TYLER HANSBROUGH
ing his nutrition to coincide with his work-outs.“Every time I see him he’s just finishing
eating, or he’s about to eat,” Ginyard said.
(Hansbrough has learned to augment his
long-standing diet with low-fat protein
derived from ostrich, bison and sushi.) He
gets plenty of sleep.
Nor has Hansbrough’s ardor diminished
for the game he loves. “You can’t get inside
somebody’s mind or anything like that, but I
think he feels that’s the way he has to play to
be most effective,” Maryland Coach Gary
Williams said of Hansbrough’s celebrated
relentlessness. “In other words, if he didn’t
play that way, he would feel he’s cheating the
game somehow or letting down his teammates or whatever. You have a little guilt
there. If he quit playing like that all the time,
he’d feel very guilty. Like, just because you’re
tired or out of breath, in his mind, that doesn’t mean you play with any less energy on
the court. Very few people have that.”
JIM BOUNDS/ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
Some question Hansbrough’s skills,
which have improved steadily at Chapel
Hill, and his artistry.
“If there’s ever been a blue-collar guy, it’s
him,” Williams said. Hansbrough’s move-
ments on the court, from shooting form to
footwork, can be strikingly awkward. Earlier
in his career, opposing ACC coaches sent
tape to the league office meant to demonstrate that Hansbrough committed traveling
violations when initiating moves to the basket. The video was neither convincing nor
inhibiting. “I could care less if it’s smooth or
what it looks like as long as it works,” Hansbrough said.
None challenge his effort. “I’ve seen
some of the great players — Michael [Jordan
’ 86], Magic [Johnson] and Charles Barkley
— and they might have more talent, but I’ve
never seen a player who plays every possession as hard as he does,” said Louisville
Coach Rick Pitino. He had just witnessed
Hansbrough contributing 28 points and 13
rebounds, topped by a pair of key jump
shots, in a victory over the Cardinals in the
2008 NCAA regional finals at Charlotte.
Voted consensus first team All-America
and All-ACC in each of his first three seasons, he could become the only ACC
player to have won those honors four
times. Hansbrough already is Carolina’s best
all-time scorer (surpassing the 2,290 points
of Phil Ford ’ 78 in 1975-78) and is on
pace to finish as its top rebounder (he
would eclipse Sam Perkins ’ 84 and his
1,167 boards) and its leader in field goals
made (outdoing Ford).
No ACC player has gotten to the foul
line more often — 945 times entering the
2008-09 season. Hansbrough converts 77. 6
percent of his tries, particularly impressive
accuracy for a frontcourt player.
“If you talk about is he one of the
greatest athletes, is he one of the most
gifted guys, you can go a long way down
the list before you get to him,” Williams
LEADING
TEACHING
CARING
YOU CAN’T REALLY SEE
WH AT
WE
D O.
YOU CAN, HOWEVER, SEE WHAT WE
AC H I EVE.
@r nmd ne sgd m`shnmÔr kd`chmf `b`cdlhb ldchb`k bdmsdqr+ ltbg ne vg`s vd
cn hr qdrd`qbg `mc sd`bghmf- Rnldshldr hsÔr cheÝbtks sn rdd gnv sgdrd sq`mrk`sd
hmsn qd`k vnqkc qdrtksr- Ats vgdm xnt knnj hm sgd dxdr ne rnldnmd vdÔud
addm `akd sn gdko+ hs `kk adbnldr bkd`q-
www.unchealthcare.org
