The Daily Tar Heel from Chapel Hill, North Carolina • Page 28

20Basketball 22, '198b A uesimi By GREG COOK Staff Writer Basketball at the University of North Carolina has had a long and illustrious winning tradition. The 1924, 1957 and 1982 championship teams are but three chapters in a very long novel of rich Tar Heel hoop memories. As with any successful novel, however, there must be a good beginning and the novel that is UNC basketball is certainly no exception. The first chapter of this novel began in Chapel Hill on January 27, 1911, when North Carolina's fust basketball team stepped onto the court at old Bynum gymnasium to face Virginia Christian College. The first Tar Heel team was a very young one.

UNC's starting five consisted of freshmen Marvin Ritch (the captain) and Bill Tillett along with sophomores Cyrus Long, John Hanes, and Junius Smith (a true Tar Heel basketball name). The first coach of the Tar Heels was Nathaniel J. Cartmell, who was also the track coach. During that first historical contest, Cartmell doubled as both coach and referee. He coached the Tar Heels during time outs and when play resumed he refereed the game.

This is, to say the least, quite a contrast to today's well-organized, fast-paced game. As the Tar Heels were about to take the court, Ritch, the captain, decided that it was his responsibility to get the team inspired for its fust game so he decided to give a small pep talk. "Don worry about trying to be the leading scorer," Ritch said. "Play for the team and forget yourself." Years down the road, a fellow by the name of Dean Smith would tell his players the same thing. Indeed, the Tar Heels did play for the team.

In fact, during the first half, the Heels might have tried too hard to heed Ritch's words of inspiration. Both defenses seemed to intimidate the opposing offense. It was very much like two heavyweight boxers "feeling each other out" in the early rounds. Finally, in the closing minutes of the first half, North Carolina settled down and built up a five-point lead, the largest of the first half. Virginia Christian, however, rallied and trimmed UNC's lead to two.

By the end of the half, the Tar Heels held a 13-11 lead. The Tar Heels were halfway home to their first victory in their first try. The second half was, in contrast to the first half, an offensive show. After being lectured by Cartmell, the Tar Heels came out smoking. North Carolina, by increasing the tempo and working the ball inside, scored 10 unanswered points in the first five minutes to build its lead to 23-11.

Virginia Christian, displaying great patience, fought back but simply could not build any momentum against the taller Tar Heel timbers. The visitors had to resort to outside shooting and could not capitalize. The Tar Heels, however, did capitalize. UNC combined impressive ball-handling techniques along with the fast break in order to gain a 15-point advantage midway through the second half. Only a few minutes later, the Tar Heels had made UNC history by notching their first basketball victory.

North Carolina had not only played and won its first game, but was well on its way to a winning 7-4 season as well. Thus, UNC's first basketball game was history, but the impact of that first contest is still making history. No one suspected at the time, including Cartmell, that North Carolina's first game was actually the genesis of one of the premier basketball programs in the country. Within the game account itself, however, there is an important underlying story the story of the origin of the first UNC basketball team. Legend has it that on one autumn day.

in October, 1910, Cartmell, then the track coach, was approached by a group of eager Tar The sands of time have made it hard to get a clear picture of Heel students who were anxious to college basketball today, the early Tar Heels well, there will be sidelines and, possibly, peanuts and Hershey's going the rounds." The Tar Heel produced an astounding effect. Twenty-five men showed up for the first UNC practice on December 12, 1910. me iirsi practice session ior UNC was not picture perfect. The lighting was bad, the floor was too form a varsity basketball team. The ringleader of these roundball proponents was none other than Marvin Ritch, the future captain of the Blue and White.

Ritch and his cohorts must have presented a strong argument because soon afterward Cartmell agreed to their proposal. Simply agreeing to the proposal itself, however, was not the only step involved. Fonning a varsity sport was a tedious task. Organization was a must Tryouts had to be made, equipment had to be and a schedule had to be arranged. Cartmell went straight to work.

He got the nod from UNC officials and ordered the necessary equipment and, upon its arrival, he had it installed in Bynum gymnasium. Cartmell also did what would be considered almost impossible in scheduling 11 games within a matter of days. UNC's first-season opponents included Virginia Christian College, Durham YMCA, Wake Forest, Guilford College, Charlotte YMCA, Tennessee, Virginia, and Woodberry Forest. UNC played Virginia, Wake Forest, and Virginia Christian twice. Support of UNC's first team was an important factor and one of the most ardent supporters of the basketball program was The Tar Heel.

The newspaper made announcements concerning the team, encouraged students to try out, and informed the public about, the new basketball program. One such example read: it is up to us (the student body) to make the game a go. All who can play, or think they can, get in touch with Coach Cartmell; as for the rest lively, and, as some players said, it took a perfect shot to make a basket. These conditions, of course, didn't matter, especially considering the circumstances. North Carolina was now on its way to its first basketball season and there was good reason to be excited.

After all, the first game was only one month away, and Cartmell, with a nine ncip irom ms irienas, naa organized a basketball program in just a matter of weeks. He had done the impossible. mot! (gsfete OGsOvMik A A Neiv Cable TV Lineup to Meet The Growing eeds of Our Community Espsndsd (converter Pzdzzzs Csrrboro $4.00 p2r mnnth 010.00 per month 14 MTV (Musk: TeiOVlSKjn) 25 The Weather Channel 15 USA Network 2 WFMY-TV2 26 Satellite Programming Network SPN 16 The Nashville Network 1 8 Nickelodeon (Children's Network) 19 Financial News Network 20 WTBS-TV 17 23 ESPN Sports Network 8 WROG 9 WGN-TV9 10 WPTF-TV28 11 Local OriginationPublic Access 12 WLFL-TV22 13 WTVO-TV 11 27 Black Entertainment Network 29 Cable News Network 31 Lifetime 32 Educational Access 3 WRAL-TV 5 Community Giuboard 5 C-SpanGovtal Access 6 WUNC-TV4 7 CNN Headline News 33 WGHP 8 24 CBN Christian Broadcasting Premium Pay Channels $9.95 each per month A .4.