CHAPEL HILL
It was late February, with senior night approaching, when North Carolina coach Roy Williams considered a question about the legacy of this particular group of seniors and how they’d be remembered.
Williams said then that it had been “pretty admirable” what Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson and Joel James had accomplished up until that point, given the negativity that had often swirled around the program in recent years, but Williams went no further.
“Ask me that question after the season’s over with,” he said then, “and I’ll tell you.”
Since that day in late February, the Tar Heels won the ACC regular season championship with a stirring 76-72 victory at Duke on March 5 and won the ACC tournament championship with a tense 61-57 victory against Virginia on March 12.