CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina's vaunted depth in basketball created its first casualty Tuesday with the announcement senior forward Pat Sullivan would sit out this year for another season of eligibility as a graduate student.
Sullivan, a 6-8, 216-pound native of Bogota, N.Y., shot 51.8 percent from the field and 78.9 from the free throw line last year in a reserve role, averaging 6.4 points and 2.4 rebounds a game. He hit the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds remaining in UNC's 1993 NCAA final against Michigan, putting the Tar Heels up 72-71 before Chris Webber's notorious no-timeout technical.
Sullivan apparently lost a starting position to 7-0 classmate Kevin Salvadori as the Tar Heels prepared for Wednesday's first-round NIT game against Western Kentucky. Monday, he told head coach Dean Smith he wanted to sit out this year and return next season as a graduate student in education.
'I'm not saying it's good for the team. It definitely could hurt us, ' Smith said Tuesday. 'On the court, we do whatever is best for the team. Off the court, we do whatever is best for each individual.'
Smith said Sullivan would have a good chance for more playing time in another year. 'It would be a shame if he only played 10, 12, 15 minutes a game' in his final year.
Salvadori averaged 4.5 points and 3.6 rebounds a game last year, also in a reserve role. He joins four returning starters from last year's 34- 4 NCAA champions: 7-0 senior center Eric Montross, 6-6 senior forward Brian Reese, 6-4 senior point guard Derrick Phelps and 6-3 junior guard Donald Williams, the Final Four MVP.
The 1993-94 Tar Heels grew even deeper with the addition of three highly touted freshmen: 6-10 Rasheed Wallace, 6-6 forward Jerry Stackhouse and 6-3 Jeff McInnis.
Smith attempted to downplay Sullivan's decision, announcing it midway through remarks about North Carolina's season-opener against Western Kentucky. Smith also tried to downplay the fact North Carolina aministrators already have sold second-round NIT tickets to season ticket-holders.
'From a logistical standpoint, it makes good sense to sell the tickets in advance. From a basketball standpoint, it's great motivation for Western Kentucky,' Smith said. 'It's a lot easier to refund money for tickets than it is to sell them to everybody in one day. From what I've seen of Western Kentucky, we very well could be refunding people's money Thursday.'
Western Kentucky, 26-6 last year, and North Carolina meet at 7:30 p. m. Wednesday in Chapel Hill. Thewinner advances to meet either Cincinnati or Butler in the NIT quarterfinals Friday.
