**************************************************************************************
***************************************************************************************
NEW ORLEANS – North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper proclaimed the Old North State as the “The Center of the College Basketball Universe,” yet that wasn’t enough to catch the attention the UNC Tar Heels.
There was a wow factor for the Tar Heels arriving Wednesday night at the Final Four, but that wasn’t it.
“Honestly, I haven't really heard much because I stay off social media,” UNC senior Leaky Black said Thursday afternoon during a press conference at the Superdome. “I don't really see too much. But just walking around campus and stuff, it's all love and positivity. A lot of people just rooting for us.”
Cooper had the Heels and Duke in mind with his proclamation, and for good reason, as one of the greatest rivalries in American sports will have its biggest stage ever when UNC and the Blue Devils meet in the national semifinals.
Maybe the ultimate wow moment will happen right before or once the ball is tipped. But less than 24 hours after their plane finally landed after a hectic trip that included an hour delay in the air waiting for major storms to subside so they could land, the Tar Heels are at least willing to discuss eyes-wide-open experiences.
The moment that told the players they are at the Final Four, and even with the most stoic of intents, was unavoidable?
“I guess when we pulled up to the hotel, there was a lot of people out there waiting for us to get off the bus in the hotel lobby,” Black said. “For me that was pretty much it.”
Brady Manek, who has averaged 19.9 points over Carolina’s last eight games, agreed with Black, but added a layer.
“Just a lot of cameras, a lot of people, a lot of excitement around our team and us arriving,” he said. “It was really cool to see.”
Approximately 3,000 people attended a send-off celebration at the Smith Center late Wednesday afternoon, but that didn’t make the list for junior forward and East Regional Most Outstanding Player Armando Bacot.
Like Black and Manek, his moment was when the team arrived at its hotel.
“The arrival was pretty surprising having all those people there because we don't play until Saturday,” he said. “I think it kind of caught all of us off guard.”
Clubs and players in the biggest event in college basketball often need time getting used to the hype, pomp, and surroundings. And that is something the Tar Heels found out right away.
