College basketball

Tar Heel center ratchets up game

Sean May, already an elite player, has made himself stronger, leaner and more effective.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published February 6, 2005

North Carolina junior center Sean May wouldn't have had a chance a year ago.

There's no way he could have chased a speedy player like North Carolina State's Julius Hodge for about 60 feet, nimbly avoid a would-be screener in the lane and then elevate for a perfectly-timed block.

"I definitely wouldn't have gotten there (in past years)," he said. "I would have been at the free-throw line by the time he was finishing the play."

Not this year.

Showing how much fitter and faster he is now than ever before, May stayed right on the heels of Hodge, the reigning ACC player of the year, slipped by guard Tony Bethel and stopped a breakaway dunk in the opening minutes of the second half on Thursday.

"Hard work pays off," said the 6-9, 266-pound May.

It does show.

May, who dropped about 11 pounds in the offseason, is averaging 15.4 points, third on the team, and 9.5 rebounds, tops on the team and second in the league. He's shooting 54.9 percent from the field and 73.5 percent from the line, by far the best marks of his career.

"When we had weight days, he would show up in the morning and do one (session) by himself and then come back in the afternoon and do the one that everybody else did," said coach Roy Williams, whose No. 2-ranked and ACC-leading Tar Heels (18-2, 7-1) play at Florida State (11-10, 3-5) today.

"He's just done a great job of working on his body. His stamina is better than it's ever been in the past. His vertical jump is better than it's ever been. His legs feel better. His feet feel better. He just worked exceptionally hard and all that put together has made him a more effective player."

Not that he was a slouch when he arrived in Chapel Hill from Bloomington, Ind.

The son of former Indiana star Scott May, the national player of the year in 1975-76 and leader of the last team to go undefeated, was averaging nearly a double-double as a freshman before breaking a bone in left foot. Had he not missed 21 games, during which UNC limped to a 10-11 record, the Heels might have qualified for the NCAA Tournament and Matt Doherty might not have lost his job.

He averaged 15.2 points and a league-high 9.8 rebounds last year, but wasn't well-conditioned enough to excel in Williams' up-tempo brand of ball. By signing highly touted big man Marvin Williams, coach Williams could challenge May.

"I didn't want my time to be lessened just because I was a little bit out of shape," May said. "Coach talked to me about getting into better shape and running the floor and being able to flourish in the system. He told me, "With our added depth, you're going to play less minutes, but I still want the same production I got out of you last year if not more.' I was fine with that."

He wanted to be able to play harder.

He wanted to be more aggressive.

He wanted to do all the things folks said he couldn't.

"Sean had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder this summer," said Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, who guided the USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team. "He had a lot of things he wanted to prove. It was really important for him to make that team."

May not only earned one of the 12 spots, he led the team in scoring (16.0 points), rebounding (9.5) and blocks (1.0), and he helped the team win a gold medal.

"Every team had a great player, especially in the post," Sampson said, mentioning Puerto Rico's 7-2 center Peter Ramos, who's now with the NBA Washington Wizards, "and Sean was tremendous."

USA Basketball recently named him and Wake Forest sophomore point guard Chris Paul, a teammate during the summer tournament, co-Male Athletes of the Year.

"I wanted to show people that I could play with the best players in college," May said. "That's the way I went into this season."

With a bit of chip not to get lost among the crowd of stars on his own team, let alone those around the league as well as the nation.

"He came in as an extremely talented player and now he's grown and matured and gotten in better condition and he's even better," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "He's a very special player and is playing as close to his potential as anyone."

[Last modified February 6, 2005, 00:22:15]