Report: Tarheel Trio To Return Despite Criticisms & Attacks of UNC Fans

Inside Carolina is reporting that Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green will all return to Chapel Hill for the 2008-2009 college basketball season, virtually guaranteeing that the Tarheels will hold the #1 preseason ranking as the heavy favorite to win the 2009 National Championship.

Lawson, Ellington and Green had become the targets of significant criticism brought about by UNC-CH fans, students and internet community members. The situation between Tarheel faithful and the players got so nasty that CBS Sportsline actually elevated the fans’ criticisms in a national article discussing the situation and criticizing the Tarheel faithful.

That article was written three weeks ago and we are yet to have seen or heard a single mention of it from UNC-CH Athletics Director, Dick Baddour or anyone else of note within the Carolina Athletics Department. Such behavior and media strategy couldn’t be any more opposite than the obsession and criticism that NC State’s administrators (Fowler, Purcell and Oblinger) have for the ubiquitous “internet” and all of the “bad fans” who evidently reside on the internet.

Dick Baddour understands the simplest of human common sense that NC State’s ‘leadership’ fails to grasp – if you don’t acknowledge this stuff then you don’t elevate it into the public consciousness and therefore you don’t validate the idiots who behave this way. There are tons of ‘crazies’ on the internet; but, just because someone happens to live in the year 2008 and uses the internet does not inherently make them crazy.

Lee Fowler has proven on multiple occassions that he would have immediately raced into public forums to draw even more attention to this type of topic; he most likely would have issued press releases and brought even more negative attention to NC State if the same situation would have happened in Raleigh as happened with Lawson, Ellington and Green. (Remember the reaction to the boos during the Clemson game in Carter-Finley a couple of years ago?)

But…Dick Baddour and the folks in the Carolina camp have a different way of dealing with adversity.

As evidenced by Baddour’s silence on the matter, Baddour didn’t go running to CBS to make a big deal about the article and only exacerbate the problem by bringing more attention to things.

* Baddour & the Carolina camp didn’t go whine and complain off the record to other media members about the crazy UNC fans and therefore he didn’t serve to taint the view of Carolina fans in the minds of others.

* Baddour & the Carolina camp didn’t go calling up newspaper reporters telling them that they were wrong with their stories like Fowler did with Herb Sendek in 2001.

* Baddour & the Carolina camp didn’t run around making a big deal of the story like Lee Fowler did when he called Mark May at ESPN and also dialed-into nationally broadcast football games two years ago to tell the world that Chuck Amato was not on the hot seat (only a couple of months before the Board of Trustees forced Amato out against the wishes of Fowler).

* Baddour & the Carolina camp didn’t fabricate stories about the risk of safety of the players and their families because of the basketball obsessed fans that reside in Carolina’s fanbase like Lee Fowler did in the Richmond newspaper in 2006.

* Baddour & the Carolina camp hasn’t waster their energy and created bad relations with anyone who lives in the real world in 2008 by publicly stating that “fan message boards on the internet” are the biggest challenge facing UNC-CH athletics like Lee Fowler stated in 2006. (Please tell me that you do not wonder why our Athletics Department is amongst the worst in the conference when our leadership is so disassociated with reality that they can’t find bigger challenges to conquer than fan message boards on the internet).

But…what does UNC-CH know about running an Athletics Department?! If those bozos in Chapel Hill who have built one of the top ten all-sports programs in the country had any clue how to run an Athletics Department wouldn’t they be looking to Lee Fowler to provide them guidance on how to react to this kind of stuff? If those bozos really knew what they were doing they would have made a big stink out of all of this and turned their players even more against their fans, thereby guaranteeing such an uncomfortable situation that their existing players would not want to return to school and future recruits would have much less interest in becoming a part of their program.

If only Dick Baddour knew how to deal with issues like Lee Fowler!

In related news, NC State’s JJ Hickson has surprised no one and has guaranteed that he will not be returning to school by signing with agent, Andy Miller of ASM Sports.

N.C. State’s J.J. Hickson said today he will sign a contract with sports agent Andy Miller of ASM Sports, who represents the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett, among others.

Hickson, a 6-foot-9 forward, officially announced Sunday that he had hired an agent and would remain in the draft. That came more than a week after he told reporters in Phoenix that his intentions were to stay in the draft and not return for his sophomore season at State.

Hickson said he made the final decision within the past week

Parting shot — I just received an email from a friend of mine who is a lifelong Carolina fan that read as follows:

Just for the record, if what they are reporting is true, that Green, Ellington, and Lawson are returning to UNC, if they don’t win it all next year, I might consider quiet watching UNC basketball forever. It is a bold statement, but w/ a lineup like that and the freshmen that are coming in, it would be embarrassing if they lose a single game.

What can I say about all of you unrealistic, over-demanding, impatient Wolfpack fans.

Update
Post of the Day from Daniel33 on Pack Pride:

Unless UNC makes a few offseason upgrades to the Smith Center, I don’t think they can go all the way. Talented players are nice, but everyone knows to be really successful, you have to have top-notch facilities. UNC needs a few more luxury boxes to really compete on a high level.

Sincerely,

Lee Fowler

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57 Responses to Report: Tarheel Trio To Return Despite Criticisms & Attacks of UNC Fans

  1. JT 06/17/2008 at 7:34 AM #

    Who cares about those Heels? They had to stay or at best Ty would be a late 1st rounder and the other two would go to Europe or the NBDL and probably never stick in the NBA even if they got there.

    Personally I’m just glad JJ is gone- overrated and terrible to watch against the good competition. I don’t think 5 years from now he’ll even be a blip in my memory.

  2. TomCat 06/17/2008 at 8:29 AM #

    If there was ever a great example of subtraction by addition on the basketball court, than JJ Hickson- I’d love to see it. Basketball is not a one-man show and JJ was never able to blend into this team. Not sure who to blame- the coaches for giving a freshman JJ goldenchild status- or the team never being able to mesh with himin the lineup. It was as if when JJ arrived the entire gameplan was thrown out the window and it was 1 vs 5 with everything else secondary. Hopefully this was a lesson learned by Lowe and staff going forward on the college level. Ironically we have pretty much the same team from 2 years ago which made the run to the ACC Tourney title game- with the addition of a few athletes to contribute. Hoping we get back on the path.

  3. Pack84 06/17/2008 at 8:47 AM #

    Perhaps ole Huckleberry has simply promised the trio he’d make sure they all received nice “graduation” presents ala Kansas. Maybe they just received them a bit early………

  4. BJD95 06/17/2008 at 8:51 AM #

    At the end of the day, UNC is still only 1 team out of 12. We will only play them twice in the regular season. There is still ample room for other teams to step and be very, very good. Somebody will still fill ACC slots 2-5.

    Come March, it’s actually an advantage to be from the ACC, in that you are assured to be seeded far away from UNC in the NCAAT bracket.

    And as dominant as the Holes will be, they won’t go unbeaten. They might not even win the ACC (1987, anyone?).

    That said, I am resigned to the fact that UNC will win the ACCT about 70% of the time, and win anywhere from 3-5 additional NCAA titles, as long as Roy Williams remains their coach.

  5. Noah 06/17/2008 at 9:28 AM #

    That said, I am resigned to the fact that UNC will win the ACCT about 70% of the time, and win anywhere from 3-5 additional NCAA titles, as long as Roy Williams remains their coach.

    Yep. Don’t worry about who goes and who stays. They’re ALWAYS going to have a great team. They will ALWAYS get great recruits and they will ALWAYS be in the top-10 as long he’s there.

    But I’m younger than he is and someday he’ll be dead.

  6. john 06/17/2008 at 9:32 AM #

    Thats a ridiculous statement that carolina will not win the acc this year. I know the season has yet to begin, but looking at the acc from top to bottom how is unc not the best team? Since the hire of roy unc has owned this conference. With the return of these three, and three very solid freshmen, this year will be no different.

  7. Wulfpack 06/17/2008 at 9:49 AM #

    ^Yea, I agree. I don’t see how anyone cannot think they won’t dominate the conference again. Essentially the same team as last year.

    As for us, no doubt we were a better “team” without Hickson. But I don’t think we are going to have any luck in the post with him gone. Costner is just way too soft. Ben may be our only saving grace.

  8. BigRed 06/17/2008 at 10:06 AM #

    And Tracy!

  9. JT 06/17/2008 at 10:34 AM #

    If Costner and Ben walk out looking like they spent the offseason in the weight room nonstop that will tell me all I need to know. If they come out like the dough boys they were last year, it’s gonna be another long year. Call me a crazy optimist, but there’s more team potential this year than last.

  10. packbackr04 06/17/2008 at 10:44 AM #

    is it possible we are nearing a commitment from Lo Brown? he spent alot of time in Raleigh last month and we are the only school here recruiting him.

    i also hear there is a 2010 PG who was at one of the raleigh tournies last month that said he would have commited right then if he could have. i believe he is from the same HS in Marietta that JJ came from.

  11. happypackdad 06/17/2008 at 11:03 AM #

    99% a lock for Brown.

  12. happypackdad 06/17/2008 at 11:05 AM #

    ^^ probably thinking of Ryan Harrow

  13. Rick 06/17/2008 at 1:42 PM #

    “If Costner and Ben walk out looking like they spent the offseason in the weight room nonstop that will tell me all I need to know. ”

    He did have the nickname the Big Lazy.

  14. Ed89 06/17/2008 at 1:43 PM #

    HPD,
    Concur about Brown, but I think you’ve got the wrong name for the 2010 PG from Wheeler.

  15. Ed89 06/17/2008 at 1:56 PM #

    2010 PG from Wheeler is Phil Taylor.

  16. happypackdad 06/17/2008 at 2:03 PM #

    The 2010 PG that said he wanted to commit right then was Harrow. We are recruiting other ’10 PGs including Taylor.

  17. Ed89 06/17/2008 at 2:05 PM #

    Thanks for keeping me in-line. I had not heard about Harrow.

  18. BJD95 06/17/2008 at 2:43 PM #

    You must win the ACCT in order to be ACC champs. It only takes ONE upset to stop that train. The 1987 UNC team was a monster. 6th seeded NC State beat them in the final.

    Now, I will admit that it would be lunacy to say the Holes might not win the REGULAR SEASON and be seeded #1. But that’s not, in fact, what I actually said.

  19. Noah 06/17/2008 at 3:04 PM #

    One thing about that 1987 State team…it DID have future NBAers Chucky Brown, Charles Shackleford and Vinnie Del Negro in the starting lineup. It also had future NBAer Brian Howard on the bench and former high school all-americans Andy Kennedy and Walker Lambiotte on the bench as well (though they didn’t play). And now that I think of it, wasn’t Mike Giomi a big-time recruit for Indiana?

    Had Chris Corchiani arrived a year earlier or had we not tried the disastrous Kenny Drummond experiment, that team would have been a top-10 or top-15 squad.

    It just took us the entire season to get to the point where we could beat Dook and UNC in the ACC tourney (we got lucky that Wake knocked out two-seeded Clemson and we were lucky to beat Wake…).

  20. packbackr04 06/17/2008 at 3:05 PM #

    yeah, but in 1987 didnt we have a few future NBA players as well?

  21. Sweet jumper 06/17/2008 at 3:13 PM #

    If Costner and McCauley miraculously return to form this season after basically “no showing” last year, I am not sure whether to be happy that we will be more comptetive or disgusted that they tanked last year because of issues with Hickson’s playing time. Good luck, J. J., you deserved better from your teammates, your captain and your coach.

  22. happypackdad 06/17/2008 at 3:26 PM #

    JJ could have helped his teammates by learning how to pass out of double teams.

  23. happypackdad 06/17/2008 at 3:27 PM #

    no prob 89, I think we’re on 4 PGs in ’10 so it’s tough to keep them all straight.

  24. wufpup76 06/17/2008 at 3:33 PM #

    “But I’m younger than he (R. Williams) is and someday he’ll be dead … ”

    Can’t beat that Wolfpack optimism! 😉

  25. redfred2 06/17/2008 at 5:17 PM #

    Having great players and good coaches is something that unc has done for as long as I can remember anyway. But to obtain those assets to begin with, and then have the ability to maintain them for decade upon decade, is something that takes much leverage in the media.

    That ability is the flagship’s most valuable asset.

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