News and notes from New Orleans: Franklin Street Facetime, Kansas-UNC connections and more
Posted April 3, 2022 7:45 p.m. EDT
Updated April 4, 2022 1:40 p.m. EDT
NEW ORLEANS — Barely 12 hours removed from their win over Duke to reach the national title game, UNC's players were back at the Caesar's Superdome on Sunday to talk about what lies ahead and reflect on what a ride this season has been for the Tar Heels. Find out if Michael Jordan could be in attendance, an unlikely friendship for Armando Bacot, Bill Self having something to prove and both title contenders getting a boost from their transfers.
THE CALEB LOVE EXPERIENCE
When senior guard Leaky Black was asked on Sunday to describe the Caleb Love Experience, a concept that has borne hashtags and hand-wringing from North Carolina fans and interested observers, he grinned knowingly.
His first instinct, understandably, was to defend his younger teammate.
"I think of big, tall, shot-maker Caleb Love. I think of the confident kid from St. Louis Caleb Love," Black said. "Yeah, he's a bad man. He is."
The beginning of Love's career wasn't always smooth or steady. But through it all, one thing struck Black and others about Love even then was his confidence. He might have been tentative as a ball-handler or a passer, or even a decision-maker at times if he was struggling shooting the ball. But as a shooter? Love has always fired with confidence.
When he makes those shots that he takes so confidently? It takes him from a good player to an other-worldly one. And it takes North Carolina from an 8-seed to a national title game.
The shot he nailed with just over 25 seconds remaining to give Carolina a 4-point lead and effectively send Mike Krzyzewski home for good was a product of that confidence, too. And now, a player who caused fans to wince at times when he would take a shot last year made perhaps the second-biggest shot in Carolina basketball history.
"Even when he would shoot those wild shots and he was missing, he would still shoot them," Black said. "But like, it brought us to the championship.
"You can't teach someone to have heart and toughness like that and take those kinds of shots. With all these people and all this stuff going on, with all the negativity he's been getting here and there? It's crazy. But that just shows you how tough he really is."
FRANKLIN STREET FACETIME
When Carolina upset Duke in Cameron earlier this year, Davis insisted that they stop on Franklin Street on their way back.
Being on Franklin Street wasn't possible this time around, obviously. But R.J. Davis got to experience it in a different way.
When his FaceTime rang, he opened the phone and just saw his friend at first. "I thought he was just calling to say congratulations," Davis said.
Then he was caught by surprise when his friend flipped the camera and he immediately saw the mass of people on Franklin Street. "I was able to see how much people love this place to actually rush Franklin Street. It was great seeing it."
Davis said his friend flipped the phone again and he got to see a mass of people yelling hello to him and flashbulbs in his face, and he just screamed futilely back into the phone in sheer joy.
Love saw the videos too."It's crazy to see that our play is creating memories for them, too. So that's just a blessing in disguise," Love said. "But it was great to see."
TAR HEELS READY TO CASH IN HOUSE MONEY
Sure, North Carolina knows it has already had a successful season no matter how the game ends.
But just because they vanquished Duke doesn't mean they don't want to win. Some players, among them Brady Manek, won't have another chance at a national title game. There's certainly no guarantee anyone else on Carolina's roster is, either. So they don't care much about what seed number is next to their name, or how many minutes they might have to play.
North Carolina is in it to win it.
"We want to be one of those guys that has a banner up in the gym. There are plenty of them, but there's still room for some more. So we definitely want to be a part of that history. Yes, we've won some really big games and will be remembered forever but we want to take it one step further. -BM
AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP
Armando Bacot shared a lovely moment with Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski following Saturday's intense semifinal. Krzyzewski had just exited the Duke locker room for the first time after the game had ended, and Bacot was doing interviews with the media against the wall. He interrupted briefly, told Bacot he was his ACC Player of the Year, made sure his ankle injury was all right and gave him a heartfelt chest pat.
It turned out that Bacot and Krzyzewski have had a relationship that goes back a ways — and not just with one Krzyzewski family member, either.
Bacot said Krzyzewski recruited him and kept in touch with him over the years. But he added, "I'm really good friends with his grandson, Michael Sav," referring to Duke walk-on Michael Savarino. "We hang out all the time. He'll come over and we'll just watch some basketball and do whatever. So I know the family, I know a lot of people in the family. That's what a lot of people don't know."
KANSAS-CAROLINA CONNECTIONS RUN DEEP
Some of the connections between the two programs are obvious: Dean Smith, still UNC's most legendary head coach, went to school and played basketball there for Phog Allen. Allen was coached by James Naismith himself, the founder of the game of basketball. Both schools played big roles in the growth of the game.
Sure, Duke has a big role in the history of the game as well. But the family history between the two programs isn't nearly as intermingled as the one between Kansas and North Carolina.
Roy Williams, Smith's former assistant and former head coach at both Kansas and UNC, will be on hand to watch the two programs he loves the most play for a national title. Larry Brown was a Smith point guard and UNC assistant before he coached at Kansas. The connections keep going.
"I think no matter who we'd be playing tonight it would be incredibly special, because both teams are as blue as you can get when you talk about blue bloods. But to play a Carolina program that's intertwined with Kansas history, in large part because Coach Smith played at Kansas and won a national championship in '52 (as a player) and then he goes on and is thought to be as good a basketball coach that's ever coached the sport over a period of time, I think that's special," Self said.
"Also with Coach Williams heading our program for 15 years and doing a magnificent job there and then going back to his alma mater and winning three national championships, I think that certainly adds to the interest. So I'm very proud to be a part of this game."
HOW WILL THE TRANSFER MARKET IMPACT THE BLUE BLOODS?
There has been a lot of talk in college basketball this season about the transfer market and whether or not it has helped or hurt the game.
It varies from team to team, of course, and some teams have navigated it better than others.
But Kansas and UNC are among the programs that can continue to be more selective with the transfers they take. They may lose some along the way, but they can save the transfers they take in to fill needs and be choosey when they do.
"I think in the power conference programs, I still think you want to build with your high school kids. I think it's real important that you have a good November early signing period and try to attract the best players you can," Self said. "But what the transfer portal does, it allows you not to take a step back whenever you have unexpected things happen during the season. So for instance, that happens a lot whether it be another guy transfer or where there be a guy or two declare for the draft and have a good year that's maybe ahead of what your schedule was for him. Those sorts of things.
"You can't get a freshman in the spring like that because they're already taken. So the transfer portal allows you to fill in the gaps, which allows programs to stay at the level that they're presently operating at. And there won't be as many dips like this because of the portal."
Arizona State transfer Remy Martin has taken some time to get going for the Jayhawks in part due to injury, but his emergence is a big reason Kansas is playing for a title.
Still, Self recognizes the impact of Manek's addition to UNC. Manek is a player he's familiar with, having faced him a few times when he was at Oklahoma. But he sees a brand-new version of Manek, and an improved one at that.
"I think Brady has obviously been unbelievable," Self said. "To have a guy 6'10" that has that quick a release, he's playing with freedom. He was a threat always at (Oklahoma). But Hubert's given him a mind, a free mind that he feels like that anytime he's got any separation at all he needs to let it fly. And that's a compliment to his coach and their staff, but also he's such a good player. He's got such a quick release. It's a high release.
"Playing him at (Oklahoma), you had you to defend him probably a little more at the post. And now obviously with (Bacot) in the game he's playing primarily on the perimeter."
COULD SELF TAKE THE MANTLE FROM COACH K?
A little over a year ago, three of the four winningest coaches in NCAA history were still active.
Now, of the top 10, only Jim Boeheim and Bob Huggins remain.
After that, you have to get down to 19 before you hit John Beilein at 754 wins. Rick Pitino isn't listed, although he has more. But all of those coaches are on the downsides of their respective careers in terms of age.
So which coach will be the next face of college basketball? Will it be John Calipari at Kentucky? Will it be Jay Wright at Villanova, the only active coach (the only coach, period) that has won multiple national titles in the last five years? Or will it be someone like Self, perfectly suited in his later career but with plenty of time left?
The NCAA issues Kansas has had would of course mar the ability to view him in exactly the same light as Krzyzewski, of course. But someone will have to become the dominant head coach that all the others look toward, or maybe it will be a group effort.
Davis, for his part, thinks Self belongs.
"In regards to Coach Self, he's a part of that group. He just is," Davis said. "The job that he's done throughout his entire career, not just on the court, but in the classroom, in the community, the way that he loves his players, how hard his players play for him, the impact that he's made for his players, not only in basketball but in life, that's the determining factor, to me, on a really good coach. That it's not just about basketball.
"It's about people. It's about relationships. It's about lives. And Coach Self is a part of that group of Coach K and Coach Williams that has consistently done that for a long period of time."
Self has one national title, and it came in 2008. Kansas has been close. The 2020 team might have made a run, had it gotten there. Kansas has had some good runs and some disappointing ones as well, but they're right there in prime position to get Self's second title. Even another wouldn't be enough for him, though.
"We've had some really terrific seasons and some great teams that came up short. And I do think that when you have as many good teams as we've had — at most places winning one national championship would be quite an accomplishment — I think as many good teams as we've had, one's not enough," Self said.
"I don't think that I personally feel pressure that we have to win. But I do know that when you have a chance to coach at a place where you have an opportunity to be in the game most years, you need to take advantage of that more than we have."
WILL MICHAEL JORDAN SHOW?
His Airness himself was on hand to watch the Tar Heels win the 2017 national title. And 40 years ago, he delivered UNC its second national title in school history in New Orleans. Will he be back to watch the Tar Heels on Monday night?
"I haven't talked to him through the NCAA Tournament or after last night's game, but when we played NC State at home, they had the reunion for the '82 championship and he came and it was great being able to spend time with him," Davis said. "And he was able to spend a little bit of time with the players. So I know he's extremely busy. But he's always been in contact throughout the entire season and I love having Michael's support."
But does he want Michael to show up?
"I'd like him to play," Davis said, sending the room into laughter. "That would be great. I don't want him just to show up, I'd like him to play."
