Tar Heels keep big picture in mind

It's all about team, coach Roy Williams says. That tenet has helped keep a deep squad from being split by jealousy or worry over individual honors

CHAPEL HILL -- Propped prominently in Roy Williams' office is a framed photograph of the coach and North Carolina's four NBA lottery picks from the 2005 national championship men's basketball team.

The picture is a reminder, he says, of what individuals can accomplish if they put their team first. It's also a symbol of what he hopes his current talent-laden squad can achieve if it continues to do the same thing.

"Every single day, I only talk about the 'team,' and try to get them to understand," said Williams, whose top-seeded Tar Heels open NCAA Tournament play at about 9:30 tonight against No. 16 seed Eastern Kentucky in an East Regional game in Winston-Salem.

"... If you're willing to make sacrifices and do things to help your team win, then you've got the chance to do something else later on -- much more so than the guy who comes out and thinks the world revolves around him."

It's been a delicate balance: Starting three rookies while asking upperclassmen to take a back seat; meshing the top-ranked freshman class with four returning starters; and divvying minutes among a dozen players.

But despite some bobbles at the end of the regular season -- when losing three of five games led to a players-only meeting -- his chemistry experiment has been a success. Why? Savvy recruiting, an understanding group of upperclassmen and constant reminders that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back.

"There are a lot of little things he's done -- things probably we don't even realize that he's done -- to make it work," sophomore guard Marcus Ginyard said. "And it has."

The first key to building unity was recruiting the right players. Not just the fastest, the biggest or the best -- but those willing to mesh with teammates.

Williams said he looks for ability before academics in recruits, and attitude above all else. He talks to everyone from coaches to guidance counselors to janitors to understand what kind of person he is recruiting.

"I've had scenarios that I have convinced myself that a player would not fit in and would not be interested, or his family would not be interested in the name on the front of the jersey," said Williams, who has passed on prospects the past two years because they wouldn't "fit in." "So I back off and try to talk those guys into going to our biggest rivals."

Quips aside, the character issue is a crucial one because not every player boasts the perseverance, commitment and loyalty necessary to subjugate himself for the good of the team, said John Silva, a professor of sports psychology at UNC who works with several Tar Heels teams.

"I think it is a very big challenge to an athlete, particularly an athlete that's been a star in high school, to give up these minutes," Silva said. "... It's a lot to ask of teenagers who are used to getting all of the attention."

Williams, however, appears to have lured the right combination of talent and teamwork.

In freshmen point guard Ty Lawson, shooting guard Wayne Ellington and power forward Brandan Wright -- all top-rated players at their respective positions coming out of high school -- Williams got three NBA hopefuls who knew they would have a chance to start, but not play as many minutes as they might on another team.

"Even if he didn't play as much, Brandan felt like playing for Coach Williams would give him the best chance to win a national championship," said Wright's mother, Tamiko.

And in forwards Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson, Williams signed two West Coast post players who might have been able to start immediately closer to home but were willing to play reserve roles for the chance to win a title.