By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — For the first time in five years, Sylvia Hatchell returned to Carmichael Arena on a special Alumni Day.
Instead of intensely coaching Carolina from the sidelines as she did over her 32-year Hall of Fame career at UNC, she was on the front row behind one of the baselines watching the action — or trying to.
So many well-wishers greeted her throughout the game that Hatchell spent plenty of time catching up with old friends while the No. 20 Tar Heels beat Virginia 81–68.
A pregame photo featured the three women responsible for coaching 47 of the 50 seasons of Carolina women’s basketball since the school officially recognized it as a varsity sport in 1974 — current coach Courtney Banghart, Hatchell and Jennifer Alley, who preceded Hatchell from 1977 to 1986.
Hatchell has preferred to watch from afar since retiring in 2019.
“I’ve been real busy with a lot of other projects and stuff,” Hatchell said. “I’ve just sort of tried to stay out of the way.”
Hatchell, who coached UNC to 751 victories and finished her career with 1,023 wins, returned on a day that Carolina honored her 1994 national championship team 30 seasons later.
It was a very emotional day that began with her welcoming the entire 1994 team to her house that morning.
“Hugging Marion Jones, it just made my heart jump out of my chest because of all the memories that flash back as far as coaching and how we won the national championship,” Hatchell said. “It’s just unbelievable. It’s hard to believe that we won like we did — 30 years ago, too.”
Carolina won that national championship game after Hatchell decided to go for the win instead of the tie against Louisiana Tech with 0.7 of a second left, trailing by two points. She masterfully set up a play for Charlotte Smith, who sank an open 3-point attempt to give UNC a 60–59 victory.
“It was a very diversified group, but the unity that they had, the togetherness, it was all about the team,” Hatchell said. “They were not just fun to coach but easy to coach. They were so coachable. And it wasn’t about them.”
Hatchell said that the team had the right chemistry to put it all together and finish 33–2 three seasons after finishing last in the ACC.
“I think that’s why we won the championship,” she said. “We probably weren’t the most talented team in the country. But the chemistry that we had was just unbelievable.”
Although she hadn’t been to a game until Sunday, Hatchell has followed the team since Banghart, who was 15 years old when UNC won the 1994 title, took over and has guided the program back to the sort of national prominence that was routine under Hatchell.
“I didn’t know her before she took the job here,” Hatchell said. “I haven’t been to any games or anything. She’s doing a great job.”
Hatchell knows UNC assistant coach Itoro Coleman well from her time as Clemson’s head coach and clearly remembers when the Tar Heels lost 87–72 to her Tigers in the 1999 ACC tournament championship game.
“We were ahead at halftime by like 11, and in the second half and they put on a show and beat us,” Hatchell remembers.
It was a fitting end to the day after another Carolina victory that the nearly 100 former Carolina players joined the current team in a large circle on the court after the game for “Hark the Sound.”
Hatchell and her players reveled during the playing of Carolina’s alma mater hundreds of times after victories.
That was just another special memory from the day.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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