Dreaming's Easy in the Front Row

Everett filed to his customary seat at the end of the UNC bench, his 15 minutes of fame having lasted exactly 55 seconds.

As excited as a kid on Christmas Eve at hearing his name during pregame introductions, Everett relished every second of his minute on center stage. But he was too busy enjoying sitting on the bench to feel disappointment about not being on the court.

"I'm just as big a fan as anyone else in the gym," he said, "I just have really good seats."

Duke University-UNC basketball tickets, ones that get you in the nosebleed section, can cost as much as in-state tuition. But how much are really good tickets? What's it worth to sit on the floor, to be in the huddles, to get in the game -- even for a moment?

Quit a career-building summer internship four weeks early and resist sleeping in, resist being a couch potato, resist being a college kid to lift weights, run laps and polish your jump hook? Lay your life on the line every day against those bigger, stronger and better than you? Strive for something you originally thought was impossible to attain, yet follow through with it because you'd kick yourself for the rest of your life if you didn't?

"I know how lucky I am," says Everett, who after his minute of prime time plopped himself into one of the best seats in the house for 39 minutes of pine time. "I've worked hard, but some people would give an arm and a leg to sit on the bench for just one game."

After making the team last year as a walk-on, Everett didn't lose any limbs while retaining his spot this season, but that doesn't mean he wasn't willing to sacrifice. He left a 10-week summer job with Lehman Brothers after six weeks, returning to Chapel Hill to train and to catch his new coach's eye.

Jim passed the time running, shooting, lifting weights and playing pick-up at least four hours a day for an entire month. Why didn't he quit like the rest of us, who bail on New Year's resolutions by Jan. 10? "I just wanted (Coach) to know what my work ethic was and how bad I wanted to be on the team," he says.

Turns out his coach reciprocated that sentiment from the get-go. "I always wanted Jim Everett on the team," Doherty deadpans, "so I'd have someone I could beat in one-on-one."

Actually, the coaching staff was searching for players to scrimmage their team.

To prepare the starters, in practice the reserves will simulate offenses and defenses used by UNC's next opponent. Insert Everett, more than willing to fill that niche.

"I know what my role is on the team," the senior forward says. "I treat practice like it's a game for me. I'm working as hard as I can everyday to help make the team better." If the team getting better means Jim getting dunked on by Brendan Haywood, so be it.

But Everett makes Haywood earn his dunks. And his layups. And his jumpers.

Assistant Coach Bob MacKinnon stresses how little-used players sometimes provide a big-time impact. "When someone like Jim, who's not going to get much playing time, is willing to practice as hard as the guy who'll play 40 minutes, it shows everyone else in between that they've got to play just as hard."

Everett's job isn't just moving at double speed; he's also concerned with making sure, every so often, everyone doubles over. "I'm in charge of being silly, of being stupid," the reigning team clown says. When the Heels prepared for Maryland, Everett was assigned the role of Lonnie Baxter, the Terrapins' big man. Jim dutifully accepted, taking the practice court complete with a magic-marker version of Baxter's "LB" tattoo on his arm.

His creativity caught the eye of Doherty, who this semester awarded a scholarship to the Charlotte resident originally from Minneapolis and Lexington, Ky. Now Jim pays in a different way, busting his butt to bang bodies with UNC's best. "He's our most enthusiastic guy in practice," Doherty said.

No surprise there. Jim's always boxed out the clouds for the sun to shine through. The word "complain" hasn't found its way into his vocabulary. Not after two knee surgeries. Not during his junior year of high school, when Joe, his brother and then a sophomore, made the varsity while he was relegated to jayvee. If the job Jim accepted for next year with Lehman Brothers doesn't work out, he should get a lemonade stand.

So there he was, playing Duke in the game he fell asleep thinking about, launching an outside shot that had an outside chance of going in. It missed. Everett doesn't regret the attempt. Doherty told him to fire away if he was open. Hard to fault the guy for going for it, even if it was a long shot.

He missed. So what? So what that UNC lost to Duke? The season -- or Everett's career -- isn't finished, although that time is coming. But when? Will the Heels again reach the Final Four, located this year in Minneapolis, so Jim goes home as he goes out?

"Sometimes I'm afraid I might wake up someday and this'll all be just a big dream," Everett says.

Hit snooze, Jim, so you don't hear the alarm.

Dan Satter has come down with a bad case of March Madness. E-mail your regards to

satter@email.unc.edu.