ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block. The University of North Carolina is one of the 16 teams still competing in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Whether or not the Tar Heels take home the championship, some basketball players at the university have already achieved their dream. Here's North Carolina Public Radio's Dave DeWitt.
DAVE DEWITT, BYLINE: Every kid in North Carolina has some version of this dream.
(SOUNDBITE OF BASKETBALL GAME)
DEWITT: Only a handful of elite basketball players get to live that dream. Matt Van Hoy will be the first to tell you he's not in that category, but still, a few weeks ago, there he was in a UNC uniform playing in the Tar Heels' home arena named for legendary coach Dean Smith.
(SOUNDBITE OF BASKETBALL GAME)
DEWITT: What you're not hearing is the crowd, and that's because there isn't much of one. Van Hoy plays on the North Carolina junior varsity basketball team. They play against mostly community colleges and military schools, usually a couple hours before the varsity game, in front of family, friends, and about 21,000 empty blue seats. North Carolina is the only major program that still fields a JV basketball team. Forty years ago, every school had a second team for freshmen, who were then not allowed to play varsity sports.
But that rule changed, and JV teams went the way of the two-hand set shot - but not at Carolina, and that gave Van Hoy a chance.
MATTHEW VAN HOY: I wanted to do it since I was a little kid in the driveway. I was planning, you know, hopefully I can make the JV team, you know, to wear the Carolina uniform regardless whether it's varsity or JV, it's still a life-changing experience in my opinion.
DEWITT: So let me get this straight. When you were dreaming of playing basketball for Carolina, you actually dreamed of the JV team?
VAN HOY: I did, because, I mean, I guess I was realistic at a young age knowing that my abilities weren't up to a higher level.
DEWITT: Van Hoy is an honors student in business administration who grew up idolizing Michael Jordan and Dean Smith. And despite his modest talents and their outsized ones, he's now one of them, sort of, and that's the whole point, says current head coach Roy Williams.
ROY WILLIAMS: Coach Smith always thought that everybody that comes to the university should have a chance to try out for the basketball team.
DEWITT: About 80 students try out every fall for the JV team, a dozen or so make it. They practice from October to February, and play a 15-game schedule. It takes a lot of time and effort to both play and run the program, but Williams says it's well worth it.
WILLIAMS: For me it's something that I want to continue doing. I saw my own son go through the program. I've known kids that have gone through the program that still speak so highly of that whole experience.
DEWITT: Williams began his college coaching career as UNC's JV coach, and now another young coach, Jerod Haase, gladly takes on the extra duties. He says he gains valuable experience while pushing a bunch of future lawyers and accountants to play better defense.
JEROD HAASE: On a personal level, I want them to learn something about themselves. It's not going to be every day make their life miserable by any means, but it is something I want to push them, put them against good competition, and when they leave here say, didn't I learn something about basketball, I learned something about life, and go away with a positive experience.
DEWITT: Matt Van Hoy has certainly had a positive experience, better than he dreamed of, even though the JV team has struggled this season on the court, losing seven of its last eight games. Standing in the hallway outside his locker room after one of those losses, Van Hoy can't help but smile at his good fortune.
VAN HOY: The best thing at the end of the year was we got a team plaque with the team picture, the entire schedule on it, you know, the scores and like that, so that's a nice keepsake I got in my room right now.
DEWITT: That's where Van Hoy says he will be on Friday night, in his room, yelling himself hoarse as the varsity Tar Heels, his teammates, take on Ohio University in the NCAA Sweet 16. For NPR News, I'm Dave DeWitt in Chapel Hill. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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