RALEIGH — Scooter Sherrill says the shot was going in. There’s no doubt in his mind.
“The shot” was a potential game-tying 3-pointer, and it came with N.C. State trailing North Carolina 55-52 in the final minute of the Wolfpack’s 60-52 loss to the Tar Heels.
Sherrill’s shot never got anywhere near the hoop, however, because Tar Heel giant Brendan Haywood came out of nowhere and blocked it, leaving Sherrill with a dazed expression and leaving a desperate Wolfpack on the short end of one more disaster.
Few 19-year-olds have taken and made more shots than Sherrill. To date, this was the biggest one he’s attempted. Certainly, there’s never been a shot he wanted to nail any worse, because the opposition was North Carolina.
Shortly after Sherrill was born in July of 1981, a fellow named Michael Jordan arrived in Chapel Hill and started changing the course of basketball history.
As soon as Sherrill was old enough to bounce a ball, Jordan was his idol. Sherrill went to bed at night dreaming Carolina blue dreams. Jordan had gone to Carolina, so Sherrill knew in his heart that one day he would go there, too.
Sherrill dominated the state 2A championship in the Dean E. Smith Center as a West Rowan High freshman in 1997. As a junior, he returned to Chapel Hill and was spectacular in a losing cause in the 3A championship game against current N.C. State teammate Clifford Crawford’s Winston-Salem Parkland team.
By then, Sherrill had established an international reputation and was recognized as the best player in the state. But when the phone rang, it was never the UNC coaches on the other end of the line. UNC never did seriously pursue him. The Tar Heels were more excited about Omar Cook (whom they didn’t sign) and current UNC freshmen Adam Boone and Brian Morrison.
Sherrill landed on his feet at his second choice, N.C. State, but the wound is still pretty raw. He wanted to see the Tar Heels go down yesterday and he wanted to be the man who did the damage.
“I wanted to go there (UNC) since I was a little boy,” said Sherrill following Sunday’s disappointment. “You get jacked up for a game like this. It’s UNC and it’s such a big rivalry. You want it bad.”
Sherrill, who had made two huge confidence-building free throws late in the Wolfpack’s win over Florida State on Thursday, played well.
He took one bad shot in the first half, when he went airborne, then tried to change the shot when he felt pressure from behind. But he also swished two free throws after a Tar Heel technical and coolly sank the only 3-pointer that either team made in the first half.
Sherrill also played decent defense, even when he was matched up with Tar Heel sensation Joseph Forte, one of the nation’s best players.
“I thought I held my own out there,” said Sherrill. “I was happy with the way I played against Joseph, because he’s a great player.”
In the second half, Sherrill got his second steal of the game. Midway through the half, he scooped up a loose ball and flipped in a shot in the lane over UNC’s big guys. That was the bucket that got the crowd going in the ESA and ignited a Wolfpack charge that eventually cut a 10-point Tar Heel lead to one.
Sherrill left the game with 5:47 remaining, but coach Herb Sendek sent him back in with 1:10 left and the Wolfpack down three.
“The options were for me or (Anthony) Grundy to shoot a 3-pointer,” explained Sherrill.
Sherrill and Grundy crossed at the baseline and ran to opposite corners. Sherrill, who went to the left side, looked to be wide open and Damien Wilkins got the freshman the ball. There were 55 seconds left when Sherrill sprang in the air with a chance to pull the Pack even.
“This was the dream game and I had the dream shot,” said Sherrill. “And it was in. I knew it was in as soon as it left my hand.”
But that’s when Haywood’s mile-long right arm showed up. And now we’ll never know if Sherrill was on target or not.
“Brendan barely touched it,” sighed Sherrill, “but he got enough.”
“If he makes that shot, it kills us,” said Haywood. “I couldn’t let him make it.”
But Sherrill is playing with confidence now and there will be many more dream games and perhaps another dream shot one day against the Tar Heels.
Chances are good the next one goes down.
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