Tar Heel Blue Heaven

Gallery exhibits artifacts from Carolina's past

 By BARRY SVRLUGA, Staff Writer

 CHAPEL HILL -- One thing became immediately clear to David Daly. If you're going to start a college basketball museum, if you're going to center it around the University of North Carolina, then ...

"Anything we find that shows Michael with hair," Daly said, "we put it out."

That would be Michael Jordan, the famously bald king of basketball. But the Blue Heaven Basketball Museum that Daly opened in November is not about one person.

"This is everybody's," Daly said. "It's not a Michael Jordan museum. It's not a Dean Smith museum. It's every player, every coach, every team."

And, Daly hopes, every fan. Daly -- a former student manager for the Tar Heels back when Jordan played and Smith led the team to the 1982 national championship -- gave up his job as a sports television producer to open the 3,100-square foot museum, a large room in a strip mall just off I-40 on the outskirts of Chapel Hill.

The museum is exactly what any Tar Heel fan would want. In the center of the floor is a circle, painted Carolina Blue, with the interlocking NC symbol. Trophy cases sit in the middle of the floor and line the walls as well. A scoreboard from Carmichael Auditorium hangs above with a backboard from the old gym.

But it didn't just appear. From his days as a manager, Daly had connections with the Carolina program. But he needed approval to get going. So ...

"I went to coach Smith with the idea," he said. "I had to. If you want to do anything that has to do with the Carolina family, you want to do it with his blessing."

He got it, in Smith's understated way: "The idea has merit," the coach said.

Merit, though, still doesn't get you artifacts. So Daly sent letters to more than 300 former UNC lettermen, asking for support.

"I wasn't worried," Daly said. "But when you send something out blind -- and a lot of these guys, I didn't know -- there's some anxiety. You wonder what kind of feedback you're going to get. This is somewhat uncharted territory. It's a niche museum, and even though Carolina basketball is one of, if not the, most recognizable athletic programs in the country, can it support an off-campus

museum?"

The players' response shows that it might be able to. The first item came in from Peppy Callahan, who played from 1960-63. It was a sport coat from Smith's first team as head coach. In the pocket, Callahan inserted $5 for dry cleaning.

"Anything I can do to help," Callahan told Daly.

On it went. Some of the items are on loan. Some were donated. Others, Daly bought. But everything -- from balls to photos to jerseys to sneakers to Sam Perkins' cowboy boots -- is associated with Carolina basketball in some way.

And Daly has been happy with the response.

"A couple of kids came in one day and stood at the door," Daly said. "They said, 'Is this it?' ... But I showed them around, they paid their admission -- and they stayed for 2 1/2 hours."

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