith’s second title team in 1993 are on the video, speaking for inclusion and against racism.
All three of Ol’ Roy’s championship teams are represented – Sean May, Raymond Felton, Jawad and Marvin Williams from 2005, plus Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Tyler Hansbrough and Wes Miller from 2009, and Justin Jackson, Luke Maye, Kennedy Meeks and Theo Pinson from 2017 – crafting heartfelt sentences from strong words.
This is not one coach with a recruiting message, rather players from three generations, calling for action. Can any other school say that?
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This is all well and good, but ignores the black-on-black violence that plagues black communities. Perhaps a better phrase would be ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER. i could support that wholeheartedly. I have seen that Memphis is going to wear BLM stickers on their football helmets. If Carolina permits this, on the basketball or football uniforms, or any of the other team uniforms, I will not support the University.
BLM focuses on the police mistreatment of our African -American citizens. Please do not confuse this with the societal crime problems in all communities. The US has a serious problem with gun violence throughout the land. White suicides and black on black crime are separate issues.