April 18, 2008

By Lauren Brownlow

The season came crashing down so abruptly that it's almost hard to remember what it was that made this season, this team, so memorable. It's easy to forget about things like Marcus Ginyard's missed dunk, Bobby Frasor disappearing during his fist-pumping celebration of Wayne Ellington's game-winner at Clemson, Danny Green's dunk on Greg Paulus, Tyler Hansbrough's dunk on Kenny George or even something as simple and delightful as Greg Little's sideline faces. The 2007-08 Tar Heels were special, though, and not just because they set a school record for wins (36) and road wins (22). It's easy to forget because this team wanted just two more wins.

But as the clock wound down agonizingly slowly at the end of the Kansas game, how often did anyone bother to remind themselves of what an amazing season and team this was, filled with great personalities, game-winners, overtime dramas and overcoming adversity? How much were most Carolina fans wondering whether certain star Tar Heels had played their last games in a Tar Heel uniform? How many actually stopped to reflect on a Tar Heel who actually had, Quentin Thomas?

"One thing I'm going to remember is Quentin Thomas," Roy Williams said at Thursday night's banquet. "That in itself gives me so much faith in what is right, that what is right should happen. A young man who faced injuries and faced adversity and faced tough times, and yet when it came time, I said, `Quentin, we need you,' that he stepped forward and played the best basketball of his career and continued to be one of the greatest young men I've ever been around. That's one thing that I will remember about this basketball team much more than anything that happened in San Antonio."

In his senior speech, Thomas spent three minutes (about a third) mentioning those who work behind the scenes, mentioning specifically how vital the tasks were done by everyone from the tutors to the office staff to the bus driver to the media to the cheerleaders. He even thanked former players like Raymond Felton, Sean May and Marvin Williams for helping him along. For each of his teammates, he had a personal anecdote or nickname to share.

Thomas was also one of the more instrumental figures in making sure that no one forgot Bobby Frasor. One of the more touching moments of the night was when Thomas, who stood to benefit most from Frasor's absence, looked directly at his friend and teammate to offer some encouragement. "When you got hurt this year, I know it affected everybody but it affected me a lot, just because I knew everything you were going through in the summer and all the hard work you were going through. I told everybody this year especially in the media, they were constantly asking about opportunities for me when Bobby went down or Ty got hurt, but I never took it as that. The more power we had on this team was when everybody was playing. I wish you the best. I love you to death. I can't wait to see you back out there next year."

The night was full of goofy moments, many provided by Bobby Frasor as he played sort of the narrator role in the team's highlight video, pulling his shorts higher and higher and taking on the role of a 70's-style broadcaster. The video did an excellent job of pulling together the elements of this season - it was mostly goofy and fun, but still showed Frasor hurting his knee, Ty Lawson spraining his ankle, the Maryland players celebrating on the Smith Center floor and of course, the final loss of the season.

"When the highlight came on, Mike Copeland leaned over to me and said to me, `This hurts,'" Ginyard said. "And I said, `I know.' It hurts every time we have to hear `Kansas'. It hurts every time we think about it, every time we see that Sports Illustrated and every time we have to look at things like that. It hurts because obviously this team wanted to do more. Woody has been saying it the best - you can't take anything away from what we accomplished - the ACC regular-season and Tournament championship and making it to the Final Four. We had a great season and we enjoyed the ride."

Surry Wood has gotten lost in the shuffle, but he has also enjoyed the ride, pointing out that there is a `Wood' in the rafters (Al Wood) but that he will just tell his children that it's him. He has taken his role of getting beaten up day after day in the post by the likes of Tyler Hansbrough and Alex Stepheson with the same kind of humor.

Williams considers himself lucky, as should the rest of the Carolina faithful, to have such high-character players. "Lou Gehrig made famous by saying he was the luckiest man alive and I really believe that that's Roy Williams," the head coach said. "It's because of these youngsters and other youngsters before them. We're all lucky because we're at the University of North Carolina. We're playing basketball or coaching basketball. We're doing it with the finest group of young men that you could possibly have.

"Quentin, this is something that you and I will agree on..." Williams paused, as if he was preparing to say something emotional to the senior - "...next year, we will not let Bobby have such a dominant role in the video. "

Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.