Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 5, 1993 TAG: 9304050039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium
IT'S AS GOOD AS IT GETS
NORTH CAROLINA forward George Lynch won a state basketball championship when he played at Patrick Henry High in Roanoke. Now, he gets a chance to cap his collegiate career by winning a national title.\ As games go, George Lynch says his next one seems bigger than the arena in which it will be played.
"Every senior who plays college basketball would want to end their career like this," Lynch said Sunday, the eve of the NCAA championship game. "It's so rewarding, I really can't explain the feeling I have."
In the Louisiana Superdome tonight, Lynch - as North Carolina's only senior starter - will lead the Tar Heels against Michigan for the national title. He also will become the first Roanoker to play in the 55 years of NCAA Division I championship games.
"At the time [1988], when we won the state [Group AAA] championship at Patrick Henry, that was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10," said the Tar Heels' forward. "This is a 10, too. It's just a bigger scale."
Lynch, who is averaging 20.4 points in this tournament, finishes his career as UNC's No. 2 career rebounder. He's first in steals and 12th in scoring. He and former Duke star Christian Laettner are the only players in ACC history with 1,500 points, 1,000 rebounds, 200 steals and 200 assists.
Stardom, however, has eluded Lynch, even if those balls caroming off the glass can't. He made the All-ACC first team this season, but he has played in the shadow of 7-foot junior Eric Montross.
"Sometimes I wish the reporters would submit their questions early, so if Coach [Dean] Smith and Eric were going to get all of them, I wouldn't have to show up," said Lynch, smiling, at his personal media session Sunday.
"I do think a lot of people don't accept or don't see the value I have to this team," he said. "I've tried to make big plays. I've tried to get big rebounds. Off the floor, I go to class. I'll graduate in May.
"I've tried to lead. It's been that way since my freshman year. Even when I came in, I was the strongest guy on the team. Still, I had to wait my turn to start. You have to be a disciplined player at North Carolina."
A three-year starter, Lynch, 6 feet 8, played in every UNC game his freshman season. The next year, his first Final Four trip dead-ended with a semifinals loss to Kansas in the Hoosier Dome.
"You grow in the system," Lynch said. "Everyone Carolina recruits is an All-America, or just about all of them, and that's one reason why Coach Smith plays a Blue-White scrimmage, with the freshmen on one team and the upperclassmen on the other.
"Your bubble gets popped very fast. You see that maybe you aren't as good as you thought."
Lynch, 22, credits good coaching in his background and a good work ethic for his success. He's never really talked a good game.
"Where I come from is that I play hard and keep kind of quiet about it and get the job done," Lynch said. "I always liked the way a guy like Charles Barkley played. He scores, rebounds, plays defense. His drive is what makes him.
"When I was growing up in Roanoke, I always ended up in pickup games with older guys. Because I was younger, no one would pass me the ball, so I had to go up and get it. Maybe I had to go coast-to-coast to get a shot, but that's where I learned to play like I do."
Lynch mentioned former Patrick Henry star Ricky Wright, who played at Winston-Salem State, and former Salem High and Virginia player Richard Morgan as players "who showed me what I could do, that I could be just as good."
"Now, because of what's happened," Lynch said, "maybe I can be an NBA player."
First, he has a Roanoke first to accomplish.
"There really hasn't been time to think about what playing for the national championship means," Lynch said. "I'm sure when I look back on this, whether we win or lose, it will be something I'll appreciate.
"Winning would just make it better. I've achieved a lot, but those things probably won't be worth quite as much if we can't win a national championship."