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CHAPEL HILL – Saturday was an afternoon of pomp and circumstance North Carolina basketball style.
Legendary former UNC Coach Roy Williams was honored at halftime for his amazing lifetime of achievements in the sport, which included him leading the Tar Heels to three national championships in his 18 seasons at the helm. And the 1982 national title team was here celebrating its 40th reunion.
Among them was the player whose jump shot with 17 seconds remaining lifted Dean Smith to his first national title in Carolina’s 63-62 win over Georgetown. That Tar Heel went on to not only become one of the greatest players in UNC history, but he’s renowned as the greatest player the sport has ever seen.
He was on hand, too, and the current Tar Heels were downright giddy. It showed in their 100-80 victory over NC State in a game they led by as many as 35 points early in the second half. And they did this on an afternoon when the Carolina Basketball pours had opened up and a blue-clad flood flowed.
"The man was right there in front of us, so we were all starstruck,” UNC senior Leaky Black said, referring to Michael Jordan being with the team in the locker room.
Perhaps Jordan’s presence, more than anything else, inspired the Tar Heels to their most complete performance of the season. They were clicking on all cylinders on both ends of the court, played with passion, and had energy missing at times this season.
Jordan’s message obviously resonated. He spoke and the Heels listened.
“He was just basically saying you obviously know how emotional Coach Davis is and he was emotional in the locker room, Coach Davis spoke first and then he set the floor for Mike,” Black said. “Pretty much he was just telling us when our coach has more passion than we do, more than we're out there playing with, that's a recipe for disaster, so he's just telling us just to feed off his energy and basically play with emotion and have fun and that's pretty much it."
Words are one thing, actions are another. And for Caleb Love, he connected with Jordan after one of his four three-pointers on the day.
He was aware the most legendary of all hoops legends was in the building. How could he not think about it, especially after swishing another three on his way to a 21-point, five-assist performance?
"When I knocked down my first three, I looked at him,” Love said. “It wasn't intentional, but I looked at him, and we kind of made eye contact. But you know, it's just crazy to see him there, he's the greatest ever to play this game, so to see him sitting sideline and watching us play and us playing good it's just inspirational."
The Tar Heels were on fire from the get-go. They shot 62.5 percent in the first half, including converting 10 of 15 three-point attempts and led the Wolfpack 56-31 at halftime. The lead ballooned to 35 not even six minutes into the second half, which came moments after the 1982 team was honored on the Smith Center Court.
Most of the members of that squad were out there, as was Williams, who had a special honor at halftime, which included the school unveiling a banner with his name and tenure that now hangs from the rafter in the cavernous basketball palace. And right next to Williams was Jordan.
Of course the players were inspired, including Brady Manek. The 6-foot-9 forward spent the last four seasons becoming the 14th all-time leading scorer in Oklahoma history, but when he decided to play his final season in Chapel Hill, stuff like Saturday afternoon was what he envisioned.
Full house, rivalry game, buzz in the building, and the royalty of Carolina basketball on full display.
"Most definitely, that was an unreal experience,” Manek said. “It's definitely one of the reasons to pull me here was for a game like that. With Michael being here, it makes it 30 times better, that's awesome, that's unbelievable, that was a really fun game. We had a really good time out there, and we all played well."
Jordan doesn’t come around often, neither does the ’82 team, nor will Williams be honored as he was here. So, this was a different day for UNC’s players, and they most certainly embraced it because they were so excited, as Armando Bacot said afterward.
"I saw something on Instagram that said he's gonna be there,” Bacot said. “I didn't even believe it because he hasn't been here since I've been here. Then when I was in the training room yesterday with Coach Williams, he told me that Michael Jordan… was coming so I was super excited."
*Brandon Peay contributed to this piece.
