Marcus and Brice: 'We need to do this together'

Define success.

It’s hard. Really, think about it. Define what it means to achieve success.

Maybe it’s measured in rings, or palm-sized crystalline trophies, or inch-long snippets of nylon, sheared from the net in some distant arena.

But maybe it’s more than that, or less, if you think of it this way: Maybe success isn’t reaching a goal. What if it’s failing, barely missing that dream years and years in the making, and continuing on? What if it’s waking up in the morning, when your whole world is crumbling, and having the courage to just get up?

The senior stars of the North Carolina men’s basketball team, Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson, didn’t know success before this year.

Before an ACC regular season crown, and then an ACC Tournament title, and now a spot in this year’s Final Four in Houston.

“They’ve been through a lot,” Joel Berry said.

“They made it to the Sweet 16 last year, lost. And they got to the same spot the year before and lost. So you know, it’s been a rough stretch for them.”

Didn’t know success? That’s not fair to say. Remember all the stuff, all the drama, all the headlines and headaches and setbacks. P.J. Hairston’s antics, the academic scandal, Coach Dean Smith’s death — and yet, here they are today.

With the odds stacked against them, Paige and Johnson have been there. Sometimes they’ve come out on top, and sometimes they haven’t. But regardless of the outcome, they’ve stuck around.

And now they’ve been rewarded, at least somewhat. They made it through the thicket off the court this season and have finally captured some of that ever-elusive success.

First, individually. Paige experienced solo fame his sophomore year, when he was named a second team All-American. Accolades have been fewer and farther between since then, but when he leaves North Carolina, the all-time scoring list will always read his name before UNC-great Michael Jordan’s.

That’s not the same case for Johnson. This was — and is still — his year. Twenty-three double-doubles, the most ever in a season in program history. A Wooden Award finalist. And now, the Final Four.

His own first-team All-American selection came as a surprise to no one in Chapel Hill.

But for everything they’ve accomplished together, the duo and their legacies will always be measured by their collective effort. A Final Four is nice, but cutting down the nets Monday night is something different entirely.

That’s the part of the story that’s yet to be written.

“I would give so much for those kids to get something like that,” Coach Roy Williams said on Senior Night.

And now Paige and Johnson will finally have that chance.

So far, they’ve managed to overcome three years worth of shortcomings all in this final go-around, but there’s one last box left to check. Each name — Florida Gulf Coast, Providence, Indiana, Notre Dame — brings them one step closer.

Go back to that Providence game, when the Tar Heels trailed in the second half. Johnson walks up to Paige, his roommate and best friend of four years, and says the only thing he can.

“He just came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, we’ve been through all of this. We need to do this together,’” Paige said. “And he came up and patted me on the back.”

Then the pair of them scored 16 straight points that half. UNC would go on to win by 19.

Now, think about it again.

What is success?

@BrendanRMarks

sports@dailytarheel.com