The Charlie Scott Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Wednesday, May 11th, 2005
You
were the first black scholarship athlete at the University of North Carolina.
Dan Pollitt, professor emeritus at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Law, was friendly
with the headmaster at Laurinburg Institute, having given a speech to the state
NAACP a month prior to your visit to UNC. How were Mr. Pollitt, coach Smith and
the rest at UNC able to sell you on playing for the Tar Heels?
It
was the first time that people expressed to me the enjoyment of the university
experience, rather than the enjoyment of just the basketball team. In other
words, most schools sold me on their basketball teams and what they were going
to do, whereas North Carolina really sold me on North Carolina. The basketball
team was a big part of it, but the big selling point was that I would have to go
to school there. I was going to be there for four years, and I was going to
spend more time away from the basketball court than I was going to spend on it.
So I think that that was the thing that Coach Smith and everyone else really
sold me on. They were all concerned with my college education, and it impressed
me a great deal.
You were
interested in pre-med. Any truth to the rumor that the school let you
perform an appendectomy to get you to sign?
Well,
they didn’t actually let me perform and appendectomy [laughs]. But they did
let me in the operating room while an appendectomy was being performed.
They let me look in it as it was being done, so that was true. And they
took me in and let me watch the students working with the cadavers – I
watched them open up the chest cavity and remove the various organs.
Honestly, I found it fascinating at that point, but after I got to college I
realized my fear of needles was going to hold me back in the medical field
[laughs].
At North
Carolina, you developed a reputation for playing big in big games. You
scored 40 points in an ACC championship victory over Duke, and you hit the
game-winning shot against Davidson to advance to the Final Four in 1969.
What do you consider your biggest thrill while playing for the Tar Heels,
and why?
Winning
is a big part of playing basketball, and I could think of a lot of games
where we were able to walk away victorious. Some of them, like the time I
scored 40 points in that championship game against Duke – what more could
you ask for if you’re a Tar Heel – are much bigger than others. Also
hitting that shot against Davidson, a team where I thought the guys were
going to be my teammates. That was big, with maybe an even bigger twist of
irony. But the biggest thrill that I really had, and I think that anybody
who has ever played for the Tar Heels would agree, is the camaraderie that
comes from being there and being a part of the team. The relationships that
get built because of being a Tar Heel is unlike anything that I’ve ever
experienced. It’s a big thrill to be a part of the tradition that is North
Carolina. It means a whole lot. I think it’s more important than any one
game that we may have played, or any one truly great moment that can be
pointed to historically.
You were
a two-time All-American, and a member of the 1968 men's Olympic basketball
team. Please tell me about each of these honors; what was it like to be
recognized as one of top players in college basketball, and how did it feel
to win the gold medal while representing your country?
First,
you are recognized as one of the top players in the country. That’s an
honor that you can’t foresee. All you can do is go out there and to play.
My thing was that I always tried to do the best that I could do, and that I
tried to let everything flow and then fall into place. I played to gain the
respect of the other players on the court, and I feel proud knowing that I
can look back, knowing that I played as hard as I possibly could. I may not
have always played as well as I could have, but I always played hard and I
did the best that I could at that moment. To be recognized as one of the
nation’s top players for that is a real thrill. You can’t want anything
more. The most important thing is that those North Carolina teams were
winning teams. That really made it worthwhile. It meant that my play was
doing something productive, and that it was moving the team forward in terms
of winning. It was proof that I wasn’t playing selfishly. I was a part of
a winning formula, and part of what started that winning tradition at North
Carolina.
That 1968 Olympic team was really the last team to win the gold medal in consecutive order. The ’72 team lost to Russia. So in hindsight that team becomes even more special. I was eighteen at the time, so it was great to be a part of the Olympic team as an eighteen year-old player. It’s a thrill and an honor that becomes bigger through the years, especially because the television coverage has turned it into such a huge spectacle. Those things that we earned then have become magnified in terms of significance in today’s society. It’s a thrill to be an Olympic gold medal winner. It’s a thrill to be an NBA champion as a member of the Boston Celtics. It’s a thrill to be a part of the Tar Heel tradition. I think I had the best of all worlds when it comes to basketball. I don’t think I can be a person who can moan and groan about my basketball career and who I played for, and the traditions of the teams for whom I played. And I can’t complain about who I played with, and what we accomplished. I think it was a blessing. I have nothing but great respect and honor for my college, Olympic and professional affiliations. I was lucky in the way that my basketball career evolved.
