RALEIGH, N.C. — The phone call on Wednesday to set up the last-minute meeting between North Carolina and N.C. Central took all of five minutes, which isn’t long for anyone but by the cordial standards of LeVelle Moton and Roy Williams is practically instantaneous.
That it took a pandemic to bring these teams back together for the first time since 2015 is, of course, unfortunate. It shouldn’t be this way. As Moton pointed out afterward, somewhat ruefully, N.C. Central beating N.C. State at PNC Arena in 2014 was “the ultimate blessing and the ultimate curse,” the Eagles coach said.
That put the golden goose of in-state buy games to sleep for good. Since then, the Eagles have flown thousands of miles all over the country in search of opponents willing to play them. No one around here will. It’s not worth the risk.
“It’s been difficult to get games,” Moton said. “Such is life. It says a lot about our program and how it’s evolved.”
Why risk getting beat by the perennial MEAC champions when there are easier games to be bought for the same money? There’s always that risk, as North Carolina aptly demonstrated Saturday, falling behind early, then hanging on late for a 73-67 win.
The Eagles have barely practiced, having twice gone through the rigors of enforced COVID quarantine, but they were up 11 in the first half and, when things seemed out of reach, cut a 15-point UNC lead to six in the final 87 seconds.
Moton had a game plan designed to isolate North Carolina’s freshman guards at both ends of the court, opening up space for C.J. Keyser to slash to 19 points while clogging the paint on defense, and it worked until the Eagles’ big men got into foul trouble — not unexpectedly so, considering the caliber of the opposition — and their replacements have yet to learn the offense.
“The last four minutes of the first half where we gave the game away, they didn’t know what they were doing. I didn’t know what we were doing,” Moton said. “We were drawing plays in the dirt. Sandlot basketball. And it cost us.”
It’s always going to be tough for any opponent without future NBA big men of its own to knock off UNC in the Smith Center when Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe play like this, but who knew Andrew Platek would administer the coup de grace with a personal 8-0 run in the second half?
Williams and Moton have been close for a long time, and during the heat and passion of the summer, when American anger over racial injustice boiled over into the streets, their conversations were about that, not basketball.
“A healthy dialogue,” Moton said.
But years of conversations about everything laid the groundwork for this quick-turnaround, long-overdue neighborhood clash when both teams ended up with a COVID-induced hole in their schedules.
Let this example set during these trying times be one of the few things we take with us into the future: North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke should all schedule N.C Central periodically, accepting whatever risk there is in the service of a greater good, a rising Triangle tide that lifts all boats.
This season, with buildings empty anyway and no ticket revenue to be lost, was a missed opportunity for some school to make the leap and play in McDougald-McLendon, although for a quick turnaround like this, the Smith Center certainly has distinct infrastructure advantages.
But that time should come. It makes sense. For everyone.
“That’s something I never thought of,” Williams said. “It’s something I may think of now.”
“It would mean the world to us,” Moton said. “Anytime we can get a home game, we’re happy. Whether it’s an ACC or CCA school, we’re happy. You guys have to understand, coach (Williams) has been phenomenal to me. I coached in middle school, high school — my path to Division I hasn’t been the usual route, but he’s welcomed me with open arms. I feel like I’m part of the UNC program.”
The Tar Heels have a week off before they host Ohio State. Moton will go back to trying to navigate the “organized chaos” of his interrupted season and working the phones. Saturday was a rare moment where everything felt right again, except for the result. The Eagles don’t have another game on the schedule until January.
“I’m thinking about who else I can call,” Moton said. “I want to make this experience as normal as possible. I told our team, ‘Take comfort in this comfort.’ It’s not going to be normal.”
