Basketball Diary: Story Explained

The writer next to me from USA Today, who had covered Coach Matt Doherty as a high school player, asked how Doherty had been handling the tumultuous season.

I raved about Doherty's demeanor, saying he had been a pleasure to work with, especially considering the team's woes. He had been. He was open, courteous, helpful and available.

Then I went to the ACC Tournament.

In casual conversations with various people, I started to hear a lot of strange things about the basketball program and Doherty. I had also read a few things that seemed peculiar.

At first, the stories I heard were intriguing but lacked substance. So I kept my ears open.

After Spring Break, I heard more stories, some more reliable than others. Some more suprising. Part of the benefit of being a student journalist covering student athletes is our worlds are a lot closer than they would be ordinarily. When people are unhappy enough about a situation, they complain to their friends. And when these people are men's basketball players at UNC, their friends tell other friends about it.

All told, I heard accounts of more than a dozen current or former Doherty players here who had serious issues with how he treated them. Similar stories from others associated with Doherty also swirled. In fairness, of course, you can't believe everything you hear, or even read for that matter.

But so many different people were talking that they were hard to ignore, especially when more tranfers started taking place at the Smith Center than at Grand Central Station. Talk of more players considering catching the next train out of town arose and from much more reliable places than the Internet.

Then I began checking things out myself, seeing how much credence the rumors had. When I did, word got back to Doherty, triggering a series of phone calls. Steve Kirschner, in charge of media relations for men's basketball, condescendingly attempted on the telephone to discourage Ian Gordon, The Daily Tar Heel sports editor, from allowing my investigation, about which Gordon was fully aware.

Gordon defended my actions and the position of the newspaper and assured Kirschner that if there really wasn't anything there, then there was nothing to worry about.

Paranoia can speak volumes.

To us, their reaction added credibility to the work I was doing. Why would Doherty be so worried about someone talking about his relationships with players if he felt secure that they got along? Particularly in a family as close knit as the Tar Heel one.

Adam Boone, one who had been rumored to be considering leaving, decided to transfer and the circumstantial evidence got heavier.

Gordon decided to write the Boone story Wednesday. I suggested Gordon call the parents of Jawad Williams, also rumored as a possible transfer, and ask them whether he had thought about leaving UNC. Williams' mother verified the story, and we had an on-the-record source giving the stories validity.

Gordon called Kirschner to get in touch with Williams and Doherty. Doherty let the meetings he had had with players about their communication problems with him be known. Now that the story was out, he wanted people to know the team was working through its issues and he wanted Gordon to talk to Williams, also. And thus Gordon offered "Players Call on Doherty to Alter Approach" in Thursday's DTH.

And a day after Doherty complained yet again about me on the phone, Kirschner e-mailed Gordon to commend his fair and balanced reporting.

Now I am graduating. And the cycle has begun anew as the powers that be try to play off the "bad guy" and make nice with those who will return.

Mike Ogle can be reached at mogle@email.unc.edu.