Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993 TAG: 9303080241
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Long
LYNCH PUTS EGO ASIDE IN CAROLINA TRADITION
ROANOKE'S GEORGE LYNCH had a difficult time leaving his star behind when he left high school to play in North Carolina's perennially successful basketball program. Like so many others just like him, however, he fit into his role and the winning continued.\ George Lynch realizes he may be far removed from the University of North Carolina before he gets his just recognition as a college basketball player.That's not to say his coaches and teammates don't appreciate him - head coach Dean Smith raves about Lynch - but nobody ever could accuse North Carolina of having a star system.
"Most people choose us," Smith said Friday. "It's like Bobby Knight once said, `No [players] should be really surprised when they get to Indiana or North Carolina.' They already know what the deal is."
The most impressive statistics at Carolina are team statistics: 23 straight seasons with 20 victories or more, 29 straight years without finishing lower than third in the ACC, 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
"At the end of my career, some of my stats will be near the top [at Carolina] and people will look back and say, `Who is this George Lynch guy?' " observed Lynch, a 6-foot-8 forward from Roanoke.
"When you're a player on Carolina's team, you may not be noticed till after your career is over. I knew about the team concept before I got here and I was willing to wait my turn."
Although he does not remember his freshman year fondly, Lynch played in every game. In fact, he has not missed a game in four seasons, the past three as a starter.
The Tar Heels will recognize Lynch and four other seniors before today's game with Duke, their final appearance at the Smith Center. Lynch hopes he doesn't get too emotional.
"I'm going to try and hold back the tears because the guys look at me as a hard-nosed guy who's pretty rough and physical," he said, "[but] I think I can be emotional at times."
Lynch hopes to be accompanied at midcourt today by his mother, Francine, who has lived in the Chapel Hill area since his senior year in high school, and by his father, George Sr., who still lives in Roanoke.
George Jr. was a star player at Patrick Henry High School, which won the Group AAA state championship in his junior year. Several weeks later, he transferred to Flint Hill Prep, a private school in Northern Virginia.
"A lot of people felt I should have finished at PH and stayed in state [for college]," commented Lynch, who said at the time he felt he needed a more stable environment than he had in Roanoke.
"My father felt I was from Roanoke and that the Roanoke paper should have written more stories about me, not just when other players left town and [about] whether I was involved."
Lynch admits he talked with a couple of players from Patrick Henry, Curtis Staples and Tim Basham, who joined Lynch's old coach, Stu Vetter, this year at Prospect Hall in Frederick, Md.
"I did influence those guys to talk to Coach Vetter and go up there and have a chance to see what he could offer," Lynch said. "I think it helped me and those guys definitely felt like they wanted to get out."
Nobody could say the Flint Hill experience hurt Lynch, who has joined Christian Laettner from Duke as the only players in ACC history to accumulate 1,500 points, 900 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals in a career.
Those statistics hardly seemed attainable three years ago, when Lynch was what he considered a typical Carolina freshman.
"I was playing around 20 minutes a game," he said, "but there were a lot of times when I wasn't happy. I don't think there's been a [Carolina] freshman who was totally happy about playing behind somebody or didn't think about transferring."
The Tar Heels had more losses in Lynch's first year, when they were 21-13, than at any time since 1952. There were whispers Carolina had slipped, but this week the Tar Heels returned to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time since 1987.
"I don't really have any reaction," Lynch said. "There were times earlier in the season when I got caught up in `We should be No. 1.' Then, we lost to Wake Forest by 26.' If we don't win [today], people will forget about it in a hurry."
Duke captured the earlier meeting between the teams, but the Tar Heels (25-3) have won eight games in a row and have taken away some of the national spotlight that has followed Duke during the 1990s.
"It's hard to see the team that's next door get talked about all the time and have all the exposure," Lynch said, "but I'm one of those people who's glad to see the pressure on somebody else."
Lynch does not have the kind of ego that constantly needs massaging, a personality trait that helped him to survive the transition from high school star to rookie role player.
"I had a roommate, Kenny Harris, who I think was a lot flashier than I was," Lynch said. "We talked many a night about how tough it was to play here. I was a lot calmer about it than he was."
That became evident when Harris transferred to Virginia Commonwealth after his sophomore year. That same year, Clifford Rozier, transferred from Carolina to Louisville.
"If I went somewhere else and had a chance to take more shots, maybe I could score 20 points a game," said Lynch, averaging a career-high 15.0 as a senior, "but I've never been one of those types, even in high school. If I scored 18 points in the first half, I'd want to get nine or 10 assists in the second."
Lynch never had to worry about rebounds. That came naturally from his days on the Roanoke playgrounds at Hurt Park, Loudoun Park and Melrose.
"The wind blew on every jump shot so the ball never went in," he said. "Besides, no one ever wanted to pass the ball to the young kids. If I wanted the ball, I had to go get it for myself."
Lynch had hoped to develop into a wing forward at Carolina, but he has played power forward for most of his career despite the presence of four 7-footers on the Tar Heels' roster.
"I never really got over it," Lynch said. "I still work on my jump shot all the time, but there comes a point where you have to let things go. I've accepted my role."
Smith said there is one very good reason he doesn't like to see Lynch on the perimeter - it means he doesn't have Lynch under the basket.
"Usually a selfish guy doesn't stay around here," Smith said. "George certainly ranks among the most [unselfish] we've had. He's not unappreciated by this staff or among these team members."
The All-ACC team will be announced next week, with Lynch hoping to rise above his third-team selection from last year. He made first-team All-ACC Tournament last year.
"If you're winning, that should be recognition," Smith said. "I pick all-conference and All-America by what teams win. [Tom] Gugliotta, Walt Williams and [Bryant] Stith . . . they played 40 minutes; they were going to get the easier defensive assignments."
Lynch recently broke the Carolina record for steals in a career with 220. Although Carolina has kept the statistic only since 1976, nobody else has had more than 200 - not Michael Jordan in three years, not Kenny Smith, not previous record-holder Rick Fox.
"Steals don't always [measure] a good defensive player," Smith said, "but in this case it does. George gets a lot of them near the basket. It isn't from gambling."
Smith doesn't compare players, but he says Lynch stands out for his quickness and athleticism, his quick hands and his competitiveness. He shoots well enough to have been a small forward.
"At the next level, I'd say that's where he's going to play," Smith said. "The pros are always asking, `Where can we find a guy who comes to play every night?' That's George."
Keywords:
PROFILE