UNC men's JV basketball team does it for the love of the game

Sneakers screech on the glossy wooden floor. Reflections of the blue and white jerseys of their owners float up to the rafters of the Smith Center, where banners hang, telling of the legends and accomplishments of their predecessors.

One jersey breaks away from the rest, as North Carolina guard Jay Lamothe races ahead of the Guilford College defense. He extends for the layup as a defender crashes into him.

The moment the shot leaves his hands, Lamothe knows it’s true. He turns to face the stands, punctuating his basket with a fist pump and a cry of, “And one!”

But his shout echoes out into the cavernous space of an almost empty gym. No thunderous applause greets his performance, no jubilant voice in the loudspeaker lingers over the syllables in his name.

Only a few sporadic claps and high-fives from his teammates are Lamothe’s reward for his feat of athleticism during the team's 81-72 victory Sunday. 

Such is life for a member of North Carolina’s junior varsity basketball team.

“It was always my dream as a little kid to come play for Carolina with a lot of people watching,” senior Lyle Jones said. “But it doesn’t matter; I get to represent my school and I get to represent my teammates and my coach well, and that’s all I try to do every game.”

UNC is one of the few Division I schools — and the only one in the ACC — to still have a JV basketball program. It’s a fossil resulting from an old NCAA rule that prohibited freshmen from playing on the varsity team. When the rule was changed in 1972, most JV teams went extinct.

But out on the Dean Dome floor, where history has been made and traditions have been established, the 13 members of this year’s JV team continue to play for the love of the game.

They scramble and dive for loose balls. They willingly take charges, and they love every minute of it. They know that this is an experience that few come to see but also one that few get to experience.

“I know the time is ticking … but I’m trying to take it in day-by-day,” said senior guard Tajuan Watson.“This is a prime opportunity, playing on the Smith Center floor, wearing the Carolina jersey ... so I want to go out there every day and earn it.”

On the sideline overlooking the spectacle is Coach Hubert Davis, a former UNC standout and a current assistant for the varsity team. This is Davis’ first time leading a team as its head coach, and much like his players, he’s trying to make the most of it.

“Coaching is coaching; it gives me the chance to be in a position where you make decisions as opposed to being in a position as an assistant coach making suggestions,” Davis said.

Davis treats his position as an opportunity to learn, but he also coaches because he says it’s simply fun. He doesn’t have to deal with me-first personalities or players focusing on the next level. JV basketball is basketball in its purest form.

"These guys don't have any hopes or dreams of going into the NBA," Davis said. "It's refreshing to have guys that have that only as their focus for being out on the floor."

These sentiments encapsulate the JV experience for everyone involved. In the end there will be no banners raised or legends told about their accomplishments, but that doesn’t matter. Each man who dons the blue and white for Coach Davis does it for only one reason — the love of the game.

sports@dailytarheel.com