As a Tar Heel fan, one who has followed North Carolina basketball for over three decades, when I heard that Sean May will be playing in France all I could say “oui, s’il vous plaît” (yes, please). May, who was part of the 2005 squad that got head coach Roy Williams his first national title, will join another former Carolina player from the championship team, Jawad Williams, playing for Paris-Levallois (EuroBasket Pro A), a team that last year featured yet another former Heel from that amazing run, David Noel.
I can still remember during the Final Four weekend how Scott May, a forward on Indiana’s `75-`76 national title team, telling the media that the weekend was about his son and not him. His son proved him right as he was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament helping UNC beat Michigan State 87 to 71 in the semis and then taking care of Illinois 75 to 71. I can think back of going to see the team practice in Syracuse the weekend before. As I write this post I have to say many, but many memories come back of that team, including of the big guy in the middle. That squad made me smile, laugh, cry, and that was all in one game sometimes. And it is making me smile, laugh, cry as I write this and watch some YouTubes about that season!
For those of you that do not know, or might have forgotten, this was the team where its three scholarship seniors were freshmen the year that UNC went 8 and 20. That alone should make you reflect on what that squad meant to the program and its fan base in bringing back the Carolina tradition to the world of college basketball.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRbP9dNKR08&w=480&h=360]
Sean May scored 26 points of the 75 UNC points in the final against Illinois
After college May was selected 13th in the 2005 NBA Draft, joining former team mate and national champ, Raymond Felton, in Charlotte. There he played for several years, afterwards heading to Sacramento for a season. From there the power forward was to play with the then New Jersey Nets, but a stress fracture in the pre season made it so that the franchise released him. Following that set back May has had several stints with European teams, finally signing with Paris-Levallois this July and beginning his first season with the new squad just a couple of days ago.
For an old Tar Heel it is an extreme pleasure to follow and blog about former UNC players like May and Williams as they play overseas, just like another former North Carolina basketball player Marcus Ginyard, is doing as well. And of course to follow all of the players in the National Basketball Association that once called Chapel Hill home. For more information about Carolina basketball and/or football players, present or former, make sure to come back often to isportsweb!