**************************************************************************************
***************************************************************************************
PHILADELPHIA – Emotions flowed heavily for North Carolina on Sunday evening.
And for very good reason.
The Tar Heels are going to the Final Four, as they defeated St. Peter’s, 69-49, to win the East Region championship at Wells Fargo Center, even though the odds of them sniffing the Big Easy next weekend were rather remote just a month ago.
Carolina wasn't supposed to be in this situation, the narrative setters said. The team was dumped on by fans, as social media was a too often a cruel experience for the players.
Rookie UNC Coach Hubert Davis was occasionally vilified for his team's performances. And the concerns weren’t without some merit. The Tar Heels were plain awful at times, getting blown in four games by the third week of January. Aand when it appeared things were on the uptick, Pittsburgh happened. That was just 39 days ago.
Fans are led by their passions, and the team knew deep down that is what drove the ugliness. But now that Carolina is heading to its NCAA-record 21st Final Four, and certainly one of its most improbable, the Heels find tremendous appreciation for having traveled over such a rocky road.
“It means everything, because since I've been here, my first two years was just so tough,” said junior forward Armando Bacot, who was named the East Region Moist Outstanding Player. “And people kind of pushed North Carolina to the side and saying how we were done and all this and that. And I'm just so glad to make it to the Final Four, finally, and kind of cement myself.
“We're not done yet. But just so you know, cement myself and us as a team, me and Leaky (Black), specifically, to be able to say we won.”
Think about it, the Heels were 14-19 two years ago and just 18-11 after being destroyed by Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in what turned out to be Roy Williams’ last game. They were 12-6 following a rout at Wake Forest on Jan. 22, and 18-8 after the Pitt debacle on Feb. 16.
The players desperately wanted the true UNC basketball experience. Davis wanted them to have that true UNC basketball experience. Never wavering, he pushed and guided, and Sunday, they achieved that.
So, when Black walked toward the bench with 1:21 remaining and the game in hand, he and Davis embraced for what seemed like an eternity, as far as player-coach hugs go. There hasn’t been anything more genuine this season than the affection they showed.
“I feel like it was a good hug,” Black said afterward, smiling. “We just didn't want to let go. It was a good little moment.”
Carolina’s last month of basketball has been loaded with good little and big moments. And as Bacot said, the Tar Heels aren’t done yet. But there was a sincere sense of satisfaction with the team Sunday evening. It was okay if they enjoyed this.
The Tar Heels have now won 16 of their last 19 contests, including 10 of 11. And among those triumphs are the win at Duke in Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game, plus the remarkable overtime win over defending national champion Baylor a week ago, and the grind-it-out affair over fellow blue blood UCLA on Friday night.
For a team that was so ridiculed all season and the most discussed club in the nation when the topic of NCAA fence sitters began in late January, they allowed themselves to exhale and release as the inevitable became clear.
One by one, the starters walked toward the bench and each hugged their head coach, whose tears later flowed again and again and again.
“We never wanted to look past Saint Peter's because they've been a great team and they beat two teams that beat us,” Bacot said. “But towards the end, once I realized we were really going to the Final Four, it started to sink in and definitely started getting emotional.
“Me and all the players and the coaches too, because we battled through so much this year. And just to have the fight and adversity just to get through all this, it was special.”
It was indeed special, and it was emotional.
Carolina blue tears flowed Sunday evening because the once seemingly impossible actually happened.
