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NEW ORLEANS – One of the storylines about this North Carolina basketball team is that of resilience, and no Tar Heel has exuded that more than senior wing Leaky Black.
He has almost seen it all at Carolina. And as he is set to play the last game of his final season Monday night in the national championship, unless he chooses to take advantage of the NCAA giving everyone back last season, an opportunity he is likely to embrace, Black is the one getting the last laugh.
Only, he isn’t going to flaunt it or anything. That just isn’t the calm, cool, and collected Concord, NC, native’s demeanor. He isn’t that guy.
Instead, Black is more introspective, refreshingly thoughtful throughout his Carolina career, perhaps aided by the direction of his mother, a longtime high school principal. Carla Black is known to many UNC fans as the noisy one in some of the Tar Heels’ broadcasts. Her son has been known as the guy who wasn’t as good as they expected, but that really is on them.
At 6-foot-8, Black is one of the top defenders in the nation and has been for a couple of years. He can rebound, pass, handle the ball well for a second or third ballhandling option on the court, and he is an IQ guy on the floor. And, he loves UNC and wants to desperately to be a part of something special at Carolina. It isn’t easy to see that it is part of what drives not only Black, but his teammates.
Black’s career and this UNC club’s season have been similar. Rocky for a while, but closing out nicely. And together, they have used the negativity from previous years and previous months as fuel.
For example, on the morning of their Final Four game versus arch rival Duke in the most hyped college basketball game in decades, the Tar Heels reflected, juxtaposing the moment of their situation.
“It was this morning at breakfast,” Black said about 25 minutes after the Heels disposed of the Blue Devils, 81-77, at the Superdome. “That was literally this morning at breakfast. We were just taking it all in, thinking about how many people were going to be at this game, all the media we’re finally getting.
“And it was to see where we came from, how bad we were getting blown out on national television, and now we’re in the championship. This is crazy.”
Crazy to the outside world that had given up on Black in his career and the Tar Heels on this season. Of course it has been a significant source of fuel for this turnaround that had Carolina in the national title game Monday night versus Kansas.
“Absolutely,” Black said without hesitation.
Black heard about his shooting, especially. He converted just 36.7 and 35.9 percent of his shots from the field as a sophomore and junior, respectively, including three-point percentages of 22.2 and 25.4. This season, he’s shooting 46.9 percent overall, including 41.7 percent from beyond the arc.
The Tar Heels’ nine losses this season have been by an average of 16.9 points, with four of the defeats by 20 or more points. But they have won 11 of 12 and are playing their best basketball of the season by every measurable.
Getting here making this run, and Black’s well-earned reputation as a straight-up lockdown defender, are examples of perseverance. Motivation of what naysayers have expressed is a worthy ingredient, but inner strength and belief is even greater.
Much of that comes with navigating through the tough times coming out on the other end with a clear vision of what’s coming and how one got there. The lessons are endless, but Black and the Heels have zeroed in on one in particular.
“Keep your head up and grind,” he said. “That’s what I’ve done my whole career. Obviously, I got it bad on social media the last couple of years. So, my thing was just grind. You can’t please everyone.”
But, when you persevere, improve, and win, you can please a massive fan base like Carolina’s. And that is exactly what Black and the Tar Heels are doing.
