Meeting in Chapel Hill

to satisfy your suspicions

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/story/70781p-65793c.html

again, i wouldn't put much credence into the daily news. (BTW, i woulda linked the stories before, but i get the stories before they're posted online)

 

Even though I admit to being an ABCer, Baddour has done nothing to enhance the athletic programs in Chapel Hill. THere certainly must be some credence to the above story, several articles are out today on it.

Was Heels’ display unity or for show?
By Bob Sutton, Jacksonville Daily News

CHAPEL HILL — Members of North Carolina’s men’s basketball team gathered at midcourt following their season finale, almost forming a circle around coach Matt Doherty.

Outwardly, it was a sign of appreciation to a collection of fans who believed until the end, who cherished another season of college basketball.

But this display of unity, whether rehearsed or not, was meant to have a far-reaching impact. It was meant to show that the Tar Heels, whose season was as much about mending a shredded image as it was winning basketball games, are seeing and believing in the same things.

As nice as it might appear, the season ended in the third round of the National Invitation Tournament. Wrong round, wrong tournament.

‘On track’

“We’re on the right track to being a great team and now we have to work hard,” sophomore forward Jawad Williams said. “It’s not what I wanted to achieve this season (by playing in the NIT). I don’t take moral victories. This is not where I wanted to be this year as a team.”

The team concluded a 19-16 season when Georgetown left the Smith Center with a 79-74 victory Wednesday night.

While some questions continue to exist about Doherty’s future, it was probably a better conclusion than in either of Doherty’s first two seasons with the Tar Heels. There was more cheering than chastising, and that’s a start.

His first team was an upset victim in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, coming apart at the seams with disgruntled Jason Capel and Joseph Forte. His second team was the worst in school history, and that season couldn’t end soon enough.

In the latest finale, the Tar Heels appeared to be together and they appeared to be adored. Many in the crowd stayed to cheer, applauding an effort and a season that has the Tar Heels headed back in the right direction after a major one-year detour.

Still, the damage control must continue. There’s always a rumor to dismiss, an accusation to rebuff.

“Their play doesn’t lie,” Doherty said of the team’s unity. “It’s tough to fake that.”

Doherty does the right things publicly. He usually says the right things. On the court, his team weathered the response from the one-year disaster rather well. If Doherty’s status as coach is in trouble, it’s because of what’s going on behind the scenes.

Improvement on court

The Tar Heels won 11 more games than a year ago. If that kind of improvement is repeated next season, North Carolina will be in the other postseason tournament.

This new group of standouts isn’t without faults. A bigger and stronger and more poised Georgetown team exploited some of those holes.

When nothing else seemed to work, the Hoyas used a trapping defense that flustered the Tar Heels. When North Carolina came up with some solutions, the noise level grew to such levels that Georgetown coach Craig Esherick made a comparison to another venue in the Triangle where his Hoyas visited this season.

The Hoyas are no slouches. Of their 14 losses, eight came against teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

The Tar Heels are no slouches, either. After a comeback season, the next phase is to see if the players are coming back for next season.

So soon, we’ll find out if that circle around the coach was for real or for show.

 

Doherty Staying or Going?
Future of the Tar Heels' coach, players remains up in the air after loss to Hoyas
By Lenox Rawlings, Winston-Salem Journal Columnist

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina's basketball season ended Wednesday night with one game left on the schedule.The Big Game.

The Big Game involves the future of Coach Matt Doherty, the futures of North Carolina players, perhaps the future of Athletics Director Dick Baddour and certainly the immediate future of Carolina basketball.

Will Chancellor James Moeser and the financial powerbrokers retain Doherty? Will any players leave, creating pressure for regime change? Will any parents use the threat of transfer to create pressure for regime change? Will the unseen hand of Dean Smith push one way or the other?

In the wake of Georgetown's 79-74 NIT victory, three vital players said that they intend to return: point guard Raymond Felton, forward Jawad Williams and injured center Sean May. Jackie Manuel and Rashad McCants have expressed similar sentiments. "Where else would I go?" freshman McCants asked.

On the other side of the Yellow Brick Road, May reported that his father, former All-America Scott May, had several questions for Doherty and wanted a meeting soon. Guard Melvin Scott remained guarded when a reporter asked if Doherty would be part of the Tar Heels' future.

"Maybe," Scott said. "If that's the right decision to make for the program, sure. If it's not, well, then not. We've just got to make the right decision. We've got to sit down and talk about it."

David Noel, a freshman forward and makeshift center, reflected the prevailing uncertainty when asked if Doherty would be back. "I'm not sure," he said. "I'm not sure. I'll leave that up to the athletic director and all those other guys who make those decisions."

After last season, players upset with Doherty's in-your-face style and quick temper confronted the coach, who promised a gentler approach.

Parental involvement became a greater back-channel issue this season, drawing the attention of Chancellor Moeser, according to Carolina sources. Athletics employees expect Moeser to meet with Doherty and with players or their parents before making the call or punting the hot potato back to Baddour, a controversial figure among distressed donors. The process started yesterday within the UNC athletics department. Doherty has three years left on his contract, which makes an extension and expression of full support necessary. If Carolina leaves him dangling, rivals will turn uncertainty into a recruiting hammer. If Carolina bosses leave him dangling, they will undermine his credibility, damage the program and create the inevitability of change, as the Carl Torbush football episode demonstrated.

Moeser, tugged both ways by divided boosters, has only two clean options: Make Doherty stronger or buy him out (for about $500,000).

Doherty has lobbied hard to save his job. The campaign included accepting the NIT bid even though several players openly wanted the season to end when the NCAA dream died. Doherty restated his case after the NIT defeat left Carolina 19-16 overall (6-10 ACC, seventh place).

"At the beginning of the year, when we had a full squad, what we did was pretty special," Doherty said, citing the Preseason NIT championship and No. 12 AP ranking. "I thought that was a kind of a sign of what we could do. Then, after Sean's injury, I felt that we've gotten better and better and had some of our best basketball played late in the year - wins against Duke and Maryland, then the games we won in the NIT."

In many ways, Doherty enhanced his coaching reputation by beating Connecticut without May and by repeatedly bouncing back from dark defeats. Carolina lost five straight during a tough scheduling stretch at the ACC midseason, rallied and then absorbed the worst ACC loss in school history, 96-56 at Maryland. When things looked the worst, however, Doherty's bunch upset Duke at home and Maryland in the ACC Tournament.

He now sells a brighter future for 2004.

"I think that one year of maturity and a healthy team - knock on wood - and the addition of at least one prospect, maybe two - I think we'll be that much better and a year more mature," he said. "And maturity's a big thing - how to handle the ups and downs, the stresses of a college basketball season. For the youngest basketball team in major-college basketball and playing the fourth-toughest schedule and enduring an injury, I think 19 wins is, well, I'm proud of our guys."

The schedule strength dropped to 10th after the games against DePaul and Wyoming, but the larger questions stayed roughly the same: Will the Carolina guys hang together? Doherty detects greater unity.

"Their play doesn't lie," he said. "I mean, it's tough to fake that. There was a play in the Wyoming game where Melvin fouls and all five guys got together and huddled up and had their arms around each other. We weren't doing that in November and December, and to see that growth of a team coming together ... This is, I think, a pretty close team. I think they've grown as a team and grown as individuals."

Williams and Scott have shown the most dramatic improvement, with Williams emerging as a leader and a steady voice trying to hold players together through discordant moments. He said that a coaching change now would surprise him.

"I mean, I came in with Coach Doherty, so if this staff was to leave, then I wouldn't know what to expect," Williams said. "Regardless of who's here, we've still got to stay as a team and move forward."

Williams said that any player transfers would surprise him. "I think everyone wants to come back, but if a guy feels that he's going to be happy elsewhere, then so be it," Williams said. "I mean, it's like Adam Boone and Brian Morrison last year. I'm not going to try to get somebody to stay within the family if they don't want to be. I mean, you've got to worry about what's here."

Williams insists that Carolina is headed in the right direction. Scott sounds less certain. He assumed a larger role after a foot injury knocked Manuel out of the ACC Tournament, and Doherty discovered better chemistry through that imposed experiment. Scott welcomed no-holds-barred meetings.

"Everybody gets out what they need to get out," he said. "Everybody says what needs to be done - just changes. If someone's not happy, then let's talk about it and let's try to change it - each and every player, coaches, athletic director, whatever."

The dirty-laundry list?

"Ups and downs, some guys starting and some guys not, just specifics," Scott said. "You've just got to be fair. Everybody's just got to get on the same page. Sometimes it wasn't like that this year, with the ups and downs. I think, for the most part, we're a pretty tight team. We're just going to sit down and just make decisions. We've just got to meet and just see what the future holds."

That's clearly Scott May's position. The former Indiana great wanted his son to play power forward, but Doherty hasn't recruited an able center. Scott May was also dismayed when Sean played on an injured foot and broke a bone during the Holiday Festival tournament. Sean had to get his father's permission for a cameo return against Duke in the ACC semifinals, but he subsequently turned an ankle and bagged the season.

"I think he and Coach Doherty have to talk," Sean May said. "He's got a lot of things on his mind he needs to take up with Coach Doherty. He has a lot of questions he wants to be answered."

Sean May keeps supplying a firm answer to questions about his sophomore season.

"I just want people to know that I'm at Carolina," he said. "I'm going to be at Carolina. I just wish the rumors would stop."

Felton, the dynamic point guard, is more emotional in his plea for silence on the cyberspace gossip mill.

"That's really starting to get on my nerves a little bit, all these rumors going around - whatever they're saying, whoever's spitting it out, whoever's twisting it up," Felton said. "It's just crazy. Somebody's trying to get something started. I don't know what's going on with that. I ain't got nothing to do with it. If somebody asks me questions about it, I'm going to be like: 'I ain't answering that.' I'm just going to be quiet about it."

His professed intent sounds unshakable: "I'm happy. I don't want to be nowhere else. I don't want no other coach. I'm fine. It's just like brothers to me. Everything's fine."

And The Big Game's still unresolved.

 

Doherty's future among questions for UNC
By Brett Friedlander, Fayetteville Observer Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL - The disappointment of North Carolina's 79-74 loss to Georgetown had barely begun to set in when coach Matt Doherty called his players together one last time.

There, at midcourt, the Tar Heels exchanged hugs, waved to the cheering Smith Center crowd, then went their separate ways.

Maybe forever.

Less than 24 hours later, there are signs that suggest Doherty might already have been fired.

The only certainty surrounding the UNC basketball team following Wednesday's loss in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals is that there are a lot of questions to be answered now that the 2002-03 season has officially ended.

"It's going to be off the hook around here," sophomore guard Melvin Scott said of the coming weeks.

A source close to the team said Thursday that several players were prepared to tell UNC athletic director Dick Baddour that they could no longer play for Doherty. They were going to make their views known at a meeting Baddour had called with the coach and his players Thursday morning.

But the source said that Doherty never showed up for the meeting.

Instead of meeting with the players as a group, the source said that Baddour met with each individually. The meetings lasted until 8:15 p.m.

Repeated attempts to reach Doherty were unsuccessful. Baddour was unavailable for comment.

"Whatever happens," Scott said after Wednesday's game, "everybody's just got to do what's best for the program."

Rumors have been swirling for several weeks about the futures of Doherty and several star players, fueled by comments made anonymously to an ACC newsletter and on an Internet message board by at least one of their parents.

Of those most often mentioned as transfer possibilities, only Scott - who was unhappy with his playing time before a late surge - said he was uncertain about whether he would stay at UNC.


At least two returning

Freshmen Sean May and Rashad McCants said they are definitely coming back.

May, in fact, said he plans to take reserve center Damion Grant home with him to Indiana this summer so that they can work on their games.

"There is some stuff we need to talk about as a team, but after everything is done, I think we'll all be here," said May, who missed most of the season with a broken foot and a sprained ankle.

"We'll let some time go by, have a team meeting and see what happens after that."

The "stuff" to which May referred will likely involve Doherty, whose relationship with his players hasn't always been the best.

The natural assumption is that the only way all the players will come back is if Doherty doesn't.

Although freshman point guard Raymond Felton defiantly insisted "I'm happy. I want no other coach," it appears that his is the minority opinion.

While Doherty has freely admitted that he and the players haven't always seen eye to eye this season, he said their shared experiences have only made them stronger.

Their play during the past three weeks seemed to bear that out.

The Tar Heels finished the regular season with an upset of Duke, then continued their late surge with a win against Maryland in the ACC tournament and two victories in the NIT.

More important than the final 19-15 record, Doherty said after the game Wednesday, is the way his team accomplished it.

"Their play doesn't lie. It's tough to fake that," Doherty said. "There was a play in the Wyoming (NIT) game when Melvin fouled (Donta) Richardson and all five guys got together and huddled up with their arms around each other.

"We weren't doing that in November and December. This is a pretty close team and I think they've grown as a team and they've grown as individuals."


Miss NCAAs again

Even though the Tar Heels missed out on the NCAA tournament for the second straight season - something that hasn't happened since 1973 and '74 - sophomore forward Jawad Williams said the program is in better shape than it was a year ago.

UNC's 8-20 record in 2001-02 was the worst in school history.

"I think we're on the right track to become a great team," said Williams, who quietly emerged as the Tar Heels' leader and steadying influence.

"We stayed together through all the adversity and got closer. Now we have to carry that over to next year."

If everyone that's eligible to come back does, UNC will lose only two players from this year's team.

And that's not much of a loss. Between them, seniors Will Johnson and Jonathan Holmes averaged less than two points per game.

The Tar Heels will also benefit from a healthy May, who missed 24 games, and the arrival of top recruit Reyshawn Terry - as well as another year of experience.

"I think we'll be much better and a year more mature," Doherty said of his team's immediate future. "For the youngest team in major college basketball with maybe the fourth-toughest schedule and enduring an injury (to May), I think 19 wins ... I'm proud of our guys."

At least one player said Wednesday that he's just as proud of the man who might already be his former coach.

"Is he going to be back? I'm not sure," said walk-on forward David Noel, the team's biggest surprise this season at 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. "That's not for us to decide.

"He did the best he could to get us over the hump. For him to turn us around from 8-20 to 19-15, you've got to take your hat off to him."

 

UNC players meet with Baddour
By Neil Amato, Durham Herald-Sun

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina’s players filed into the Smith Center on Thursday afternoon, not for practice or a game but for a 35-minute talk with Athletics Director Dick Baddour.

The meeting signaled the beginning of the postseason evaluation of the basketball program under Coach Matt Doherty, whose return has not been guaranteed.

UNC’s season — which included a 5-0 start, a key injury to center Sean May and a seventh-place finish in the ACC — ended in the NIT quarterfinals with a 79-74 loss to Georgetown on Wednesday.

The players gathered at 4 p.m. Thursday inside the Smith Center, and most emerged about 40 minutes later. Around 4:15, the parents of guard Jackie Manuel walked into the building. Afterward, Manuel’s father and most players declined comment.

May, whose broken left foot caused him to miss 24 games, said the players asked for the meeting.

Baddour, who remained inside much longer, did not return phone calls seeking comment. He has said he supports Doherty as UNC’s coach but has not guaranteed Doherty’s return for a fourth season.

On Thursday, Chancellor James Moeser echoed Baddour’s previous sentiments, saying: "We evaluate every program at the end of every year."

When asked if he expected Doherty to return, Moeser deferred to Baddour: "That’s up to Dickie."

Doherty was not seen around the Smith Center on Thursday afternoon. He spent part of the day hitting balls at the Finley Golf Course driving range.

The possibility of a coaching change is not lost on Doherty, who addressed the issue recently with the father of UNC recruiting target Darryl Watkins, a 6-10 center from Paterson, N.J.

Watkins’ father, also named Darryl, said his son enjoyed a recent official visit to Chapel Hill. Watkins arrived on Sunday and sat courtside for the game against Wyoming on Monday night in the NIT.

The elder Watkins, who goes by "Big D," got a satisfactory answer from Doherty when he asked the coach about his job status.

"[Doherty] said, ‘Just think about it, Big D. If I get fired, who do you think will get my job? Some other good coach,’ " Watkins said. "I had to agree with him, because they wouldn’t just bring in Joe Blow off the street."

But Doherty would like to coach a fourth season at UNC, which has won 26, eight and 19 games in his three years.

"I think one year of maturity, a healthy team with the addition of one prospect and maybe two, I’d think we’ll be that much better," he said. "I think maturity is a big thing — how to handle the ups and downs and the stress of a college basketball season."

Tears fell down Doherty’s face after his first UNC team lost to Penn State in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. He was not as emotional after the loss to Georgetown in the NIT, a tournament he thought was good for the Tar Heels, who delighted a crowd that averaged more than 15,000 for three games.

"How about the crowds. How about the play? You’re seeing guys growing before your eyes," Doherty said, tears welling in his eyes. "It provided a great opportunity for us to play."

Several parents of the players weren’t aware of the meeting with Baddour and weren’t saying if they supported Doherty. The players, at least in the locker room after the Georgetown game, said they planned to remain at UNC.

"Where would I go? Why would I leave?" swingman Rashad McCants said Wednesday. "I don’t understand how that’s a question."

Last season, three players not recruited by Doherty transferred, and then freshman Jawad Williams said he would transfer if the atmosphere in the program did not change. Williams stayed, and Wednesday night he was adamant he and others would stay and that he expected Doherty to be back.

Williams’ high school coach, Eric Flannery, said Williams was willing to endure the hard times — UNC went 8-20 last season — with the hope that UNC could return to the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels fell short of that goal this year, but the players’ return could make UNC a threat to win the ACC title.

Flannery said Williams’ change of heart was part of his maturity.

"At first — I’d admit and so would he — he wasn’t happy," Flannery said. "He has become more comfortable with the coach and the program. Always, there are going to be issues between a coach and player, but he’s much happier. Does that mean everything’s great? No.

"But Jawad’s going to stay at North Carolina and be there no matter who the coach is."

 

Heels meet with AD
By Barry Svrluga, Raleigh News & Observer Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL -- Less than 24 hours after their season ended, North Carolina's men's basketball players met with athletics director Dick Baddour on Thursday afternoon to discuss the future of the program and head coach Matt Doherty.

The players and Baddour met at 4 p.m. for about 35 minutes before they began trickling out of the Smith Center. They declined comment on the substance of the meeting. Individual meetings between players and Baddour are set up for today.

Freshman center Sean May said the players had asked for the meeting, "just to talk," he said. Doherty, however, said he had initiated the idea of player meetings with Baddour last year.

"I initiated that," Doherty said Thursday night. "I wanted it to happen. I asked Dick to do that."

One player, sophomore guard Jackie Manuel, was accompanied by his parents, who declined comment afterward.

Baddour said earlier Thursday that he was continuing his evaluation of the basketball program and Doherty, whose third season as Tar Heels coach came to an end with Wednesday's loss to Georgetown in the National Invitation Tournament. The Heels finished 19-16 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

Baddour wouldn't comment on any element of the evaluation, including meeting with players. He said he didn't know when the evaluation would be complete.

"There isn't any timetable, and I wouldn't discuss the evaluation process for any of my sports programs," Baddour said after a previously scheduled meeting with UNC's board of trustees.

Baddour, a member of chancellor James Moeser's cabinet who routinely attends trustees meetings, left for the bulk of the closed-door session, in which personnel matters would be discussed. Doherty's future was not a topic at the meeting.

Moeser, who was involved in Doherty's hiring three years ago, said the decision to keep or dismiss Doherty rests largely with Baddour.

"My role in this evaluation process is that it's a totally delegated responsibility to the athletic director," Moeser said. "He evaluates all of his programs.

"If there were a decision to be made, obviously, he'd bring it to me. But it's his job to do the evaluation."

Baddour has maintained throughout the season that the evaluation process with Doherty isn't unlike that in any of Carolina's 27 other varsity sports programs. But there are factors that make this situation more tenuous, including the history of Doherty's relationship with his players.

Earlier this season, several of the younger Tar Heels -- the team has six freshmen -- bristled under the coach's intense style. That was similar to 2001-02, when then-freshmen Manuel, Melvin Scott and Jawad Williams asked the coach to change his ways in postseason meetings.

The substance of those meetings -- that the players wanted Doherty to change -- were reported in the media. The players seem more determined now to keep things behind closed doors.

"We aired our dirty laundry once," Williams said this season. "We're done with that."

Doherty said that he is comfortable with the players' meeting with Baddour because he feels that any issues will be handled in-house.

"I thought it was important that we handle this internally rather than in the media," Doherty said. "We gave them an opportunity to do that, but I initiated it."

Thursday, before meeting with players, Baddour reiterated his support for Doherty.

"I've told a lot of people about my support for Matt," Baddour said. "I think Matt really kept this team focused through the NIT. They played hard. I think our fans enjoyed watching them compete until the end."

Doherty took the day off from work. He said he would meet with players individually, as after any season, "over the next few weeks."

"Right now," he said, "I'm just relaxing, playing some golf."

 

more meeting

continuing the 'look what i can find on the internet' chain:

UNC players meet with AD regarding program, Doherty
Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL - Members of North Carolina's men's basketball team met Thursday with athletics director Dick Baddour to discuss the future of the program and head coach Matt Doherty.

The players and Baddour met at the Smith Center. All declined comment on the substance of the meeting; individual meetings between players and Baddour were scheduled today.

Freshman center Sean May told The New & Observer of Raleigh that the players asked for the meeting "just to talk." Doherty, however, said he started postseason player meetings with Baddour last year.

"I initiated that," Doherty told the newspaper. "I wanted it to happen. I asked Dick to do that."

One player, sophomore guard Jackie Manuel, was accompanied by his parents, who declined comment afterward, the newspaper reported.

Baddour said earlier Thursday that he was continuing his evaluation of the basketball program and Doherty, whose third season as Tar Heels coach came to an end with Wednesday's loss to Georgetown in the National Invitation Tournament. The Heels finished 19-16 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

Baddour declined to comment on any element of the evaluation.

Before meeting with players, Baddour reiterated his support for Doherty.

"I've told a lot of people about my support for Matt," Baddour told the News & Observer. "I think Matt really kept this team focused through the NIT. They played hard. I think our fans enjoyed watching them compete until the end."

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/special_packages/marchmania/5505095.htm

 

And finally, this can't help the situation much either...

Wojcik interested in Wright State
By Barry Svrluga, Raleigh News & Observer Staff Writer

North Carolina assistant coach Doug Wojcik has talked with officials from Wright State about its vacant head coaching job.

Reached Thursday night, Wojcik said he likes Wright State athletics director Mike Cusack and the Raiders' situation.

"I'm impressed," he said. "It's a wonderful facility. The athletic director's a great man who's basically taken it from Division II to Division I. They have a lot of pride in basketball up there."

Wright State is in Dayton, Ohio, just three hours from Wojcik's boyhood home of Wheeling, W.Va.

The Raiders play in the Horizon League, which sent the men's teams from Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the NCAA Tournament and Illinois-Chicago to the NIT this season.

"It's a great league with three teams that were in the postseason," Wojcik said. "And Dayton's a basketball town."

N.C. State assistant Larry Hunter, a former head coach at Ohio University and Wittenburg, was mentioned early on as a possible candidate at Wright State. Other names in the mix include Pittsburgh associate head coach Jamie Dixon, Winthrop head coach Gregg Marshall and Ohio State associate head coach Paul Biancardi, according to the Dayton Daily News.

After the 2001 season, Wojcik pulled his name out of the running for the Ohio head coaching job. Last year, he spoke with West Virginia officials about that job.

 

Re: to satisfy your suspicions

That's ok, I just wanted to poke fun at sly for the most part.

 

Seems to me that all of these articles seem to be positive for the most part. Sure there were some negatives, but I would think any program that didn't win it all should have some. If not, then how else are they going to get better?