From the Sports Desk

with Carey Phillips: 01/25/01

North Carolina's victory at Duke last Thursday was big for many reasons. For starters, it was the Tar Heels and Blue Devils meeting on the basketball court. That's reason enough to get excited.

However, the story goes deeper than that. It was a clear indication that North Carolina basketball has survived the retirement of the legendary Dean Smith and his short-term replacement, Bill Guthridge. The Tar Heels are Matt Doherty's team now, and there's every reason to believe they will be a national power for years to come.

The most consistent basketball program of the past 35 years had shown some troubling signs the last couple of seasons. It speaks volumes for North Carolina's success that 2000 was considered a down year but the team still went to the Final Four.

There's no denying that Duke had surpassed the Heels the past two seasons, at least as far as the Atlantic Coast Conference goes. The Devils had put together an amazing streak of three straight ACC regular season titles and a 53-2 league record in that span They owned five straight wins over Carolina and the Cameron Crazies were confident of making it six in a row.

North Carolina fans weren't accustomed to such futility against any opponent, much less their arch rival from eight miles up the road. Just prior to Duke's 5-0 run, Carolina had won nine of 10 meetings in the series and owns an all-time 122-85 advantage. Not only does Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski have a losing record against the Tar Heels, he is even under .500 at home on the court that now bears his name.

The win was not only important for the Tar Heels but for the rest of the ACC. Duke's dominance was about to reach the level where the ACC was not going to be recognized nationally as one of the best, if not the best, conferences in the country.

The last two years under Guthridge, Carolina's players had seem too laid back, unemotional and maybe even out of shape. It's often said that a team takes on the personality of its coach. That seemed to be the case with the laid back Guthridge.

It also seems to be the case this year with the emotional Doherty. He has his team playing with an intensity not seen at Carolina recently. Indeed, the swagger is back.

That intensity helped make for a great college basketball game regardless of the outcome. One of the things that stood out was Carolina's resiliency in fighting off every challenge even when the Devils went ahead with less than four minutes left.

With the game hanging in the balance and 1.2 seconds remaining, it was Brendan Haywood, a 48 percent free throw shooter, who stepped to the line. I thought back to three years ago when Haywood went to the line as a freshman with UNC down two and a second to play. He missed giving Duke the win. Call it poetic justice or Haywood's revenge, the big guy turned the tables this time by sinking both shots allowing UNC to claim victory.

No one is saying that Carolina has surpassed Duke. What the win shows is those who thought the Blue Devils had left the Tar Heels in their dust were wrong. These two heavyweights appear ready to continue their epic struggles for many, many years.

The Devils may win the rematch in Chapel Hill. They may win the ACC Tournament. They may even win the national championship. But last Thursday it became obvious that under Doherty the Tar Heels won't back down from anyone.

Remember last summer when Tar Heel fans prayed for Roy Williams to leave Kansas for Chapel Hill? How many of those folks are now thanking Williams for staying and giving Doherty the opportunity to run the show?

I guess what the song says is true. Sometimes God's greatest gifts really are unanswered prayers.

Is this more evidence that God is indeed a Tar Heel? As I look out the window, the sky is definitely Carolina Blue.

Back to Sports: 02/08/01.