Love Opens Up About UNC, has Grown Since Moving on
*Caleb Love interview posted below.
LOS ANGELES – In Hollywood, why not have a script that only the reality and sometimes-quirkiness of sport can provide?
Former North Carolina guard Caleb Love is in town where movies about fantasy, and sometimes reallife, are made. And so are the Tar Heels, Love's former team, one in which he lifted to the national title game two years ago by hitting an iconic jump shot to essentially beat Duke.
Love was the Pac-12 Player of the Year this season after transferring to Aizona last spring. If his team beats Clemson and UNC takes out Alabama on Thursday night, they will meet Saturday with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
Nobody on either team is getting that far ahead of themselves. And as Love sat in front of his locker at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday afternoon, few questions were asked about possibly facing his former team.
Instead, it was about his season, keeping up with the Heels, and what he learned from a UNC experience that turned a bit sour toward the end, making it almost impossible for him to play another season in Chapel Hill. It directly speaks to an often-repeated line by Love all season referencing what he went through. So, he not only changed programs, but changed himself as well.
“How I approach things,” Love said. "At North Carolina, it was kind of tough with the fans, and things like that. Going through expectations that people may have on me. I think I’ve just been playing free, playing my game, blocking out any noise or any hatred or anything of that nature. Negativity.
“I’ve been hooping. My teammates have been helping me with that. They’ve been having my back all year. I just think I’ve been playing free.”
Playing free isn’t just about basketball, it’s about the weight of the fan base a year ago that made returning to Chapel Hill nearly impossible. Love said during last season he didn’t hear the noise, but acknowledged Wednesday he most certainly did.
“Towards the end of the year, obviously when things went down, it was tough,” Love said. “But I think it built me up to the player that I am now and as strong mentally as I am now.”
Love is averaging 18.1 points per game this season, while also grabbing 4.9 rebounds and handing out 3.5 assists. He’s shooting 41.8 percent from the field, including 34.3 percent from 3-point range.
The other guard with whom he enrolled at the same time with at UNC is RJ Davis, who leads the ACC in scoring and was named his league’s player of the year, too. Davis said two weeks ago he and Love congratulated each other. Love expanded on that exchange.
“I called to congratulate him as soon as I seen it, and he congratulated me as well,” Love said. “’m proud of him. I was in the gym with him at Carolina, I’ve seen how much work he’s put in. He’s been RJ for all four years. He’s a great player and he’s had a historic season. So, I’m proud of him, happy for him.”
The irony, or maybe not so much given the NCAA’s history of crafting potentially juicy matchups, is that Love and Davis are in L.A. seeking the same prize; a West Region championship.
Davis’ team is the top seed, Love’s is the number two seed. They watched each other some this year, with Love saying he pulled for the Tar Heels.
“I’ve watched a few games,” Love said. “Honestly, I’ve got teammates I played with on that team and I always want to see them succeed. But it’s not only them that I watch, I watch Dontrez (Styles) at Georgetown. I watch D’Marco (Dunn) and Puff (Johnson at Penn State), Justin McKoy (at Hawaii); I’ve tapped in with him.
“Leaky (Black), I’ve been tapped in with him, too. I’m proud of him. He’s made it on the Hornets. I’ve been tapped in with all my teammates.”
Whether or not he taps into the same game as UNC on Saturday remains to be seen. In the world of the NCAA Tournament, that’s a long way away. Even if his former school is right down the hall.