CHAPEL HILL - Sitting several rows behind the Smith Center's home bench last month, it was difficult to tell what made North Carolina women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell more nervous: the beginning of her team's season, or waiting for her son to check into the Tar Heels' junior varsity game.

"As a coach, of course I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do against [N.C.] Central," she said Nov. 9, just hours before her team topped the Eagles. "But as a mom, this is just special."

Van Hatchell, the little boy who wore a Carolina blue arm cast during his mother's national championship-winning game in 1994, is now wearing a Carolina blue jersey -- as an 18-year-old freshman on UNC's JV team.

An All-State basketball selection at Durham's Cresset Christian Academy, the 6-foot-3 guard had several scholarship offers from small Division I schools, but instead opted to roll the dice and try out at Carolina -- with the hope of one day rising to the varsity ranks.

"That is the dream," said Van, who is averaging 2.2 points over five JV games this season. "That's what I've always wanted to do ... that's what I'm working for."

UNC established the junior varsity program in 1972-73, when freshmen became eligible to play varsity. It is the only school in the ACC that fields a JV men's basketball squad, allowing regular students a chance to practice and play in the Smith Center, and eventually earn a spot on varsity, a la Surry Wood, Jack Wooten, J.B. Tanner and Patrick Moody this season.

Roughly five dozen players tried out for JV this year. Only 14 made it. Coach Jerod Hasse said he picked Van because "he did well in tryouts, was able to make some shots and played extremely hard.

"He's smart, he understands the game ... I think a lot of times that shows a kid who's practiced in the gym a lot of long hours."

Actually, that wasn't the case in Van's early days. With Sylvia coaching at UNC and father, Sammy, coaching at Meredith College, he attended plenty of practices and games -- crawling across courts before he learned to dribble, enduring pats and pinches from his parents' players before he learned to talk.

But "I didn't really like basketball early on ... because I felt like it kept my parents away from me,'' said Van, who could often be found playing video games when he grew bored at one of his parent's workouts.

That started to change in the sixth grade, however, when he played on one of his dad's youth teams and realized he had a knack for the game.

Two years later, Roy Williams' return to Chapel Hill as the men's basketball coach sparked Van's interest in becoming a Tar Heel.

Then, before Van's 10th grade season, Sammy left Meredith to become the head coach at Cresset, allowing him to spend more time with his son and help mold his skills. That year, the Eagles won 26 games after two straight losing seasons. Sammy still coaches there and now also teaches a basketball coaching class at UNC.

"I told Sammy that if he had not done what he did -- leaving Meredith to coach at Cresset Christian -- Van would never have made the JV team,'' Sylvia said. "Because he would never have developed his skills and ability to the level that is necessary here."

Still, his mom was a little nervous when Van gave up scholarship opportunities to try out for JV.

"I know how good that team is, because a lot of the players who don't make JV end up being practice players for our [women's] team," Hatchell said. "I didn't talk to any of the coaches; I knew he would have to make it on his own. ... So when he found out he had made it, he was so excited, and I was just so proud."

She still is, especially since Van's contributions to the JV squad's 5-0 start don't always show up on the stat sheet.

When he checked into his first game, a 37-point victory over Mount Olive, he almost immediately took a charge, much to his parents' delight. Against Pfeiffer on Nov. 9, he only scored two points, but was on the floor frequently, hustling for loose balls and doing the "little things," much to the small crowd's delight.

Just what you would expect from a coach's son.

"I love seeing my parents in the stands, cheering for me," said Van, who is now pondering a career as a coach. "I really feel like this [being on JV] justifies me as a player. A lot of times people might be like, 'Well, he's Coach Hatchell's son, that's why he gets all of this.' ... But I've worked hard to get this far, and I want to continue that."

So do his parents, no matter how nerve-wracking the experience.

"This is a dream come true for him, but for us, too," Sylvia said, sitting beside Sammy in the stands before dashing back to Carmichael Auditorium to prepare for her team's season opener.

"And as much as I enjoy watching him, I enjoy watching the team, too -- the concepts, the strategies. Last week, I saw a play, and wrote it down, thinking I just might use it for my team. And when he got home, I showed it to him and said, 'Show me how this works.' "