Column: Diamond DeShields says goodbye, but I couldn’t

It was like seeing a ghost.

As I sat in the study room of Ram Village 1 Tuesday, feet away from my apartment, I looked up from my computer only to see a tall, athletic figure turn the corner and walk down the hall.

It was a figure whose presence has become unfamiliar in the past few weeks — someone I hadn’t seen in almost a month despite living two doors away.

I quickly flashed back to that last encounter. It was a weird one — a Sunday at 1:30 a.m. as a 6-foot-2 frame approached me.

“Hey,” the person said, pulling a rack full of clothes down the hall, moving things out.

“Hey, how you doing?” I responded, not thinking twice.

Back to the study room. The person turning that corner was the same. It was Diamond DeShields, less than a week after news broke she would transfer from UNC despite coming off a freshman season unlike anyone has ever seen.

National freshman player of the year. Her 648 points, more than any freshman in ACC history. And to top it off, she led a UNC women’s basketball team that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in 2012 to the Elite 8 this year.

But she had made up her mind. Diamond will not be forever ... not as a Tar Heel. No one knows why. Not even Sylvia Hatchell, who was sidelined all season during her battle with leukemia and will now never get to coach the player she calls “My Diamond.”

“It breaks my heart...” Hatchell said in a statement confirming the transfer.

So that night after Diamond turned the corner and entered her room, I knew I had to see if she’d answer the question on everyone’s mind — why?

After an hour of self-pep talks and deep breaths, I mustered up the confidence to see if she’d talk to me. With butterflies pounding in my stomach, I walked down the hall. But before I could make it to the door, her teammate and roommate on the same route greeted me.

The word “transfer” was forbidden in their room, she said. One thing she could tell me was Diamond was gathering her words and when the time came, she’d talk.

Two days later, that time came.

Diamond tweeted a screenshot of a statement Thursday with the words, “A message from Me. Thank you.”

The transfer is real and has apparently been on her mind a while. She met with Hatchell on “several different occasions” this year, she said. Her destination is uncertain, but after a year of sitting out per NCAA transfer rules, she’ll wear another school’s jersey.

From our view, she had it all — three fellow hungry freshmen, a returning Hall of Fame Coach and the God-given talent, that killer instinct.

It wasn’t a question if she’d lead UNC to a national title. It was when and how many.

Diamond led UNC with 18 points a game. UNC’s all-time leading scorer Ivory Latta, the 2006 National Player of the Year, didn’t crack that mark until her junior season.

Diamond could have been the greatest.

Now with the end of the semester, she’ll vanish in the back of our minds. Yes, she’ll initially be called a traitor, the player who could’ve been. But eventually we’ll forget.

Her jersey will never hang in the rafters of Carmichael Arena. Her photos will be taken down from the walls of Sutton’s Drug Store.

Do I respect her decision? Yes.

My mother’s favorite saying is nothing beats a failure but a try. Diamond gave Chapel Hill a try, and it didn’t work out.

Am I disappointed she’s leaving? Yes.

But part of me feels that disappointed isn’t the right word. When I heard the news, I became sick with regret.

I knew during that encounter — now our last — on that Sunday at 1:30 a.m., I chose the wrong words.

I wish I would’ve said goodbye.

sports@dailytarheel.com