Still Running.

 

 

What if Wile E. Coyote simply kept running? You've seen the bit a million times: The hapless furball chases the Roadrunner off the edge of a cliff, and for a few seconds he keeps right on going, unaware that he's no longer on solid ground. Then the realization sets in ... his feet stop churning ... he looks down ... there is a sad, direct-to-camera *boink boink* cartoon blink, and ... 

The Tar Heels came close to reenacting this moment twice this season.

The first was the horrific skid right around the holidays. UNC rebounded from a baffling 63-87 road loss to a Grace Berger-less Indiana with three straight victories over inferior non-con foes, but then everything took a precipitous turn.

A loss to Michigan in Charlotte, followed by three straight L's to open conference play. They were staggered and straggling, playing uncharacteristically uncertain basketball in a way Courtney Banghart's teams simply do not. It wasn't just that shots weren't falling or that they were coughing up too many turnovers. They didn't look sure of themselves, as if they didn't trust the set they were about to run even as they called it.

Then there was an almighty convulsion and a lurch of sheer will; the metaphysical version of yanking a plane out of a tailspin. We're never going to know what went down in the players-only meeting after a hard-fought road loss to the 'Canes in Coral Gables on January 5th, but whatever it was shifted this squad on a tectonic level.

There were portions of the ensuing Notre Dame game in Carmichael where the #4 Irish flat-out looked like they didn't belong on the floor with Carolina. Ditto for State, Duke (twice), and the absolute hammers UNC dropped on Clemson and Virginia. (The former of which finally saw the debut of Kayla McPherson, who is so terrifyingly fast that Paulina Paris threw an outlet pass a full eight feet behind her because P simply didn't clock how quick her burst in the open court was.)

I'm not sure there are words in any language that can fully convey the absurd luxury of bringing Kayla, P, Des, Teonni, and Lu OFF THE BENCH, but my GAWD the amount of different looks, versatility, and unending fresh legs and speed is something else.

There was the second near-fall, of course; where everything I just described evaporated in a wave of injuries. It turns out that when you remove Eva and 'Lys from this team for several games, it's really hard to win. Pair that with a road-heavy swing in the schedule and you get losses at Louisville, 'Cuse, and State. It looked like the wheels were coming off, and there was a shook, janky feeling to the games without two (and in one case three) starters. For the second time this season, this team was an uneasy watch, every game carrying a vague sense of foreboding.

Miraculously, though, the Heels got healthy in time to slug out one of the rock-fightin'-est games I've ever watched to spoil Duke's senior day and notch a regular-season sweep, and followed that up with their first ACC Tournament win since 2019 over Clemson. (What happened the game after that, you ask? Mind your own business and keep it moving, buddy.)

Twice this year, Carolina ran off the edge of the cliff. Twice, they could have looked down. The could have fallen. But they didn't. In a few hours, we'll find out if they get to host the first couple rounds of The Dance in Carmichael. It's worth an entirely separate piece on what that would mean and how utterly electric that place will be if it happens. But they're not in this position if they had glanced down and allowed gravity work. Instead, they just kept moving, kept pushing forward. And they're still running, clear off the cliff, sprinting across air that feels like solid ground.