The museum tells the story of Carolina basketball from its earliest days in 1911 to its current status as one of the country’s leading athletic programs.  Through displays of player and team mementos, Daly provides avid fans with an accessible, fact-filled place to learn about UNC basketball history and its links to the creation of the sport itself.

A quick glance around the modest-sized museum off Airport Road sets it apart from a typical museum showroom.  The voices of basketball announcers shout from scattered television screens.  Banners from historic tournaments and games grace the walls.  Carolina-blue pipes and molding decorate the high ceilings.  The original scoreboard used in Carmichael from 1965 to ‘86 looms overhead.  Visitors can even buy popcorn and drinks to get them through the “game.”

They see memorabilia embodying the most famous UNC players and some of the lesser remembered.  Michael Jordan ‘86 shares the spotlight with Jim Jordan ‘46, who carried the Tar Heels to the Southern Conference Tournament championship title in 1944-45.  Dean Smith has his place alongside Norman Shepard ‘23, the medical student who in 1924 led UNC to its first national basketball championship in his single year as a coach.

“The museum reflects the Carolina program and the team concept,” Daly explained.  “This is not a Michael Jordan or a Dean Smith museum.  I think the mission of Carolina basketball is the team concept.  I think the players really respect that.”

Daly said Smith and Bill Guthridge told the team to “always be prepared,” and Daly took the adage to heart perhaps without realizing it.  A self-described packrat, he’d been collecting basketball mementos throughout college.  He had all the goodies from the 1982 basketball championship, which he was fortunate enough to be managing.  He had old practice jerseys.  And he had a pile of Carolina-blue Converse All Star high tops discarded by players, including a size-17 pair he’d convinced Rich Yonakor ‘81 to give him in 1979.

Daly was producing Smith's coaching show about three years ago when the idea struck him.  People kept asking where they could bring Carolina memorabilia or where they might see more than what the Memorabilia Room in the Dean Smith Center offered.  Daly realized there wasn’t another option.

Players and their families and friends have donated items that portray important moments on the court - such as the scorebook from the 1924 national championship game—and goofy moments off of it, like the picture of Sam Perkins ‘84 and some teammates dressed as Western movie stars.

                                                                                                                                    -Colleen Jenkins

The museum is in Chapel Hill North Shopping Center on N.C. 86 just off Interstate 40.  Call (919) 929-5877, and check out the Web site at www.blueheavenmuseum.com.