The Tar Heels are back.
Victories against Penn State, a tough Rutgers team and ODU on the road were enough to put grins on the UNC faithful's faces. But embarrassing No. 2 Kansas and solidly defeating Stanford 74-57 to win the Preseason NIT Championship game Friday was enough to wash the nasty 8-20 taste of last season from anyone's mouth.
"This means the world," said freshman center Sean May. "We just keep rolling. We're pretty high right now, and we just got higher after this win."
UNC smiles were abundant late Friday night at Madison Square Garden as the Tar Heels slipped Preseason NIT Champion T-shirts over their heads. Jawad Williams and Rashad McCants hugged, and Jonathan Holmes cheesed as hard as he could for the abundance of cameras.
"It's a complete turnaround from last year," said sophomore guard Melvin Scott. "Now we're creating spotlight, and we're going to keep moving up. The ACC is tough, but we're taking baby steps, tiny baby steps."
Those baby steps look like leaps and bounds compared to last year's performance. The Tar Heels' handling of the Cardinal extended their record to 5-0, putting them on pace to match last year's win total before the new year rolls in. UNC's comeback from the depths it has never experienced before has the team back in the spotlight.
"It's a high-profile program," said tournament MVP Rashad McCants. "People basically said, 'North Carolina? Ah, they had a bad season. Nobody really pays attention to them. Now, you see North Carolina."