Massive pictures of two of Roy Williams’ favorite Tar Heels were added into the locker room. One of those players is Marvin Williams, who played at North Carolina for just one season (2004-05). Marvin came back summer after summer, though, to earn his degree and has had a successful NBA career.
The other is Marcus Paige, who graduated from UNC after the 2015-16 season. He’s a worthy pick to be enshrined in the locker room, but it’s also a bit of an odd selection — North Carolina’s current upperclassmen see him and Brice Johnson as their brothers. One of the major storylines this season for the Tar Heels was how they would try to find a way to replace those two irreplaceable seniors.
“I know I’ve got to be a lot more aggressive,” Justin Jackson said on Oct. 11. “We don’t have a 17-10 guy on the block any more ... Not having Brice and Marcus, that definitely leaves a hole, so somebody’s got to step up.”
It’s not just the production. North Carolina had to replace all the leadership that those two seniors — whose jerseys now hang in the rafters — provided.
“I think everybody looked at Marcus last year to say what we needed,” Theo Pinson said in October. “And this year, I feel like ... we’ve taken things from what Marcus has told us. And what Brice has shown us.”
As this season has gone along, it’s not hard to see how Paige and Johnson have impacted this year’s team. Isaiah Hicks, the forward who replaced Johnson in the starting lineup, said Johnson’s advice has stuck with him.
“Play every game like it’s yours,” Hicks said on Dec. 21. “He told me, because (Johnson) got all the rebounds and stuff because he’s like, ‘This is my rebound. Nobody can guard me.’”
In North Carolina’s 85-42 win over Northern Iowa, Hicks dunked all over an unprepared Panther. In the aggressiveness and the hint of a staredown after, the impact Johnson had on Hicks’ game stood out.
