Junior Tar Heel guard David Noel grew up on the wrong side of the tracks - as a Duke fan.
On a team loaded with talented athletes and shaky attitudes, junior David Noel embodies the hard-nosed, upstanding player Tar Heel fans love. The only drawback to the junior, in the minds of the Carolina faithful, is that he comes from the wrong side of the tracks.
“Growing up, being from Durham, I was actually a Duke fan,” Noel said. “It’s just one of those things that you have to live with. But now I’m at Carolina, and I’ve converted my whole family to supporting Carolina.”
Noel has yet to win a college basketball game in his hometown, but some of his best performances have come at Cameron Indoor Stadium. As a freshman, Noel scored 19 points in a nine-point defeat, two short of his career high. Last season, after persevering through multiple early-season injuries, the guard/forward gave a solid all-around effort, recording 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes.
“I try to have my best games at ‘home,’” Noel said, gearing up for tonight’s game at Duke. “Hopefully this time we can come out with a win.”
For the Cameron Crazies, a Tar Heel from Durham provides excellent chanting material. A player as headstrong as Noel, however, only feeds off the energy.
“I laugh, they are funny over there,” Noel said. “This being my third year there, I kind of know what to expect, and they don’t get on me too bad because I’m one of the lesser players.”
To understand Noel, one must realize he is not your average player at Michael Jordan’s alma mater. Despite leading Southern High School to a 39-5 record his final two seasons, the only scholarship offer he received from North Carolina was for football. Instead of accepting the scholarship, Noel paid his way through freshman year and walked on to the basketball team. Not only did he earn playing time, but he started 17 games—out of position.
Noel’s consistent play earned him a scholarship prior to his sophomore season. His second year was also spent out of position in the post, and he even played the final 24 games with thumb and ligament injuries. Noel has spent his minutes at shooting guard and small forward this season, and the change has helped his overall play.
“Last year we spent a lot of time playing David Noel as our third big guy, and David’s 6-5,” head coach Roy Williams said. “It’s hard for a 6-5 guy to rebound against the 6-8, 6-9, 6-10 guys.”
In Williams’ fast-break-oriented offense, Noel benefits tremendously from his change in roles.
“I am freed up because I know we have Marvin [Williams] and Sean [May] down there to get rebounds,” Noel said. “They usually just steal it from me anyways. It helps our break too, getting the 2-3 out in their lanes quicker.”
Against Duke tonight, Noel’s main responsibility will be stopping J.J. Redick, the ACC’s leading scorer with 22.8 points per game. Although he is considered athletically superior to Redick, Noel said keeping up with the sharpshooter will be difficult.
“J.J., he’ll use like 30 screens on one play,” Noel said. “He’ll run around like a mouse in a maze just to get open, and he does a great job of getting open. We have to be there on the catch and get a hand up.”
As aggressive as he likes to be on defense, Noel also understands the importance of keeping his hands off Redick.
“He’s a heck of a free-throw shooter, so that’s one thing we’re going to try not to do, is foul him,” Noel said. “We know he’s going to make some shots, because he throws up some shots that have no hope of going in and it does. We’re just going to have to get a hand up and hope for the best.”
Noel maintains the unheralded role in a much-publicized junior class, a group that has underachieved prior to this season. North Carolina has not only failed to produce come March but also has not kept up its end of the Tobacco Road rivalry of late.
In spite of his role as the blue-collar man in an all-star class, the Durham resident emphasized the implications of tonight’s marquee matchup.
“There’s a lot of hype on this game,” Noel said. “We both have two losses, and we’re No. 1 and they’re No. 2 in the league, so there is definitely going to be a sense of urgency about this game from everybody.”
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