WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina

Isiah Thomas visits Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina

By Tim Hall

Nov 9, 2009

The last time Isiah Thomas took part in a college basketball game, he was cutting down the nets as a member of the 1981 national champions.  Indiana beat North Carolina 63-50 in Philadelphia and Thomas was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.  North Carolina coach Roy Williams was an assistant in that game. 

Now 28 years later, Thomas is back in the college game as the head coach of Florida International.  His opponent - North Carolina.

This season opening contest between the Golden Panthers and the Tar Heels came under the microscope in August when FIU threatened to pull out of the 2K Sports Classic tournament because it had expected to play Ohio State instead of the defending national champions.

Athletics director Pete Garcia claimed that his school was under the impression it was playing the Buckeyes up until the Tar Heels' schedule came out in a press release.  But the president of The Gazelle Group, the organization running the tournament, said he had a contract signed by Garcia agreeing to play Ohio State or North Carolina.  After a week of bickering about the game at hand, FIU agreed to play UNC and has since taken a positive approach.

"We want to teach our students and our student-athletes that it’s not always going to be an easy walk. Sometimes you have to take some painful steps," Thomas said.

North Carolina saw its first game action on Friday night in a 107-59 exhibition win over Belmont Abbey.  Deon Thompson scored 23 points on 11 of 12 shooting.  Tyler Zeller scored 17 points off the bench while Ed Davis added 13. 

FIU went 13-20 a year ago and returns just one starter in senior forward Nickola Gacesa.  He's the leading returning scorer to a team that last its top four scoring threats.  Junior college transfers Marvin Roberts and Phil Gary both scored 15 points in an exhibition loss to Northwood University.  The NAIA school coached by Rollie Massimino beat FIU 71-61 last week.

This weekend it was uncertain if Thomas would make it to Chapel Hill for his debut after his 86-year-old mother suffered a heart attack on Saturday.  Thomas spent Sunday in Chicago with his mother but he is expected to be coaching tonight.