North Carolina is in the Final Four because of Kelvin Sampson. Louisville is in the Final Four because of Otis George.
Michigan State made it because Tom Izzo had the guts to overhaul his backcourt. Illinois is here because Bruce Weber had the guts not to overhaul his.
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| UNC has Kelvin Sampson to thank for Rashad McCants' turnaround. (Getty Images) |
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For years, Rashad McCants didn't get it. Not when his AAU coach cut him. Not when his first coach at North Carolina, Matt Doherty, ripped him. Not when his second coach at UNC, Roy Williams, banished him.
For years McCants thought being his team's best player was enough. Coaches kept telling him he was wrong, but he didn't listen. He kept shooting, kept scoring, kept alienating.
Until Kelvin Sampson sent him home.
Sampson was coach of the USA Basketball under-21 team this past summer. McCants, Sampson said, "was the best player there." Yet Sampson cut him.
"Our emphasis," Sampson said at the time, "has been on kids sacrificing and being a part of something that's bigger than themselves."
That had never been an emphasis for McCants. In high school he was cut from his AAU team. As a UNC freshman, he was blasted by Doherty. As a sophomore he was sent to the locker room in the middle of game because Williams didn't like McCants' demeanor.
For McCants, none of it sunk in. Until Sampson sent him home.
Check out McCants now. After leading the ACC in scoring as a sophomore at 20 points per game, he doesn't even lead his team as a junior. He averages 15.8 ppg, well behind Sean May's 16.7 ppg. May and two other Tar Heels -- Jawad Williams and Raymond Felton -- have lifted their scoring average while McCants has lowered his.
North Carolina leads the country in assists. McCants is doing his part with nearly three per game. The Tar Heels clearly have more talent than anyone. Now they've got the teamwork to go with it.
