Hate Hansbrough? How?

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Oh, don't you just hate him? Tyler Hansbrough broke the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring record Thursday, appropriately hitting a free throw after another team nearly dislodged his face. And you know what the lout did when the crowd, lathered in Carolina blue, stood as one and gave him a loud, warm, lengthy standing ovation?

He thought about the opponent, Radford, and how the Highlanders from the Big South Conference were making only their second NCAA tournament appearance. Seems Hansbrough didn't want to demean them in any way by acknowledging his accomplishment. What a complete jerk, huh? Kind of guy you wouldn't want even Cruella de Vil to marry.

"Once I got the standing ovation, I thought about waving. But I didn't want disrespect to anybody," he said. "I just wanted to stay focused on the game. I came here to win the game today. I didn't want to focus on individual goals."

I don't understand this national mandate that we're supposed to hate Tyler Hansbrough. I happen to admire him -- for making the most of his talent with hard work and 6 a.m. wakeup calls, for passing on the NBA last summer when his stock was at his peak, for staying four years at North Carolina and earning his diploma when most college basketball stars want to shake David Stern's hand during freshman orientation. But for some reason, probably because he wears the Carolina uniform and has a baby face and has been gushed over by Dick Vitale for years, he continues to reign as America's most disliked player. Gets to the free-throw line way too much? Only because his bull-rushes to the basket are unstoppable and require Wrestlemania moves by frustrated foes. Flops too often? What's he supposed to do, defy gravity when they're pulling him to the floor? Wears a pouty look? I'd say it's the look of a kid who has had nothing handed to him and wonders when it will be taken away, perhaps when he sits on an NBA bench or doesn't make it on the next level. The face of Carolina basketball, the blue blood of all programs, religion as sport?

Hey, if you actually hate a college hoops program when Bernie Madoff and assorted terrorists are out there -- well, see a therapist. Hansbrough has been a credit to the collegiate experience and has cemented a memorable profile in self-made excellence. If you spend any time around him, you realize he's far more humble and downhome than haughty. While explaining why he didn't wave, he also made it clear what the scoring record means to him in the country's most prestigious conference. I don't need to list the regal names through time. "I look back and think of all the players in the ACC that I watched when I was young," he said. "For me to top all of the scorers in the league, it's special."

His coach and public defender, Roy Williams, says the records aren't as big as Hansbrough's heart. "Don't take this the wrong way, but it (wouldn't) mean one more thing than if he fell three points short," he said. "It's a personal thing that he's one of the most unbelievable youngsters I've been around. The fact that you can say he's the leading scorer and rebounder in North Carolina history is enough for me. The fact you can say that he played four years and did all the things he did would be enough for me. When you have that and now you're saying, 'Man, he's scored more points than anybody who's ever played in the ACC,' it just adds a 17th layer of icing."

His teammates speak in similar reverential tones. "I just want to say it's an honor to play with a player that has the type of skills and character that Tyler has," said shooting guard Wayne Ellington, who lit up Radford for 25 points in a 101-58 win, achieved without injured point guard Ty Lawson. "Just watching him, you see how hard he works and how consistent he is. You basically know he's going to give to 20 (points) and maybe 10 (rebounds) every game. It's very hard to do that every night."

"People talk about legends. I think he is going to have a legend quality about him," said senior point guard Bobby Frasor, who has dived off frat houses into swimming pools with Psycho-T. "The stories are going to build up and build up. People talk about (him eating) sushi now; in 20 years, it's going to be Tyler ate a live cow or something."

So why the rampant disrespect around the country? "I guess for some people, it's like having filet every day -- you kind of get sick of it after a while," Frasor told North Carolina reporters recently. "With Tyler, you're going to get 20 and 10 every day because of the maximum effort that he gives every day .. and if people don't think that's fantastic, then I think that's ridiculous. But I guess it comes with the territory of being so good."

Not that Hansbrough lets it bother him. He gets it. "People have seen me play for so long, and sometimes people have expectations," he said. "Fans go to hate me, and that's just part of the game. I'm used to it, and in a way I'm proud of it. No matter what, I'm still going to play my game. It doesn't really affect me. I don't really listen to anybody outside our program."


It would have been convenient for Hansbrough to seek the nearest escape hatch and bolt Chapel Hill last spring. The Tar Heels were humiliated by Kansas in the Final Four, and after he was named National Player of the Year, many were urging him to turn pro. But only days after the setback, Hansbrough told Williams he was returning. He told his coach to craft the press release because he was "too happy" to offer his own quotes. Truth be told, he also has been driven by unfinished business: He wants to win a national championship. "You try to block it out, but you can't block something out like that," Hansbrough said of the Kansas loss. "It's how you ended your season last year. We didn't come out to play that game. We'll use that as fuel."

In retrospect, Hansbrough may have cost himself draft-day millions. Some NBA scouts think his game has stagnated in his senior season, possibly because he already has maximized his skills. Maybe he'll be a hustle guy and make a roster, but he won't be a star. That's all the more reason to praise his decision. He gambled and might lose the money game, but he wanted to win a title and spend a fourth year at North Carolina, a place he initially didn't like during recruiting because of bad weather and its distance from his native Missouri.

But now there's another obstacle: trying to win without Lawson, the elite floor leader who should return Saturday for a second-round matchup against LSU. Will Lawson be ready physically? For a Carolina team that some of us thought might go unbeaten, it's quite a March burden. "I mean, sometimes pressure is a good thing," Hansbrough said. "It makes people realize the situation they're in. But also, I think it's something we've been talking about for a long time. It seems that before the season, people kept saying we're gonna win the national championship. I'm glad it's tournament time, but it's my last run. I realize that. So, you know, there will be a little extra oomph there. But there's nothing more I'm putting into this tournament than I haven't in the past."

The lingering Lawson issue has created considerable doubt about Carolina. President Obama isn't fazed by the injury, picking the Heels in a much-debated bracket that was lightly mocked by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Somebody said that we're not in President Obama's Final Four, and as much as I respect what he's doing, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably more than the brackets," Coack K said. When Williams was asked Thursday about Obama, he actually agreed with his Duke rival.

"You know, I love the president. I really, really like President Obama," he said. "I think it's great that he's a sports fan and goes through the bracket and the whole bit like that. But frankly, he's got some more important things to worry about than the NCAA tournament. But I still love the fact that he's willing to be involved.

"I know the truth of the matter. He really didn't know who to pick. But when he played pick-up with our guys (last April), nobody blocked his shot and everybody passed him the ball, and everybody set screens for him. Wanted to let him score. So it's payback for us being so nice to him. And he drove to the basket one time, and Tyler didn't take his head off. So that was good."

See? If Tyler Hansbrough was such a rogue, such a sinister Psycho-T, he'd have thugged up Obama. Go ahead and hate him. I love him.