UNC feels tug of Carmichael nostalgia, but Smith Center pays the bills
Dean Smith once told Roy Williams to measure the distance from the front row of seats to the court at Carmichael Auditorium, to ensure that narrow gap was maintained in North Carolina’s new building. More than 30 years later, the gap between what is now known as the Smith Center and what is now known as Carmichael Arena couldn’t be larger.
The Tar Heels will play only their second game in the old arena on Sunday since moving to the building that would be named for Smith 33 years ago, and Williams isn’t exactly expecting it to happen again soon, let alone on a regular basis, the way N.C. State plays one (or even two) a year at Reynolds Coliseum.
“I don’t think you can, guys,” Williams said Friday.
Fall-semester graduation ceremonies at the Smith Center have bumped the Tar Heels to their old digs for the game against Wofford on Sunday, just as renovations sent them to Carmichael for a memorably wild NIT game against William & Mary in 2010.
And the question, as always, is why don’t they do that more often?
“There’s a lot of things to consider,” Williams said. “Budget-wise, did we get some sponsors to help this? Or are those questions I’m not even supposed to freaking ask? Seriously, guys. You’ve got 21,750 (seats). You don’t have to be a nuclear scientist to figure out, we’re going to let 7,000 people in.”
It’s a question that North Carolina and N.C. State both face on a regular basis, with their historic homes still available, renovated and used by their women’s teams. (Duke, it should be noted, still plays in its historic home.) Both Carmichael and Reynolds are held in the highest esteem by fans lucky enough (and old enough) to witness ACC games in them, and both are more intimate, more charismatic and more beloved than their more modern, more sterile replacements.
They were the crucibles of the modern ACC, the stage where the conference built its reputation. Reynolds hosted the first 13 ACC tournaments, the home court for Everett Case and David Thompson and Jim Valvano. Carmichael, which opened in 1965, was the scene of Smith’s greatest triumphs. Cozy, cramped and crazed (and smoky), they are the brick-and-mortar representation of the ACC at its peak, just as they represent what the ACC left behind when it expanded.
“I played in a lot of games wearing this North Carolina jersey,” Deon Thompson said after the 2010 game in Carmichael. “I played in a couple of Final Fours, but being out there on that floor tonight with those fans, with the history that’s happened in this auditorium, is something I’ll always remember.”
North Carolina left for the Smith Center in 1986, N.C. State for PNC Arena in 1999, but both Carmichael and Reynolds always were, and remain, living history.
They’re also smaller, which is why replacements were deemed necessary in the first place — and why moving games to the old venues is not only a logistical pain but also a financial one. PNC Arena seats 19,722 for basketball, compared to 5,600 at Reynolds. The Smith Center seats 21,750, compared to 8,010 at Carmichael.
For every missing seat, there’s an angry season-ticket holder, and for every angry season-ticket holder there’s a donation in jeopardy. The math, especially going from the Smith Center to Carmichael, just doesn’t work.
Even before the renovations, N.C. State has played an annual “heritage” game at Reynolds and scheduled a second game in the old barn this season after the success of the NIT games played there last spring. If it were up to N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts, there would be more than that.
Keatts pleaded his case to then-athletic director Debbie Yow in a press conference after an NIT win over Hofstra last spring, only for Yow to reply from the back of the room: “Can’t afford it.”
For North Carolina, there are other concerns. Unlike Reynolds, which underwent a massive renovation in 2016 and now has a full array of modern amenities, Carmichael is too cramped backstage for the traveling circus that is a men’s home game, wedged into a spot on campus that is almost entirely bereft of parking. There isn’t even an extra locker room the men’s team can use. Compared to the Smith Center, it’s an infrastructure nightmare.
“I’ve never seen a game in Carmichael,” North Carolina guard Brandon Robinson said. “My dad has, though. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been to a couple (women’s) games there. I always thought, ‘Man, it would be loud in here.’ ”
All of which is to say, the North Carolina fans who wish the Tar Heels would do the same as N.C. State and play one game a year at Carmichael should enjoy Sunday.
The memories may hang overhead like haze, but they don’t pay the bills.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 4:07 PM with the headline "UNC feels tug of Carmichael nostalgia, but Smith Center pays the bills."
