COLUMBUS, OH – The basketball connection between Iona and North Carolina isn’t all that steep, but it does exist.
The Tar Heels and Gaels will meet for the sixth time on Friday night in the NCAA Tournament, with UNC the Goliath Iona serving as David. but perhaps the most notable meeting between the programs took place more than 16 years ago at Madison Square Garden.
It was the opening round of the Holiday Festival two days after Christmas on a very cold Friday night in New York City. Carolina was 7-2 and ranked No. 22 while Iona was 4-3. Tied at halftime, the Tar Heels were in for a tussle, a proposition that was seriously strained when starting big man Sean May went down with a broken foot 20 seconds into the second half.
May broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot and the Tar Heels eventually lost, 65-56. May played just 15 minutes scoring only one point that night, but he did grab nine rebounds.
The thing is, the injury didn’t surprise anyone in the UNC program, including May.
“I knew I was going to break my foot that day,” Maye recalled Thursday at Nationwide Arena. “I met with the doctors before and they said it would be better to play and have a clean break versus doing surgery, so it was just a matter of time.”
May missed the entire ACC regular season schedule but returned for the Tar Heels’ game versus Duke in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. He reinjured the foot that night and the Heels (17-15) lost to the Blue Devils and missed out on the NCAA Tournament.
“We had the talent,” May said. “I think it would have hard for us to overcome some things, we probably would have made it, but we just weren’t there, yet. We weren’t as good of a team, we didn’t mesh very well early on in my career and I think it took us some time. But three years later, you see where we were.”
The Indiana native played just 10 minutes and scored four points while grabbing three rebounds in the Heels’ 75-63 loss to the Devils. For the season, May saw action in 11 games averaging 11.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. As a sophomore, he averaged 15.2 points and 9.8 rebounds and as a junior May averaged 17.5 points and 10.7 boards per contest.
He was also named the MOP of the Final Four, as the Heels won the national championship in 2005.
That loss to Iona played a role in the Heels eventually developing into national champions, May said.
“I really think we underestimated them,” May said. “I just remember us the night before in film, they had a guy – big guy (Courtney Fields), was a stretch four – had a funky shot but he made (five). He was a really good shooter and I think we learned our lesson.
“I think it helped us down the line when coach (Roy Williams) got here and we made our run and later in life that you can’t underestimate anybody, you have to respect everyone.”
And 16 years later, that loss may help the current Tar Heels as well. May, who is the Director of Operations for the program, made it very clear the players he has first-hand experience losing to Iona.
So, when Iona’s name popped up on the screen during the NCAA selection show and it was paired with Carolina, May was fueled by the power of personal experience.
“I didn’t think about the game itself. Obviously, I knew they beat us,” he said. “Coach had already talked to the guys about respecting everyone, they’re talented and they’ve won 10 in a row. But my next thing was, ‘Hey guys, they beat us when I was here.’”
Who knew 5,921 days before the NCAA bids went out this past weekend, one of May’s most disappointing nights as an athlete would be used as a form of motivation for Carolina’s current club.
