.jpg?max_width=200&max_height=200)
• McGrath enters his ninth season on the Carolina bench, and
lucky 13th beside Roy Williams. At UNC, McGrath assists in
recruiting and player development, and is responsible for the team
camp and coach's clinics. He also serves as head coach of the
North Carolina junior varsity team.
• McGrath has helped guide the Tar Heels to two national
championships and three Final Four appearances in his tenure at
UNC.
• During his playing days, McGrath was an integral member of a
Kansas team which won four straight Big 8 or Big 12 titles, two Big
12 Championships and amassed a 123-17 record in four
seasons. McGrath was a two-time Academic All-Big 12
selection.
Diary Series: C.B. McGrath, Asst. Coach - North Carolina
The college basketball season finally arrives!
When October 15th gets here it symbolizes many things to the University of North Carolina. Mid-term exams, a pending fall break but most importantly the beginning of the basketball season. To us involved, this is when we start to work together as a team of players and coaches with one goal in mind – get better everyday and work hard to be the best. Obviously expectations are immensely high in Tar Heel country and our players understand this. They decided to play at Carolina to meet and possibly exceed those type of expectations.
This year is no different than a few times in the last eight years – we are the favorite to be the national champions!
Wow, that sounds great but there is so much that needs to transpire to hoist that trophy at the end. The good news is Coach Roy Williams has done that twice as a head coach in his eight seasons at Carolina. There will be very little that can happen that we will have not prepared for during these next six months.
The first night of official practice we always have an event called Late Night with Roy Williams, and this year was no different. Our guys really enjoy showing off their personalities in skits and dance routines. We had another packed house (all 21,750 seats were full) for the event and our guys did not disappoint. I do feel that Tyler Zeller has been the most improved performer that I have seen over a career at this event. It was a lot of laughs with numerous stars in attendance. Stuart Scott (of ESPN) was the emcee and, as always, loved getting back to his alma mater. Vince Carter and Tyler Hansbrough were here as well.
We are very fortunate to have many of our former players come back and live in Chapel Hill and the surrounding areas during their off-season. It helps our current players during the summers to play pick-up with pros. It is a great part of the Carolina basketball family that is so special in many ways. The former players want the same thing for these current Tar Heels that everyone wants – more rings. But more importantly, the former players want to feel part of the program and have a hand in their development.
We are preseason No. 1 and we are not going to try and down play the ranking. We have all five starters back from a team that won the ACC regular season championship, won 29 games and lost a heart breaker to Kentucky in the Elite 8. We have added another group of freshmen to that mix and hope it is enough to stay healthy through the rigors of the season and play our best basketball at the end of the year.
We will be front and center as we begin our journey this week on Veteran’s Day (11/11/11) playing in the Carrier Classic, located on the USS Vinson in the San Diego Harbor. Our opponent will be Michigan State, whom we have played five times in the last seven years. It is going to be a special event as many wounded warriors will be in attendance amongst all the military personnel. Our entire team is honored to be playing for our great country and hope the game will give some recognition to all those soldiers that work everyday to protect the U.S. We are so thankful to have an opportunity to thank them for all they do. We understand it is just a basketball game and what they do is much more important.
God Bless America!
* * *
