Spring Break
The Daily OrangeBattle | UNC becomes 2nd school to open basketball museum
By Kevin Ware
Posted: 2/26/08, 12:59 AM EST Section: Sports
The camera follows junior center Tyler Hansbrough as he makes his way from the Tar Heel locker room, down the blue tunnels lined with photographs of past Carolina greats and climaxes when he bursts out onto the Smith Center court to the roars of 21,000-plus fans.
After the six-minute video, visitors pass through the doors on the other side of the room and enter the main part of the museum. The floor of the main room is a replica of the playing court the Tar Heels play on in the Smith Center, filled to the brim with a wide range of memorabilia.
"My favorite part of the museum I'd say is the kiosk that you can punch up 30 of the greatest games and plays and see not only video, but also (hear) the audio from either the network television or our radio broadcast game," Kirschner said. "Most of them are individual moments, individual plays, but some of them like the 1982 national championship game and the 2005 national championship game are a series of plays."
One of the key attractions of the museum is the section devoted to Michael Jordan, the 1984 NCAA player of the year.
Included in the Jordan memorabilia are handwritten notes from Smith to his assistants mentioning Jordan when he was a relatively unknown high school player from Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C. and workout routines given to him from Smith for the summertime.
But the note UNC fans might find most interesting is a type-written letter to him from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski dated Oct. 29, 1980.
"I am sorry to hear that you no longer have an interest in learning more about Duke University," Krzyzewski writes, "however I do want you to know that my staff and I wish you the very best in your college career. You are a fine young man, and you should make an immediate impact on whatever you choose."
"I think (UNC fans) get a chuckle out of it," Kirschner said. "It's not meant as a sign of disrespect to Coach Krzyzewski or Duke. Michael Jordan got a lot of letters when he told people he wasn't going to go to school there. … It turned out OK for Michael, didn't it?"
After the six-minute video, visitors pass through the doors on the other side of the room and enter the main part of the museum. The floor of the main room is a replica of the playing court the Tar Heels play on in the Smith Center, filled to the brim with a wide range of memorabilia.
"My favorite part of the museum I'd say is the kiosk that you can punch up 30 of the greatest games and plays and see not only video, but also (hear) the audio from either the network television or our radio broadcast game," Kirschner said. "Most of them are individual moments, individual plays, but some of them like the 1982 national championship game and the 2005 national championship game are a series of plays."
One of the key attractions of the museum is the section devoted to Michael Jordan, the 1984 NCAA player of the year.
Included in the Jordan memorabilia are handwritten notes from Smith to his assistants mentioning Jordan when he was a relatively unknown high school player from Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C. and workout routines given to him from Smith for the summertime.
But the note UNC fans might find most interesting is a type-written letter to him from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski dated Oct. 29, 1980.
"I am sorry to hear that you no longer have an interest in learning more about Duke University," Krzyzewski writes, "however I do want you to know that my staff and I wish you the very best in your college career. You are a fine young man, and you should make an immediate impact on whatever you choose."
"I think (UNC fans) get a chuckle out of it," Kirschner said. "It's not meant as a sign of disrespect to Coach Krzyzewski or Duke. Michael Jordan got a lot of letters when he told people he wasn't going to go to school there. … It turned out OK for Michael, didn't it?"
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