Now it isn’t what you think, this isn’t a shocking article. It is more of a summary of the scandal and how “The Carolina Way” is not what it originally set out to be.
“When I got back, it was associated with victory, and the thought that we were winning both in the fields and in the classroom,” he said. “It seemed to, at times, be a kind of bragging that was going on rather than an ideal that there was something more important than victory.”
The more successful Smith and the program became, the Carolina Way grew to encompass more than performance on the floor. It started to mean different things to different people.
It wasn’t originally intended to be viewed as a winning formula or a higher standard that scoffs at those who don’t measure up. But somewhere along the way those ideas became intertwined with an added touch of hubris.
“I feel that what happened to the Carolina Way was we lost sight of what I thought Dean Smith was trying to talk up on the basketball court, that there are more important things than just winning,” Colloredo-Mansfeld said.
In a sense, the Carolina Way became as branded to UNC as the university seal and image of the Old Well. The problem with brands is they can also stand for what not to do.
We all know what the Carolina Way stands for now, but seeing an article like this on ESPN is surprising, not in the least that the author is a graduate of UNC.
He sums up the article based with some interesting quotes regarding “The Carolina Way” and how Marcus Paige thinks that Hairston only made one poor choice. Oh REALLY???
“Part of what Carolina Way was, I think, was Dean Smith trying to say again that there’s something more than just the victories here,” Colloredo-Mansfeld said. “That spirit is not here. That spirit cannot be here until the administration says there is something more than the success of our revenue sports. When the administration says that, we’ll see again a Carolina Way.”
Sophomore guard Marcus Paige had only heard the phrase before he arrived on campus, but didn’t know exactly what people meant by it.
“I’m from Iowa,” he quipped.
He said the Carolina Way would survive its recent stumbles and shifts because ultimately Smith’s philosophy still works.
“The outside perception is that it’s been damaged, but the people inside know the integrity of our basketball program hasn’t changed and probably won’t change,” Paige said. “P.J. got caught in an unfortunate situation this summer. He made a bad choice. But as a program, we still buy into the Carolina Way. We don’t think it’s faltered at all.”
In and of itself, the article leans more to the basketball side, but the reason that you need to read this is simply for the comments section. Hilarity is commonplace there in some of the comments.
