unc Draft Report Card: Tar Heels' collegiate success hasn't carried over to the NBA

The handshakes came in rapid succession, one Tar Heel after another strutting onto the stage at Madison Square Garden to experience the rush.

NBA commissioner David Stern welcomed each one.

First came Marvin Williams, then Raymond Felton.

Not long after that, both Sean May and Rashad McCants experienced their Stern greetings too.

Within 90 minutes on June 28, 2005, four University of North carolina stars realized a childhood dream, selected in the NBA Draft lottery and ushered quickly onto professional basketball's grand stage.

Their college coach, Roy Williams, was in attendance that night, proud as can be, watching four players who helped him capture his first national championship collect the reward he vowed would be theirs if they embraced his team-first philosophy.

"I love these kids," Williams said then. "It's a great night for them."

Yet six years later, it's hard to know whether that draft was ultimately a success for the North carolina program or a cautionary tale of just how hard it is to make it at the next level.

Both May and McCants are now out of the NBA. And Williams, while just 25 years old and still developing, has been widely considered an average player at best, even labeled a bust by his harshest critics who quickly point out Atlanta drafted him second overall, immediately ahead of point guards Deron Williams and Chris Paul.

Arguably only Felton, who enjoyed a career-year this past season first with the Knicks and later with the Nuggets, has emerged as a reliable difference-maker and a potential All-Star.

Suddenly, the good vibrations evident in so many of those draft night snapshots from six years ago seem distant. Suddenly conclusions about the 2005 draft are being written in ink. And for North carolina, the final report card probably won't make it to the fridge.

....Felton has a promising future ahead.

The same can't be said for his unc classmates, who are in scramble mode to keep their careers buzzing.

May's exit from the NBA was precipitated by physical problems. He was never able to fully keep his weight in check, a struggle that often frustrated his Bobcats coach Larry Brown.......And in 2009-10, he played in Sacramento for the NBA minimum and averaged only 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in 37 games, sliding from obscurity to irrelevance and triggering his move to Turkey.

McCants' reputation as a brooding malcontent repelled NBA teams from even dangling a hook anywhere near him. And after five up-and-down seasons in the NBA, McCants also dropped through a trap door.

As Kevin McHale told ESPN the Magazine last summer, "He has to grow out of his old mentality. If he doesn't, he won't play in this league again."

Marvin Williams, meanwhile, celebrates his 25th birthday Sunday, holding six-year career averages of 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Those numbers register him as serviceable. But he's now an NBA veteran. And the Hawks may soon have to acknowledge that the second player drafted in 2005 will turn out to be an average role player at best.

Brendan Haywood
2001, 20th, Cleveland
NBA Grade: C+

Joseph Forte
2001, 21st, Boston
NBA Grade: F

Marvin Williams
2005, 2nd, Atlanta
NBA Grade: B-

Raymond Felton
2005, 5th, Charlotte
NBA Grade: B

Sean May
2005, 13th, Charlotte
NBA Grade: D-

Rashad McCants
2005, 14th, Minnesota
NBA Grade: F

Brandan Wright
2007, 8th, Charlotte*
NBA Grade: D-

Tyler Hansbrough
2009, 13th, Indiana
NBA Grade: B-

Ty Lawson
2009, 18th, Minnesota%
NBA Grade: A-

Wayne Ellington
2009, 28th, Minnesota
NBA Grade: C-

Ed Davis
2010, 13th, Toronto
NBA Grade: C

* — traded on draft night to Golden State
% — traded on draft night to Denver

Former Tar Heels May, Williams find success in France

Sean May looks at ease playing professional basketball again.

Wearing headphones, the former North carolina standout and Charlotte Bobcats lottery pick bobbed to his iPod mini as he stretched on an empty court before a recent game.

His decision to leave his family and friends and the comforts of the United States to extend his career overseas was made easier thanks to a familiar face, former Tar Heels teammate Jawad Williams. The two won a national championship in 2005.

“A lot of people don’t understand (that) playing in Europe is tough. So, when you have someone you’ve known for 10-plus years it makes life easy; you don’t miss home as much,” May said.

May and Williams have exchanged Chapel Hill for Paris and carolina blue for a darker shade, but they’re together.

They suit up for Paris-Levallois in the Ligue National de Basket Pro A (LNB). Paris-Levallois has a history with unc. David Noel arrived in 2010 and lured Williams for the 2011-12 season. Noel then left for a different French squad this season, so Williams called May.

For Williams and May, the days of chartered flights, posh NBA arenas and 20,000 screaming fans are gone. Instead, they recently bused for more than four hours and played in front of 2,500 people before trekking back through the night to the capital. What the small crowd lacked in numbers that night, it made up for with penetrating air horns that screeched the entire 40 minutes.

The visiting crowd was a far cry from the NBA – or even Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The scenery and languages have changed, but May’s game hasn’t. He leads the league in scoring at 19.1 points per game. Williams is third at 16.8.

May credits his success to his health and friend.

“Honestly, I’m more healthy than I’ve been in a long time,” he said.

May, who hasn’t played in the NBA since 2010, has had to shed the criticisms of his weight that have followed his career, but his production and the style of play in France should keep critics at bay.

Unlike other European leagues, such as the Italian league May played in last season, the French league plays a fast-paced, athletic and up-and-down style of basketball.

Returning to the NBA is always the goal, but it’s not the driving force to keep playing.

“If it were to happen, I would take full advantage, but we’ve talked about it and we’re both happy,” May said. “We’re making good money (both make $334,000 per season, the highest salaries in the league) and we live in a great city, so it would have to be the right situation.”