No surprise: McCants to leave for NBA

Mystery and intrigue characterized much of Rashad McCants’ career at North Carolina.

But when he sat down at the press conference podium at the Smith Center on Wednesday, there was little mystery about the announcement he was going to make.

“I’m going to give up my college eligibility and enter the NBA Draft,” said McCants, who was flanked by his parents, James McCants and Brenda Muckelvene, as well as Coach Roy Williams.

Fellow juniors Sean May and Raymond Felton and freshman Marvin Williams have not yet said when they’ll announce their decisions on whether to return to UNC for the 2005-06 season.

McCants said that he decided this year would be his last after he committed to stay for his junior season and that he had discussed the NBA with Roy Williams as early as January.

Several reports in the 10 days after North Carolina’s national championship pegged McCants to make the jump to the NBA, so Wednesday’s news came as no surprise.

But for most of McCants’ career, surprises were commonplace.

Though touted as one of the top 10 high school stars in the country, he shocked even the most optimistic Tar Heel fans with 28 points in his first game in powder blue.

McCants wowed crowds with his explosive game, but his temperament became a powder keg as well. The brash freshman vocally expressed his frustration and discontent with then-Coach Matt Doherty after the season and was seen as one of the main influences behind Doherty’s forced resignation in April 2003.

“If I wasn’t a good player, if I didn’t have such a split personality, I wouldn’t get as much attention,” McCants said.

During his sophomore season, McCants’ lackadaisical effort on the defensive end drew the ire of Williams, who, after a loss at Kentucky, had a closed-door chat with McCants that seemed to spur him to new heights.

McCants then went on a tear in league play, finishing the season with an ACC-high 20.0 points per game and third team All-America honors.

But just when it seemed that McCants was ready to break through his struggles, he was cut from the U.S. 20-and-under team last summer. Many said McCants was the best player at the tryouts, but Coach Kelvin Sampson was sending the petulant swingman a message: Your attitude must get better.

By the time his junior year began, McCants was labeled a cocky, mercurial, mysterious menace.

And after he compared playing at UNC to incarceration in a preseason interview, the criticism only got worse.

Reporters salivated over every scowl, examined every expression, burrowed into every last piece of body language they could find.

But despite McCants’ troubles, he admitted Wednesday that he would miss the North Carolina media.

“I think (the press has) really kept me focused and motivated to continue to do better,” McCants said. “Sometimes I didn’t understand some of the things guys were saying, but getting reassurance from my parents and my friends, they let me know, ‘They wouldn’t be talking about you if you weren’t important.’”

The junior hit another rough patch at the end of the regular season, when — in another mysterious turn of events — he missed four games with what was described only as an intestinal disorder.

McCants finally returned to full strength for the NCAA Championship run, helping to kick the UNC offense into high gear, but also showing more resolve than ever on the defensive end — including the block that sealed the regional final victory against Wisconsin.

“This year was my most focused and concentrated year ever in my life as far as getting this one goal accomplished,” McCants said. “I wanted to do everything in my power as far as sacrificing my body, my soul, my heart, everything to win the championship.”

But will the ring help his draft stock?

In deferring to his talented teammates this season, McCants has seen his scoring average dip to 16.0 points per game. He went from a third team All-American to a third team All-ACC performer.

But the reduced numbers did not reveal his potential to score from virtually anywhere on the floor, an ability that will certainly translate to the next level.

“He’ll be a better NBA player than he was in college because he has an NBA mentality,” May said.

“His individual scoring and the moves he has individually are the best in the country. … He’s definitely going to be an NBA player for a long time.”

And as one McCants leaves, another will enter. Rashad’s younger sister Rashanda is slated to suit up for the UNC women’s basketball team next season. The Associated Press girls prep player of the year for North Carolina, Rashanda will join a talented squad that could contend for another Tar Heel title.

“She can come down here and possibly get a championship for the Lady Heels,” said a beaming James McCants after the press conference. “If she does that, they’re going to have to rename Franklin Street.”

The father’s suggestion?

“McCants Boulevard, of course.”

Judging by Rashad’s career, that thoroughfare would have to have a few potholes, but it would lead to an NCAA championship — and an NBA future.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.