Why 2017 UNC Is My Favorite Sports Team Ever
I've been trying to figure out how to put this glowing feeling I've had since Monday night into words. Here's the best I got:
I've been fortunate to watch my favorite program in all of sports, North Carolina, win three National Championships. Each time, I've claimed "This is my favorite team!!" In 2005, my 5th grade year, I watched the Tar Heels win their first title in my lifetime, and it was sweet: they beat a favored Illinois team, while I was living in the middle of the Land of Lincoln. For obvious reasons, that team occupied a special place in my heart.
Until 2009. Falling in love with the 2008-09 Carolina team that won the National Championship was like falling in love with a Lamborghini or with the latest Apple product. It wasn't even fair how much better they were than all of their competitors. They embarked on the most dominant title run I have ever seen (their closest margin of victory all tournament was 12 points). The fact that bona fide stars like Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough returned to college for their Junior and Senior years because they were so dedicated to winning the Championship gave them a special place in my heart.
Then came 7 years of barren trophy cases; the fact that some of those sides from 2010-2016 couldn't win the big one does not mean they weren't endeared to me. Players like Kendall Marshall, Reggie Bullock, Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige (just to name a few) will forever be some of my favorite Tar Heels.
But then, we arrive at 2017. And 2017 UNC is a different breed. And here I am again, declaring for all 9 people who listen to me: This is my favorite Tar Heel team of all time. And who knows, maybe when we win our next one in 4 years, the memories of my love for this group will be slightly faded. But I doubt it.
Let me quickly recap everything that had happened since North Carolina won their last national championship:
In 2010, less than 365 days after winning the Big Dance, the Tar Heels failed to make the NCAA Tournament, a first in Roy Williams' career
In 2011, the NCAA opened an investigation into UNC Athletics that continues on to this day, hurting the reputation of all Carolina sports teams/coaches, and casting a cloud over recruiting
In 2012, a run that looked destined to end in another Championship was cut short by the injury to star point guard Marshall
From 2013-15, the Heels didn't progress past the Sweet 16 (and went 1-5 against Duke)
And of course, in 2016, this happened.
Needless to say, it was beginning to feel like the once-proud program was destined to not touch glory ever again.
Enter 2016-17. This was a team that had just suffered a National Championship loss in the most heartbreaking fashion imaginable. They were losing their two star players and Senior leaders in Paige and Johnson. And what did they do? Instead of buying into any of the fans' pessimism and gloom, they named their group text "Redemption" and blazed into the regular season with an edge unseen since 2009. The regular season, hell, the postseason wasn't always consistent, wasn't always pretty, wasn't always smooth. But the mission was clear from the start of the season: this team was going to win the championship. That drive to take home the trophy, when some of their own fans, let alone so much of the national media and college basketball viewers was so ready to doubt them and write them off, is enough of a reason to love this group.
But it wasn't the only reason. This team was tough. Tough as nails. In 4 of their 6 tournament games, they had to overcome a deficit late, late in the game. And every single time, they rattled off a massive run (12-0 against Arkansas and Kentucky, 8-0 against Gonzaga) to seal the game. They withstood uncharacteristically awful offensive performances, and compensated for them with suffocating defense. Joel Berry II, the Final Four MOP, played the latter half of the tournament on two- TWO! -bad ankles. They were toughness incarnate.
But nay, even this isn't the biggest reason why this team will be forever in my hearts. The reason why the 2016 Championship was so painful for myself, for all Tar Heel fans is the same reason why the 2017 victory is oh-so-sweet: this was just a bunch of incredible guys. This team had nowhere near the collection of NBA talent that any past UNC Champions did. But no team has had more heart, emotion, humor, intelligence, and easygoing personality than the squads of the last two years. Last season, Roy Williams cried as he gave a rare Senior Night speech, declaring 2016 "his favorite team ever." He would cry again after the Championship that year, because he wanted them to win so bad and he "wished he could have been a better coach for them." This year, it was Kennedy Meeks who wept on Senior Night as he told the Carolina family how much his 4 years had meant to him. On Monday night, it was everyone. Do yourselves a favor and, if you can find a full replay of the game, fast forward to the 7-second mark, where the Heels have all but clinched the game. Theo Pinson, resident funnyman, is tearing up and sprinting down the court. Berry is running to the UNC fans and roaring his excitement to them. Isaiah Hicks is openly weeping as he walks downcourt. And big Meeks, who last year cried after the Championship Game not because of the loss but because he hated seeing his teammates so broken-hearted, is walking over to the sideline to give his coach a bear hug.
These Tar Heels had, and still has, their names dragged through the mud because of a 'scandal' they had zero part in, their basketball quality questioned by pundits across the nation, and carried the pressure of reaching a level they came so close to attaining just one year earlier. Yet, they embodied everything right with college athletics: young men of sound academics, who stayed in college to grow instead of chasing NBA dreams, who played the game for the love of game, who wanted to win not to elevate their draft stock but to make their beloved coach and their 'brothers' happy. Ain't that somethin'?
Go Heels.