THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603170213
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Jeff McInnis had no qualms last year about playing in the shadows of super sophomores Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace as North Carolina made its run to the Final Four.
``They were in the limelight, and deserved the attention. It never bothered me,'' said McInnis, whose talents often were overlooked.
McInnis figured he would get his shot at glory and superstardom this season after Stackhouse and Wallace jumped to the NBA.
``I wanted to prove to people we could get back to the Final Four without those guys,'' McInnis said. ``That has been my goal all season.''
The quest continues in today's second round of the NCAA East Regional at the Richmond Coliseum against No. 3 seed Texas Tech (29-1).
McInnis played the lead role in Friday's 83-62 first-round victory over New Orleans by contributing 25 points and 11 assists.
But the cheers McInnis heard were in contrast to what the 6-foot-4 junior from Charlotte has faced much of the season.
During a roller-coaster year, McInnis had to endure barbs from Tar Heel fans attempting to blame him for a late-season slump.
``People can write and say what they want,'' McInnis said. ``If they want to blame me, that is fine.
``When we win, we are the greatest. When we lose, people want to start pointing fingers. That is a part of basketball, and part of life.
``We all have to face adversity, and how you deal with things when they start going rough is part of being a great person and a great athlete.''
His tumultuous season hit a low point in the regular-season finale at Duke. McInnis, the target of obscene taunts from Blue Devils fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium, was ejected in the final minutes of the game after collecting two technical fouls.
``I lost my cool,'' McInnis said.``I shouldn't have let the crowd get to me.''
Despite the distractions, McInnis never lost his focus on the court, leading the Heels in scoring with a 16.4 average and handing out a team-high 168 assists.
McInnis says growing up in a rough section of Charlotte, where there was ``lots of guns, drugs and violence'' helped him to deal with life's adversities.
Basketball provided McInnis an escape from that neighborhood and helped him to develop a fierce competitive spirit.
It is that competitive fire, he says, that causes many people to misunderstand him, including teammates.
McInnis said last year he and Stackhouse and Wallace regularly got in each other's face.
``But this year, you yell at someone and they take it personally, like it's the end of the world,'' McInnis told a Richmond sports writer last week.
``Young players think they are too cool, too big-time to be yelled at. But when we don't play with fire, I can't accept that.''
McInnis was the force behind North Carolina's comeback Friday after New Orleans hit its first six shots to take a 15-5 lead.
``He (McInnis) made a big difference in them winning,'' New Orleans coach Tic Price said. ``Our point guards had a hard time matching up with him.''
McInnis said he was not upset that no one was giving UNC a chance to return to the Final Four when the tournament began.
``I don't care if people never mention North Carolina, as long as we come out and play like we did in the first game,'' McInnis said.
``But we are not looking too far ahead. We just want to beat Texas Tech and move on to the next round.'' by CNB