Saturday, March 4, 1967
tttf DAILY TAR HEEL
Page 3
CI
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Careers
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By Bob Lewis, Tom Gauntlett And Mark Mirken As Told To Jim
Fields.
DTH Photos by Gene Wang, Steve Adams
and Mike
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Three of the most popular,
exciting and colorful basket
ball stars to ever play at
Carolina will bring an end to
their college careers this af
ternoon when the Tar Heels
play their final regular season
game against Duke Univer
sity. Bob Lewis and Tom Gaunt
lett will each be making then
last appearance before a home
crowd while Mark Mirken will
be benched due to an injury.
This article isn't going to
make any attempt to pay trib
ute to them, but these are their
own individual stories as told
in their own words about their
basketball
Carolina.
careers here at
"I've played on three var
sity teams now," Bob Lew
is began, "and each one has
been as different as night and
day. I played on the same
team with Billy Cunningham
my sophomore year and felt
privileged to be able to play
with him. Billy was more of
an individual player for us,
and we all looked to him to
carry the team. He was a tre
mendous rebounder, probably
the best in the school's his
tory. We had a 15-9 record
that year, and I believe we
could have won twenty games
that year if we could have
beaten some of the teams we
lost to by one or two points.
I played forward that year and
really had my ups and downs,
but the experience I gained
McGowan
, 11
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has since proven to be inval
uable. "My junior year was the
first year I played with Larry
(Miller)," Bob continued.
"Larry and I are different
types of players in that he's
very strong and can score
easier from under the basket
than I can. When the season
first started, I felt like I
would have to lead the team
until Larry gained some var
sity experience. So, I started
off shooting a lot and was av
eraging about 35 points a
game after ten games. Once
Larry started playing real
well, the other teams began
to key on us, and we both
learned a lot of basketball
last year.
'This year's team is the best
one I've ever played on in my
life," he added, "our Dig
sophomores are really doing
a fine job, and for the first
time in six or seven years,
Carolina has height and pow
er off the boards. I feel like
I'm really contributing more
'to the team this year than I
have in the past. I'm not scor
ing as many points as before,
but scoring points doesn't
mean a thing if you're not win
ning ball games. This year
we're winning. I think my
whole game has improved this
year, and I believe now I'm a
more complete ball player
than Bob Lewis the scorer
was. The whole team has de
veloped that winning feeling,
and we're really looking for
ward to today's game and
then the tournament.
"I've had a lot of great mo
ments here at Carolina," Bob
said, "but they are all just
fond memories that I can look
back on. Right now, I'm look
ing forward to a greater m:
ment yet to' come this yea
with this team, not as an in
dividual." "It was a lot harder for me
to adjust to college basketball
than most guys," Tom Gaunt-
lett began. "I had played :
guard all through high school,
and when I got here, I was
playing center on the fresh
man team because I was the
tallest starter. Kenny Rose-
mond was our coach that year,
and we played real hard for
him.
"My sophomore year wasn't
much different," he contin-.
ued. "I was used as a for
ward most of the time and
. ' 1 1 V "I I i'l x
started about half the games
that year. We btat Duke twice
that season, and I'll never
forget those two ball games.
"I think the biggest disap
pointment for the whole team
last yaar was the 21-20 tour
nament loss to Duke," Tom
said. "I think we all felt that
we had that game won and
then let it slip through our
hands. Losing that game hurt
real bad.
"Being the sixth man this
year wasn't an easy adjust
ment for me to make," he
added. "I had started all last
year, and when I came back
to school this year, I talked
ovsr the prospects for the sea
son with Coach Smith. I knew
that we had some real good
sophomores coming up, and
with the proper experience
and coaching, they could real
ly help make this a great ball
club. I also realized that I
would be of more value to the
team as the sixth man because
after all these guys had two
more years to play, and it was
only right that they get their
chance now."
Ever since Tom has been in
school here, he's had the same
roommate, Bob Lewis. "It's
really great rooming with
Bob," he said. "I first met
him in the gym the day I ar
rived hsre, and right away I
could see that someday he
would be a great star. We've
always gotten ; along real well
together. I don't believe we've
ever had an argument, and
even with all the publicity
Bob's gotten, we've never had
any trouble. Bob's very hum
ble and never wants to talk
about himself. I consider my
self fortunate to have been
able to play on the same team
and room with Bob for the
past four years. I just hope
that we can make our last
home game a sucessful one
and then move on to bigger
and better things in the next
few weeks with this team."
"The first year I played var
sity ball was Cunningham's
last year," Mark Mirken be
gan. "There wasn't a lot of
balance on that team, and we
all looked to Billy to lead us.
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He was always a great scor
er, but I admired him more
for his rebounding ability. I
played behind Billy that year,
and he made us what we were.
"Last year we still didn't
have a complete team effort,"
h2 continued. "We looked to
Larry (Miller) and Bob (Lew
is) to carry all the scoring
load, and when other teams
were able to stop one or both
of them, we were in trouble.
I played the sixth man most
of last year, and believe that
with a few good breaks, we
could have won a lot more
ball gi .nes.
"This year's team is the
best of the three I've played
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on," Mark continued. "We're
getting better all around team
effort, and there's more team
unity this year. Winning means
a lot to all of us, but we want
to win not just for ourselves
and the school, but for Coach
Smith also. He's been a great
coach, and I've really enjoyed
my years here at Carolina.
I'm just sorry that I won't be
able to play any more this
season."
There have been many trib
utes paid to these three play
ers over the past four years,
but you can pay them an even
greater honor this afternoon
by showing them how much
you've appreciated their ef
forts on the basketball court
here at Carolina.
f2 w-J
SSn- J
'Hate To
See Them
Go... '
By JIM FIELDS
DTH Sports Writer
"I've often been told that I
become too attached to my st
niors," said Coach D?an Smith
when asked how he would feel
Saturday when Bob Lewis,
Tom Gauntlett and Mark Mir
ken make their final appear
ance for Carolina.
"I'll really hate to see them
go because I've come to know
them so well over the last few
years," he continued. "Bob is
one of the most complete ball
players we've ever had at
Carolina. Tom has always
played excellent ball for us,
even as a sixth man. His de
sire and hustle has given us a
faster team each year. Mark
has one of the finest attitudes
of any ball player I've ever
coached. He's always been
used to give our center a rest
and has been instrumental in
many victories for us."
While these were Coach
Smith's feelings about his
three seniors, some of the oth
er players on the team ex
pressed similar views.
"It's been a great experi
ence for me to play with all
three of them," Larry Miller
said. "I admire Bob a great
deal. He's the finest ball play
er I've ever played with, and
he deserves every honor he re
ceives. "Tom and Mark have been
invaluable to us in tight situ
ations," Miller continued.
"They have come off the.
bench all season to give us
lifts and have really meant a
lot to us."
"What can I say about
them?" asked Dick Grubar.
"They arc all real fine ball
players, and I've enjoyed play
ing with them an awful lot.
We'll f all miss them next
year."
"Lewis has really shown
great leadership this year,
said Bill Bunting. "He's made
;rthe transition to guard - real
well I , think. He's really one'
of the greatest.
"Tom and Mark have both
been a tremendous inspiration
to me," Bill continued.
"Tom's great hustle and de
sire has been a real inspira
tion to all the team and Mark'
has given us a real good big'
man we could turn to when
Rusty or myself needed a
rest."
"About this time Gerald Tut
tle interrupted and said that
he. wanted to say something
about the seniors. "I'm really
going to miss every one of
them next year," he said with
a sly smile on his face, "but'
I at least think Tom and Bob
could leave us the tube in
their room for old time
sakes."
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