The North Carolina Mason

Page 8 The North Carolina Mason January/February 2019 By A. Gene Cobb Jr. 2017 Grand Master of Masons On Oct. 30, 1975, I opened a letter from the admissions office of the University of North Carolina. e letter stated that my lifelong desire and request for early admis- sion had been approved. My coach allowed me to start my final home football game that night while wearing white socks with two Caro- lina blue rings around the top. What he didn't realize was that nothing could ever diminish my love for Carolina basketball. When I arrived at Carolina in 1976, I asked to be a Junior Varsity manager. ere were four of us chosen as JV managers for the 1976- 1977 season. Jeff Matthis, Kenny Lee, Glenn Benton, and I worked very hard to make the cut. We all wanted to be picked for the Varsity Manager position. We tried to do everything Rick Duckett told us. Rick was the sophomore who made it the previous year. Kenny got the job, and while all of us were proud of him, we were heartbroken about not moving forward. Without knowing Jeff and Glenn had done the same thing, I asked Coach Smith if I could stay involved. ree days later, a letter came from Coach Bill Guthridge saying that Coach Smith was inviting each of us to be statisticians for the 1977-1978 season. It would be Phil Ford's senior season. Phil played high school ball at Rocky Mount and was on his way to becoming the National Player of the Year and first-round NBA selection. He was closing in on the all-time school scoring record. I wanted to be part of that year. When we got our assignments, I kept the points per possession chart. Coach Smith used it to measure how many times both teams touched the ball in relation to how many points were scored. In Phil's final home game against Clemson, he made a layup at the north end of Carmichael that broke Lennie Rosenbluth's all- time scoring record. I highlighted it with a "light shade of blue." At that moment, I remember thinking about all the 360s, shoe-top dribbles, secondary breaks, fast breaks, assists and points he scored from the field and foul line. I remember the final home game against Duke was a highly antici- pated and emotional game. It was Saturday, Feb. 25, 1978. Phil Ford and Tom Zalagaris were closing out their college careers. Phil ripped 32 points that day. It was his career high. For this unique game, I made a carbon copy (the old-fashioned kind, a blue sheet that transferred every mark I made on the chart) of the points per possession chart. We won 82-78, and that gave us the top seed in the ACC tournament the following week in Greensboro. e following Monday, I finished class walked back to the dorm through Carmichael, reminiscing about the accomplishments Phil made as our team leader. I came in by what we called, "the cage" (a place we got our gym clothes) and walked down the stairs to the floor and was going to go out the back entrance. A man was on a ladder under the goal at the south end, changing the net. It was normal to replace the nets before a tournament. I said, "Sir, what are you going to do with that net?" He said, "You can have it." He threw it at me. Years later, when I was Grand Master of Masons in 2017, I took the net with me to Winston Salem for what was dubbed "a tailgate party." I mentioned to District Deputy Grand Master Todd Dyches that I'd like to give the net to Phil. Todd said, "I can make that happen, big guy." Todd, a friend of Phil's, placed a call and handed me the phone. Phil and I talked for the first time in years. It felt like we were suddenly 40 years younger. Todd worked for over a year to coordinate a meet-up with Phil. We finally met Nov. 13, 2018, for lunch in Chapel Hill. I had found a shadow box for the net and put the carbon of the points per possession chart behind it. When I arrived at the restaurant, the good Lord gave me some private time with Phil. Hearing him say "Gene," as I walked in the door made me light up like a Christmas tree. I sat down with him on a bench in the lobby and gave him the shadow box. We looked at some of the files I kept from his time as a player. We reminisced about games we remem- bered with fantastic detail, especially one of my favorite memories when Phil would slow dribble the ball up the court holding up four fingers. Even more special for me, Phil autographed Coach Smith's book Multiple Offenses and Defense for me. e points-per-possession chart had been used by Coach Smith to write that book. e highlight of the day for me was hearing Phil pray the blessing over the meal. God's love has touched Phil's life. I remain over- whelmed how God's love, mercy, and grace brings people together and blesses us. Phil said later that he was delighted and surprised to receive the net. "It was quite exciting. I guess the older you get, the more sentimental you get, and this was a wonderful, sentimental gift," he said. "When Gene offered to share it with me, it was pretty cool. I feel honored he kept the net that long and now has shared it with me and my family." "My kids really like it," he added, "But my grandkids like it even more!" One of the great lessons Coach Smith gave us was to play hard, play smart, play unselfishly. Doing so gives us success in life. e Holy Bible gave us a word that it is more blessed to give than to receive. e old friends who gathered for this extraordinary lunch in friend- ship, morality, and brotherly love were reminded that the true bless- ings in life are not about what we receive for ourselves, but about what we give to others. Giving a treasured possession a gi in itself The former UNC statistician, Gene Cobb, passes on a treasured memory to basket- ball great Phil Ford and gains a treasured memory. Photo courtesy PGM Gene Cobb

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