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You wonder how Matt Doherty can take so much reminiscing.
Here he is, the new basketball coach at storied North Carolina, where his name will forever be linked with “Smith,” “McGuire” and a guy named Monk McDonald, the only other Tar Heel player to coach at his alma mater.
Doherty inherits a team full of stars, a team that is coming off a Final Four trip and a team that is highly-ranked.
So what’s the first thing people ask him?
“Hey Matt Doherty, remember back when ...?
They ask about his UNC career, which spans from 1980-84. They ask what it was like to play with Michael Jordan. They ask about Georgetown. And about Michelangelo (that’s Smith). And Carmichael Auditorium. And ... whew.
Actually, Doherty seems to enjoy the adulation that comes with North Carolina Tar Heel basketball. He will talk to anyone about any experience.
“I remember my freshman year and we lost to Wake Forest and Frank Johnson. I reached around and slapped the ball away and the ref called a foul. I started to complain. The ref said, ‘It would be a bad time for a freshman to get a technical.’
“Isaid, ‘You’re right’ and kept my mouth shut.”
Other memories aren’t quite as pleasant. One of his favorite stories is about eating cookie dough and then running during practice, which of course, led to throwing up. Maybe that’s why he is famous for having toilets at practice so when he runs his team to death, they can experience what he did when he played.
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But how many people remember he worked as a bonds salesman in New York City for two years when he got out of UNC in 1984? How many remember he was the color analyst for Davidson basketball from 1987 to 1989? How many remember that he was thinking of opening a Big &Tall store in Charlotte?
Salisbury’s Howard Platt does. The WSTPpersonality was the play-by-play announcer for Davidson in those days. And what does Platt remember most?
“Matt would always say, ‘I hate bad basketball.’” recalls Platt, a Tar Heel grad himself.
Platt said Davidson would make a play that was anything but smart and Doherty would pound the table with his fist.
Those may have been the last bad basketball days of Doherty’s life. His high school coach Bob McKillop offered him a job on the Davidson staff. Then Roy Williams, another head coach who deep down inside, bleeds blue, brought him to Kansas.
After seven years of nothing but glory, he went to Notre Dame, where he won 22 games in his first season.
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It is crystal clear. Put Matt Doherty on a basketball court and the winning will come.
Look at the numbers. When he played at North Carolina, he was 117-21. And he knew it would be that way before he ever wore the uniform.
“Iread up on basketball,” said the Long Island native. “I was always an ACCfan. But to actually experience it was different as far as the intensity.”
At Kansas, the Jayhawks were 202-42 during his stay as an assistant. But he knew it would be that way, saying Williams taught him about bench coaching.
Doherty explains. “You’ve got a great scouting plan and all of a sudden, they throw something different at you. You’ve got to be able to adjust. Some of it, you acquire, some of it you have a feel for and have the poise to make the adjustments.
“You can’t look panicked in the huddle. You say, ‘They’re doing this and we’re going to make a subtle adjustment. And you say it with a smile on your face. It gives them confidence.”
There should be no changes at Doherty’s new/old school, where he takes over for Bill Guthridge.
“Coach Guthridge did a great job,” Doherty said. “(The players) have picked things up quickly.”
Doherty came in and saw mature Tar Heels. Brendan Haywood, for example, was in the best shape of his life.
“I didn’t whip Brendan into shape,” Doherty said. “Brendan has been in shape. I can’t take credit for that.”
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But he can take credit for instilling the CarolinaBlue pride. He proved that by holding the Blue-White Game in Carmichael Auditorium. He brought back former stars like Charlie Scott and Al Wood.
“Ithought it would be fun to go back there and get a little taste of history,” Doherty said. “Ten thousand people in Carmichael are louder than 10,000 in the Smith Center. And we turned away 1,200.”
Then, Matt Doherty began reminiscing again.
“I remember the students being behind the bench, pounding on the bleachers,” he said.
Doherty says the ACC coaches all have something in common, something he didn’t experience in the Big Eight, Big 12 or Big East.
“As coaches, we’re proud of the ACC,” Doherty said. “We want our league to do well.”
Everyone’s expecting his school to do well. The Tar Heels are ranked sixth in the national poll, one spot ahead of Kansas.
And while we’re remembering back to the good old days, how about a quote from 1984 by sportswriter Bill Brill of the Roanoke Times: “Nobody would object if you spelled Matt Doherty’s name W-I-N-N-E-R. Most of all, what Matt Doherty does is win.”
Yes, winning is all Matt Doherty has ever done. And everybody always reminds him of it.
“By the way, Matt, remember back when ...”
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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.
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Ronnie