http://www.theplayerstribune.com/justin-jackson-north-carolina-tar-heels-basketball/
"I was one of three freshman at UNC in 2014. Joel Berry, Theo Pinson and I arrived in Chapel Hill with plenty of buzz. We were ranked as one of the best recruiting classes in the nation. Each of us was a McDonald’s All-American, and we had all won a bunch of individual awards in high school. And there we were, freshmen at North Carolina, playing for Coach Williams — the nicest guy in the world.
But Joel, Theo and I had overlooked one simple thing.
We didn’t really know Coach Williams yet.
But we saw another side of him my freshman year. At a practice in early January 2015, one day after we had lost 71-70 to Notre Dame in our second ACC game, Coach was fired up. He was yelling at us, imploring us to push as hard as we could.
Coach blew his whistle — and I’ll never forget what happened next. He was standing there with his hands on his hips. We all turned to him, expecting him to call out names for a scrimmage or something. But instead, in front of the entire team he pointed at us. Me, Joel and Theo. The freshmen.
It got real quiet.
And then he asked if we wanted to go home.
Not like go home as in leave practice early and head back to the dorm.
Like home home.
Then he asked us again.
“I’ll send you guys back home right now,” he said.
Everyone was staring at us. I could feel it. I looked down at my feet, hoping not to catch anyone’s eye. I wanted it all to end.
But Coach wasn’t done.
“You don’t believe me?”
I glanced up. I can still see the look on his face. It was piercing.
“It doesn’t matter to me. It’s your choice. You can either work harder or go home.”
I tried to act cool. But it hit me right in my gut. Coach blew his whistle, and pointed to the end line. More running.
I guess everyone has a Welcome to College moment."
"I was one of three freshman at UNC in 2014. Joel Berry, Theo Pinson and I arrived in Chapel Hill with plenty of buzz. We were ranked as one of the best recruiting classes in the nation. Each of us was a McDonald’s All-American, and we had all won a bunch of individual awards in high school. And there we were, freshmen at North Carolina, playing for Coach Williams — the nicest guy in the world.
But Joel, Theo and I had overlooked one simple thing.
We didn’t really know Coach Williams yet.
But we saw another side of him my freshman year. At a practice in early January 2015, one day after we had lost 71-70 to Notre Dame in our second ACC game, Coach was fired up. He was yelling at us, imploring us to push as hard as we could.
Coach blew his whistle — and I’ll never forget what happened next. He was standing there with his hands on his hips. We all turned to him, expecting him to call out names for a scrimmage or something. But instead, in front of the entire team he pointed at us. Me, Joel and Theo. The freshmen.
It got real quiet.
And then he asked if we wanted to go home.
Not like go home as in leave practice early and head back to the dorm.
Like home home.
Then he asked us again.
“I’ll send you guys back home right now,” he said.
Everyone was staring at us. I could feel it. I looked down at my feet, hoping not to catch anyone’s eye. I wanted it all to end.
But Coach wasn’t done.
“You don’t believe me?”
I glanced up. I can still see the look on his face. It was piercing.
“It doesn’t matter to me. It’s your choice. You can either work harder or go home.”
I tried to act cool. But it hit me right in my gut. Coach blew his whistle, and pointed to the end line. More running.
I guess everyone has a Welcome to College moment."
