6BTha Daily Tar HeelThursday, April 30. 1981
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Ask any coach and he'll tell you that senior leadership is extremely important to
a successful season and the 1980-1931 sports season at the University of North
Carolina has been successful. .-. . " ' '
"Much of the success this year has to be
sports," Athletic Director John Swofford
tremendous athletic ability but they are outstanding people and have contributed
well to the way our University is represented."
The North Carolina Tar Heels represented Top 10 finishes in both football and
basketball, the first time that has ever happened at UNC in one season. It was cer
tainly one of the best sports years in the University's history.
Fecw2.ll Quarterback Chuck Sharpe is out for the season. Inexperienced Rod
Elkins replaces him. Second game of the season Tar Heels beat highly-regarded
Texas Tech 9-3 on regional television.
People take notice. Heels move up in polls.
Tar Heels handle Maryland, embarrass Georgia Tech, blast Wake Forest, laugh
at N.C. State and socially shun East Carolina.
Senior Lawrence Taylor makes believers. Senior Famous Amos Lawrence is side
stepping defenders. Senior Bill "the Horse" Johnson isn't. Senior Steve Streater
punts to oblivion. Defensive tackles Donneil Thompson and Harry Stanback clog
up the middle. Offensive linemen Ron Wooten and Rick Donnalley don't.
Heels move up to sixth in the polls. Talk about national championship.
Go down to Norman, Okla. Lose, lose, lose 41-7. No talk about national title.
Goal: Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a bowl.
Result: Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a bowl..
Tailbacks Lawrence and Bryant each gain 1,000 yards rushing.
Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston. Heels defeat Texas 16-7 in a game that was not
that close. Finish ninth in polLwith an 11 -
Basketball Season has begun. Dean
good. James Worthy and Jimmy Black coming off surgery. Two freshmen needed
to contribute. Senior Mike Pepper not tested. Senior AI Wood, a leader?
Worthy and Black come back from surgery well. Two freshmen contribute. Pep
per passes test. Senior Al Wood is a leader. . .
Wins over national powers including Indiana. Lose twice to Virginia as Cavaliers
come from way down. v
Tar Heels take second in the ACC going into the tournament. March 5 in Land
over, Md. UNC beats Wolfpack in first round. Pepper hits shot to give Heels a
58-57 win over Wake, March 6 and on March 7 the Tar Heels win the conference
title with a 61-60 edging of Maryland. .
Heels go to West regional. Beat Pittsburgh, Utah and Kansas State to reach Final
Four in Philadelphia. 1
Rematch with Virginia. Wood scores 39 points. He doesn't miss. Virginia does.
Revenge is sweet. -
That's what Indiana thought too as the Hoosiers put together a second half and
beat the Tar Heels for the national title as a country thought about its leader.
"We had a great season in "basketball and football," Swofford said. "But we
also once again achieved a level of excellence in non-revenue sports that we have
grown to expect."-
Eleven of Carolina's 26 sports finished its season in the Top 20 in the country.
UNC women took three of five ACC championships. Women's tennis, swim
ming and volleyball each won the conference.
The baseball team was three outs away from winning the ACC baseball tourna
ment before it bowed to perennial champ Clemson. And remember the lacrosse
team is No. 2 in the nation now. '
Success goes back to seniors, the heart of any team.
CLIFTON BARNES
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Guard guided
If Phil Ford is the best male point guard
ever to come out of UNC, then Aprille
Shaffer could certainly lay claim to the
women's title,, A .;;v, .; -,
A senior from High Point, Shaffer has
played in every Tar Heergame since she
was a freshman. She concluded her career -as
the third leading scorer in school his
tory, the third woman to score more than
1 ,000 points and like Ford tor tne men ,
the school's leader in assists.
Though she said she was disappointed
that the Tar Heels did not receive a post
season bid this season, Shaffer said her
four years here have been successful ones
for the team.
"We've piways been the underdog, and
we've come away with some very big
wins," Shaffer said. "We finished second
in the National Women's Invitational
Tournament last year, and we also won the
London Christmas Tournament against
teams from all over the world last year."
A journalism major, Shaffer said that
sometimes it was tough mixing basketball
with school, but if she had the choice she
would do it all over again.
"I have had so many teammates that
have become great friends," she said. "I
would not trad? the experience for any
thing. '
"I've been to places all over the country
and even to Europe that I would not have
had the chance to go," she said.
While Aprille's college career will end
in May, she plans to stick with basketball.
Right now she said she is undecided, but
it looks like she will be either playing pro
ball in Europe next year or serving as a
graduate assistant basketball coach some
where in the United States.
"European teams arc always looking
for American players," she said. "The
situation over there is much more stable
than the new pro league in this country."
Whatever her plans for next year,
Shaffer said she hopes one day to be a
college head coach. Until then she said
she will continue to learn about basketball
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due to the outstanding leadership in ail
said. "These people not only have
1 record.
Smith's squad is not supposed to be that
team to success
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. Aprille Shaffer DTHScottSh
strategies and improve on her experience.
She has assisted several head coaches
with their summer camps.
"I want to learn under the best," she
said. "I don't want to be just a coach. I
want to win a national championship."
Though Carolina failed to capture that
championship during her playing days,
Shaffer said she's glad she made the deci
sion to come to Chapel Hill.
"I would not go anywhere else," she
said. "It has been a real blast."
STEPHANIE GRAHAM
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Relief
When James "Peanut" Parks ends his North Carolina base
ball career at the end of the 1931 season, he will finish with a
school record for appearances in a single gcason and in a career.
One of those appearances, a recent one, is prevalent in the
m'md of the Gastonia native, who has been the UN'C bullpen
ace for more than two seasons.
"At the Duke game in the Atlantic Coast Conference
Tournament last week, after we'd made that comeback, I went
to the mound for the ninth inning," Parks said. "I looked up
into the crowd and ever) body was charing, catling my name.
"I wouldn't trade that moment with anybody. That made
the whole four years worth it."
Parks came back the next day and didn't fare so well against
Clemson. The Tar I lech fell to the Timers and, unless the team
pets a surprise at-brge bid to the NCAA regional, the season
and Parks career playing for Carolina will come to an end.
"Basically, the four year have been good," Parks said.
"You hate to end it the way wedsd that will tale a while to
get over."
Paris be-an as a starter, but hit movement to the bullpen
came not bccaW of a tack of talent, but because she team
needed a staffer, Parkt has done the Job, and UNC coach
Mike fcobem has often called !stks the team's rm.t valuable
pcrfuitucr.
"When I fim came here. I thought 1 had a tfar.ee to contri
bute tkhi awav," IV.U vuJ. "My first car, there were a kit
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Opposition sorry
In October 1977, a young student went
through his first college basketball prac
tice, and after the tough drills and work
out, he was ready to call off his playing
career.
That student was Al Wood but he didn't
give up. Now, four outstanding years later,
he said he's glad he stayed.
"The very first day of practice, I was
ready to quit and go home," Wood said.
"I was hurting so bad and that was just
the first day! I said to myself, 'I'm not
gonna make this, no way. This man (Coach
Dean Smith) ain't gonna kill me.'
"Then Randy Wiel (former Carolina
basketball player) said 'Come on Al you
can do it, you're in shape, just don't stop.'
I looked up at all the other guys and I fig
ured they were thinking the same thing I
was.
"I realized nothing comes easy and if
you want it, you've got to pay the price. I
just kept going, but that first day of prac
tice was the most grueling thing I've ever
been through in my whole life."
Wood said that Wiel made a big im
pression on him that day. In fact, he and
James Worthy are the players that Wood
has grown to respect the most during his
playing career at Carolina.
"James is just like a brother to me,"
Wood said. "I go to his house in Gastonia
and his mother treats me just like I'm her
kid. Randy was like a father to me. If I
got ready to do something, he'd always
give me a little quick advice on it.
"He always asked me to go places with
everybody and showed a special interest
in me. He took the extra time and I respect
him for it. He still comes back in the sum
mer so we keep in touch."
The list of Wood's accomplishments
and scoring records during his career here
is endless, but there is one game that
stands out in his mind.
"My best memory has to be the Virginia
lathi dar TAnl
If
The stories on this and the following page are about some of
the best athletes at the University of North Carolina who
finished their collegiate careers this year. Nowhere near every
senior is profiled here, because space limitations will not per
mit it. The Daily Tar Heel hopes these pages will suffice.
pitcher is a crowd favorite
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DTHFte Photo
Wood
senior stayed
game," Wood said, referring to this year's
NCAA semi-finals. The Tar Heels de
feated the Cavaliers, avenging two regular
season losses. In that game, Wood broke
the NCAA record by scoring 39 points.
"I didn't realize that the record had been
broken until after the game, then every
one told me," he said.
"If we had lost the game and I still had
broken the record, I'd be lying if I said I
wouldn't have gotten any satisfaction out
of it. But, the way we won it, after they
had. beaten us twice, was the sweetest thing
I can remember."
Wood will wait for . the basketball
draft in July to see where he will be play
ing next year. Although he is eternally the
optimist, he said that there are things he
will miss about playing here.
"Here at UNC, all of us are so close
and we're one big family," he said. "In
the pros there's so much individualism.
In college, you respect all the people
around you so much and it seems that
everyone gets along so well.
"In the pros, you're dealing with
grown-ups. It's a job and it just won't be
the same as it is here." That's the r way 'if is
and I'm not knocking it, but I'll miss
being around these guys that I get along
with so well. But, that's what I want, so
I'm not going to complain."
With his college career over, Wood said
that he appreciates all the hard work that
Coach Dean Smith required and that it's
been worth every bit of the time and
effort.
"After that first day, I was ready,"
.Wood said. "It's been hard ever since,
but now I appreciate what I've got be
- cause I know it didn't come easy. People
might think" it was easy, but it wasn't. I
worked at it and I'm proud of it. It makes
me feel real good."
KIM ADAMS
of old pitchers here and I had to work my way up.
"After some of them left, I felt th3t I would be a pitcher to
be counted on. I've liked being a relief pitcher, and I think that
if I get drafted and play pro bail it will be as a relief pitcher.
"Maybe, if I was a starter, the scouts would have looked at me
sooner. But I found later in the season that they'v e noticed me."
Parks, admitted that when he first came to Carolina that he
w as "hoping just to get by with the bocks," w 12: concentrating
on baseball. 'f realized that the University had a lot more to offer
me," he said. "Baseball has been my ticket to an education."
When Parks was a freshman, the Tar lice's rr.z'; it to the
College Baseball World Series, but Parks watched from the side
lines with an injured arm. That fact brings up thetwt most dis
appointing thirds Parks remembered about lis UNC career.
"I thought, someway, somehow, we'd get back to the World
Sciics in the r.et three sears," he s::!J. "As fr me, I wi.h I
hadn't Li j l the l'A: injuries th-X I ll'.X have h:ld r.; ta;k,
e?prL!'. this scjir."
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hint. If r, t, he i:ij 1 fit fry cut it a few c.rpj arj h;pe to
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efensive tackle makes' a name at UNC':
Not too many people knew Donneil
'Thompson when , he came to Carolina
four years ago from Lumberton. Amos
Lawrence was the rage. Then when
Thompson started he was overshadowed
somewhat by one Lawrence Taylor. But
it didn't matter.
"Some comments people make, you
can't take personal," said the 6-5,
255-pound defensive tackle. "I knew I
had a great, year but Lawrence deserves
everything he gets."
Taylor was picked second by the New .
York Giants in the pro football draft
Tuesday while Thompson was chosen by
the Baltimore Colts at the 18th position
of the first round.
Thompson has strength, finesse,
quickness, size and speed. His senior
season he made 52 solo tackles, helped
out on 35 more. He caused three fumbles,
recovered two, deflected three passes and
threw the opposition for -1 15 yards.
Those figures are good but not
terribly high because of the help
Thompson got from tackle Harry Stan
back and Taylor. ,
But the pros knew he was a major
prospect. About 25 teams contacted
him.
.A couple of Baltimore coaches and
scouts came to Chapel Hill about a
month ago and ran Thompson through
tryouts. They were impressed as he ran
the 40-yard dash in just a hair over four
. seconds.
The coaches have told him that he will
play defensive end for the Colts. "I can
use my speed at end," he said. "I feel I
can pass rush fairly well. I think I can go'
in now and be able to help the ball club
out."
But first Thompson is concentrating
on his studies. "Some people don't
realize how hard it is on an athlete,"
Thompson said. "I've had to keep my
nose in the books, stay in shape and
think about the draft. I'm not going to
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Donneil
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ACC title eludes stvimmer
Four years ago, when Ken Ireland was
being recruited in his home of Fort Lau
derdale, Fla., for the North Carolina
swimming program, there was a lot of talk
about beating perennial Atlantic Coast
Conference power N.C. State and winning
an ACC championship.
"That's something we. Coach (Frank)
Comfort and I, talked a lot about," Ire
land remembered. "I felt I was the kind
of swimmer who was capable of leading
the team to the ACC championship."
Ireland did turn out to be an exception
ally fine swimmer, making All-America
in his sophomore and junior seasons. But
he never was able to help the Tar Heel
tankers to an ACC crown though hea
ven knows he tried.
"Two years ago, I wrote Coach Com
fort a letter, telling him the things I
thought we'd have to do and the attitude
I though we'd have to have to win," Ire
land said. "I was captain this year and
preached about those things, but State did
the things I'd said we'd have to do and
they beat us again.
"I'm very, very disappointed that we
never won an ACC championship while I
, was here. In fact. I'm downright hurt
about it."
But Ken Ireland has few other regrets
about his carta as a t summer for North
CaxoLna. Swimming in the ICX and 200
yard backstroke arJ the 200- and 500
yard freestyle, Ireland iali he leaves the
program fairly pleased with hh individual
performances.
SLmmir:g has been a big part of his
life. Ireland began swimming competi
tive! a zz: 12 arJ said that he'd certain
lnat be at UNC and may not have even
gc-ftc to ccllce had it roc been for swim
rr.ir. iki it ml been for iwtmmmi, 1
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Wi..;.'kVt ksve the si .!. to handle the
X s.!c.. u hive the ulton-r.l-.ell-.e.
"I- ; L :.hn )tnj tUne lh;
worry about my contract. I'm spending
time right now on school work." ,
Thompson said that if he does not
graduate in May he will go to the first
session of summer school to complete
the required number of hours.
"My mother always wanted me to get
a degree," he said. "I promised her I
would get it and I'm going to."
Thompson said he would not trade his
four years at UNC. "I've loved going to
Carolina. If I had the chance I'd do it all
over again. College football has paid for
my education."
Football is football even' though
college is more of a game while pro is a
job, Thompson said. "College is kind of
like a job also though," the soft spoken
giant said. "You play for your education
and food. If you don't show up on time,
you're not going to eat. So I guess I've
always looked on it as a job too.
"Playing here at Carolina has
matured me. I now have a mental tough
ness that you have to have... I don't
believe any lineman can beat me one-on-one,"
he said adding that he does not
mean to sound cocky.
"I think you must have confidence in
yourself if you're going to play well' he
said.
That hunk of confidence must take
off the Carolina Blue and White and
don the Colt dark blue and white.
"I'm really going to miss running out
on Saturday afternoons and seeing that,
light blue out there," Thompson said;
"It was great to see my friends and
fellow ' students cheering me on. I'll
definitely miss tha part of it." .
But No. 76 likes to emphasize that
football is football. "I got some more
things to learn about it," he said. "I'm
not at my peak but I think I can play
with the best of them."
Donneil Thompson has made a name
for himself at North Carolina, next year
it's Baltimore's turn.
CLIFTON BARNES
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Thompson
DTRfa Photo
Ken lrrland
jd if you can apply them to school or
things later in hfe. you've gotten a lot
more out of it than just a bunch of rib
bons or medals."
Ireland will graduate with his etuis and
has been active in fraternity Lfe and in the
Naval ROTC rrcram while at UNC.
After khoot, the twimmin will be over
for Ireland. Because of his connection
with KOTC, he wul enter flight school
with his commi v.ion in July.
Looking ba.k, Ireland said lie has very
few regrets.
"I :ive K p.-ricnt cf my heart and
sr-J to t! -s no.'farn 'f uf he
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