UNC Tar Heels: NCAA men's basketball, 2005

Guard Jackie Manuel will forever be remembered as the first player who truly "bought in" to new North Carolina coach Roy Williams' system in 2003-04 -- eschewing his (often errant) shots to make himself the top defender on the team that won the NCAA championship in 2005.

Now playing for the Erie [Pa.], BayHawks in the NBA's development league, he said beating Illinois, 75-70, in the national title game erased the bitter memories of his freshman season.

"Winning the title made people forget about the 8-20 season - it made people remember us as the team that won the whole thing my senior year, instead of the team that did what it did when we were freshmen.

"People look at you differently when you're a champion. ... I play with guys who watched the game, wonder what it's like, ask questions, and that just makes all of the pride in what we accomplished come back.

"I'm proud that part of my legacy is that I believed in Coach Williams, that I was willing to change my game for the team. We're all going to be remembered as something - and that's something positive. I'd rather be remembered for something positive rather than negative, and winning it [the national title] did that."

Latest Comment View all comments

Multimedia