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?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing OutRoy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps UpDean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) StarBen Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and AmbitionsGarrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID DebateClemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft DodgersCarolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To CarolinaUNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra MotivationCarolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›
