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ulfjr flaih} ®ar Heel when the red-clad spectators roared H r than their counterparts. 1 strange season for sure and a peculiar 1 or Capel and Kris Lang, who entered t Ronald Curry as McDonald’s An ything I expected it to be and more,” Lang vhai I mean by more is this season. You :ted.North Carolina to be in this situ- ley were and so I’m glad I was a part ese guys.” , the guys didn’t stick around. Jt nber, 7-foot-5 redshirt freshman tm on transferred. Injanuary, foot- Mm s Curry and Julius Peppers if 1 3 they wouldn’t return to BH ■am. Capel wore their basket- Jra :s on his shoes throughout the HKB ring Spring Break, sopho- Hf I Brian Morrison decided to | >w three juniors and seniors 1 ;in the fall - Adam Boone, | olmes and Willjohnson. j transfer all the time,” Dohertv tNfc imed around to point out pic- I wall -much like in a fratemi- H | >f former players who had trans- B I ; past. “Was that a cause for con- H think kids come here and realize N er reasons they want to leave. In it’s a good decision, and I understand \ the biggest change after everything has nd done has been how the hard players went through changed ssult of losing while wear orth Carolina” name leys. ■ . ■' I, but life’s tough vhnson said in :Icm. “It’s just where you’ve j ugh and keep m-vlfer lie Tar Heels go * ; , is they again lose • i and most experi ;rs is what everyone • until the next round :omes next year, the future is going to be s program just for the fact that nedls© much this season,” Lang eady shedding tears following his ate garnet “They’ve built a lot of thwhat’s happened this year, so ieat thing with what happened.” .ho probably has more pride his teammates, fouled out of gainst Duke and left the floor mal goodbyes and hopes that ;one, dungs might change yet he’s hurting inside, and he just and hugged every last one of L us, ,‘Don’t let this happen ihraan Melvin Scott said. “We at we loVe him. It was a very >amt in the game, and he just iep playing hard. And then he ■ almost had them, zere his last words, and then he bench." Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu. bigger, a shooter, • , including - bulk upin -• i rebodnd.u.! 03. The -.-I. tN T O THE W 1 w 1 /% y £% / I | Swingman Rashad McCants is one V of three All-American recruits in ■ the Tar Heels' incoming freshman class for the 2002-03 season. McCants, Raymond Felton and Sean May will play together for the first time in the McDonald's All-American Game on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The game, to be broadcast on ESPN, will be played at 8 p.m. In his senior season at New Hampton (N.H.) School, the 6-foot-3 McCants averaged 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists. His IpHE athleticism and aggressive, H hard-nosed on-court demeanor have earned him . / a reputation as the kind of player opponents hate to face. wf The future of North Carolina r basketball is running late. Raymond Felton, message board messiah, Tar Heel savior du jour, wanted to leave for his girlfriend’s place in Florence, S.C., a half hour ago. But late on a Friday afternoon, hours after uk being dismissed from Latta High School for the weekend, the 2002 Naismith High School vS I Player of the Year is back in the parking lot, Vi,, I coolly nailing every last question. How often do you talk to Coach Doherty ? ■F Have you played against Leßron James? Have you seen Hoop Dreams ? If Felton’s good at dealing with situations like this, it’s because he’s used to them by now. He was first noticed at about the age of five, when he would pour in 40 points in youth league games. It continued through his adolescence, during which he’s given more interviews and been courted by more schools than he can name (when asked which colleges targeted him, Felton deadpans, “All of them”) Thirteen years after terrorizing his kindergarten class, the 6-foot-1 point guard’s slipped a bit. He ■ averaged only J 1)..") points per game his in ugaßby but u was good enough to lead I.atta High to it' sec ond consecutive state championship. “He’s basically head-and-shoulders above the rest of the w&j)r guards in the country,” said Clint Jackson, a recruiting ana lyst for TheACC.com. “He can shoot the 3, he can take it to the hole, he can dunk, he can absorb body contact. He’s very mature in his mindset that he really doesn’t need to show off or make someone look bad. He just does what it takes to win.” According to those who have seen him play, he does it when it counts. “When it comes down to crunch time, he answers the bell,” said Dave Telep, director of basketball recruiting for Thelnsiders.com. “And that’s not something you can measure." When the bell tolls midnight come a crisp night this October and UNC begins its practice season, the freshman will face the most formidable challenge of his career. Felton will be responsible for restoring marks that prior to last season seemed like layups. One straight 20-win season. One straight top-3 finish in the ACC. One straight NCAA tournament appearance. Of course, he won’t exactly be on his own. * He’ll be joined by Rashad McCants, an explosive, chis cffeAf -, I eled. t> 3 wing forward out of New Hampton N.H. School with a di'proportionaleh wide wing span and a mean streak cut from the Rasheed Wallace mold. “He intimidates a lot of people," Jackson said. "McCants is the type of player that I think all of the other teams are g l,in ß lll hate and Carolina fans are gi ung t<. Ii >ve. 1 le’s got that on court personality that’s just cocks and mean and nasty.” . And they'll be joined bv Sean Mav. a 6-8 pow er forward from Bloomington, Ind., with a wide bodv and a soft touch. “Sean May is an important piece of this puzzle because he WmttK 'he true low-post scoring option that thev need,” Teleji said ' C’R' of the Bloomington North High School senior, who averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds per game this season. The three are only half of the six-man recruiting class set to t ~ join the Tar Heels in the fall, yet they receive almost all the atten ds tion. As well they should. (Hr While interior players Damion Grant and Byron Sanders have Hr already been labeled projects, and walk-on swingman David Noel is H an ex-football recruit, Felton, May and McCants are three of 10 W Parade Magazine first-team All-Americans - for the entire country, r “To be honest, it really wouldn’t matter what way it was,” Felton said. “I don’t choke under pressure. Pressure doesn’t bother me.” Said McCants, who averaged 25 points and seven boards per game at New Hampton this season, “We don’t really have to say anything. Just let our games do the talking.” May is not as brash, but he is just as enthusiastic about coming to Chapel Hill. Or maybe it’s leaving Bloomington. His father Scott is a Hoosier legend. He was a two-time All-American and the 1976 Player of the Year on Indiana’s unbeaten championship team. After choosing UNC instead of IU in November, Sean suffered a backlash that included phone calls and letters, comments from friends at school and strangers at shopping malls -and that continues five months later. “I just went out yesterday, went to get a bite to eat, and l at least had four or five people come up to me,” said the 265-pounder two days after Indiana disposed of Kent State in the Elite Eight. "And they're like ‘What about those Hoosiers? They’re in the Final Four. I bet you wish you would’ve went there.’ “I don’t think there’s any way that this year could have been any harder on me.” Jamie Agin Assistant Sports Editor all the time what a great situation he’s going into as a young player.” Next year’s “great” situation will likely entail Felton seizing the role of the team’s starting point guard, May starting at either power forward or center and McCants with a chance to earn a starting spot at either shooting guard or small forward. In addition to minutes and points, they’ll be counted on to drive up the intensity of an 8-20 team that at times looked lost last season. “What you forget is, when you bring in guys like this, there’s guys like Jackie Manuel who are going to go, ‘Whoa, wait a minute,’ and all of a sudden, hope fully, that competition will raise everyone’s level of play,” Telep said. Felton might have already made his presence felt in UNC gyms. “I remember hearing stories about him coming down as a junior and play ing pickup games with the Tar Heels and you know, just taking it to Joseph Forte,”Jackson said. “Forte was the best player on the Tar Heels at the time. He could come in there as a 16-year-old and just go right at Forte without even thinking about it.” Recruiting analysts do their jobs by spreading sto ries like that one. Basketball coaches keep theirs by doing the oppo site, deflecting the hype and letting young players develop. Enter Matt Doherty, who has begun shielding his three McDonald’s All- Americans from the super sized pressure that comes along with “saving” North Carolina basketball. “I think they might hear that from other people, but they don’t hear that from me,” said Doherty, who himself played in the McDonald’s game in 1980. “I hope that people listen, people listen to me. Some people are realistic and say next year could be a rough year, too, because we are so young and so inexperi enced. Our most experi ence post man next year will be Sean May. Scary.” Still, some of the Tar Heel faithful have already made up their minds. “He’s just like Stackhouse,” spouted one spectator to no one in par ticular while watching McCants will his way to 30 points in a Feb. 23 scrimmage against an over- matched UNC junior varsity team. “Only stronger.” And three inches shorter than the 1995 first-team All American. And 28 pounds lighter. McCants, echoing advice he said he’s received from Doherty and UNC for wardjawad Williams, best sums up the heralded trio’s situation. “We're going to have to grow up fast.” If they do? “For us to come in, and if we turn the program back around to what every one’s used to seeing it as,” May said, “it just makes all of us, and the coaching staff, and the players that are already there look so much better." And if they don't? For now, it's a possibility that everyone involved with the program, includ ing Felton, would rather not think about. “It’s not going to be what everybody’s thinking. It’s not going to be easy. I’m not going to say we’re going to go there and beat ’em,” said Felton, referring to Duke, staring down at the concrete, shaking his head -then grinning. “But that’s the plan." Tuesday, April 2, 2002 Said Scott May: “I think that he’s grown up since the decision, and I think it’s opened his eyes about people, about people that he thought were his friends. As far as next year and the pressure, being a freshman on a team that had a losing record, I tell him Star Trios Three of North Carolina's six incoming freshmen Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Sean May earned 2002 McDonald's All-America honors, marking the sixth time a UNC recruiting class has included three McDonald's. Following the worst season in school history, Felton, McCants and May will be expected to contribute immediately. Here's how the other five Tar Heel classes with three All-Americans fared: Incoming season: 1985-86 All-Americans: Steve Bucknall, Jeff Lebo, Kevin Madden. Achievements: The trio helped UNC to a 116-25 mark during a four-year span, including regular-season ACC titles in 1987 and 1988, and made it to at the Elite Eight twice. Incoming season: 1986-87 All-Americans: Pete Chilcutt, J.R. Reid, Scott Williams. Achievements: Even though Chilcutt would redshirt his freshman year, he came back to help the 1988 ACC champion and Elite Eight team. Incoming season: 1990-91 All-Americans: Eric Montross, Derrick Phelps, Brian Reese. Achievements: This group was the core of Dean Smith's national championship team in 1993. The group won 114 games in its four years and played in two Final Four, losing to Kansas in 1991 before defeating Michigan two years later. Incoming season: 1993-94 All-Americans: Jeff Mclnnis, Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace. Achievements: The first class to come in after UNC's title year, Mclnnis, Stackhouse and Wallace led the Tar Heels to a Final Four in 1995. That year, North Carolina dropped its national semifinal game against Arkansas Incoming season: 1998-99 All-Americans: Jason Capel, Ronald Curry, Kris Ung. Achievements: The fust recruiting class of former UNC coach Bill Guthridge, the group reached the 2000 final Four a year before Coach Matt Doherty took over. Curry played only two years before concentrating solely on football. 5
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 2, 2002, edition 1
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