Midnight Signals Start to North Carolina's Run at March Madness, Title Defense

Dreams usually end in fairly tales when the clock strikes midnight.  In college basketball, they begin.

In basketball arenas around the country, Friday night marked the official start of another season of a six-month-long drama characterized by sweat and blood, an emotionally torturous roller coaster that will culminate on the shiny hardwood floor of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Fans across the nation packed into gyms, big and small, of their college or university to launch introductions and renew expectations.  They have awaited this moment since April.

Introductions were no less excitable and expectations none the higher than in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, home of the defending champions: the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. As any diehard Carolina basketball fan can attest, basketball is the unofficial religion on campus.  Players are adored as they literally and figuratively stand tall among the student body, and head coach Roy Williams is practically worshipped as a deity.  With such adulation come great expectations, more so when the final buzzer of 2008-2009 season crowned UNC the national champions.

That final buzzer not only proclaimed North Carolina’s triumph, but it also announced the curtain call for five key players who made up the team’s backbone in the winningest four-year stretch in school history.  Gone are team catalyst Ty Lawson, sharpshooter Wayne Ellington, clutch three-point shooter Bobby Frasor, reliable wingman Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-time leading scorer and once national player of the year.  The majority of the Tar Heels’ offensive power have left with the fab five, not to mention the intangible experience and grit they possessed.  Statistically, this equals 66.2 points, 20.7 rebounds and 13 assists per game based on last year’s averages.

Nevertheless, Carolina fans will not settle for anything less than greatness, and in the Williams era, that appears to be another championship. 

Despite the loss of five central players, Carolina’s chances at another national title seem like a more attainable possibility compared to the last time the Tar Heels faced such a heavy roster loss after the ’05 national championship team.  Senior Deon Thompson and sophomores Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller will rotate to fill in the significant role played by Hansbrough.  It will be nearly impossible to replace the lightning quick Lawson, but sophomore Larry Drew II should serve as an effective point guard.  Senior team captain Marcus Ginyard is slated to solidly play multiple positions with his versatility.  The returnees are joined by a top recruiting class of John Henson, Leslie McDonald, Dexter Strickland and twins David and Travis Wear.  The new squad does not have a superstar athlete in the mold of Hansbrough, but it still boasts a strong mix of veterans and newcomers.

Another reason for optimism lies in the fact that there seems to be no dominant team, at least on paper, for this season.  All the top teams from last year including Kansas, Texas and Michigan State have all experienced roster losses.  In other words, the competition is will be stiff and level.  Plus, college basketball always produces surprises along the way.  This year’s North Carolina team could be that surprise if they can produce cohesive and aggressive basketball that usually leads to the characteristic domination that is UNC basketball, and ultimately, to another NCAA title.

“Oh man, if I could win another one,” said Williams.