Enrolling at Carolina early and immediately being thrown into Tar Heel practices wasn't entirely unfamiliar territory for Will Shaver.
The Birmingham native had to choose between going to prep school or graduating from high school and coming to Chapel Hill in January. He chose the latter, correctly reasoning that there was no better place for his development than working out every day with the Tar Heels.
There were some adjustments, of course. As he puts it, "When I showed up, I was supposed to be in senior year of high school math class, so it's an interesting feeling going from a guy from Birmingham, Alabama, to guarding Armando Bacot in 24 hours."
But Shaver had experience going against more seasoned players. His father, Chris, was a 6-foot-9 standout at Birmingham Southern and is a member of the school's Hall of Fame.
That led to some battles in the Shaver family driveway. And while the elder Shaver got the best of most of them when his son was a youngster, things began to change when Will reached his teenage years.
"I think the first time I beat him was in a game of HORSE," Will says. "I was about 14. That was a huge moment for me. He threw the ball and it went into the woods."
There were some Tar Heel-like protocols already in place for the youngster, though.
"Yeah," he says. "I had to go get it."
So it was familiar to him when he arrived in Chapel Hill and frequently heard that shout of, "Freshman!" any time a ball has to be tracked down during practice. Just this week during a practice water break, Hubert Davis reminded his team, "Freshmen wait one minute," so the older players could go first.
Those are minor inconveniences, however, when compared to battling with Bacot every single day in the post.
"I slept really well those first few nights," Shaver says. "It was a hard experience. I was like, 'What the heck is going on?'…The first couple of months were a struggle. Getting in shape and coming here in midseason was tough. Towards April and May, going into June and July, I started to get my speed up, get up the effort, intensity and enthusiasm. That's when I started to transition into what I needed to be."
He's not quite there yet. There have still been many long days with Jonas Sahratian, and constant workouts with Sean May. Shaver became hooked on Carolina when watching the Tar Heels on television at home in Birmingham, so he has a deeper knowledge of the program than some. But keep in mind that he was also born in 2003, and as he says (prepare yourself), "I grew up watching Isaiah Hicks," which is enough to make some Tar Heel fans feel ancient.
So he doesn't have the first-hand experience of watching May as a player, someone who also had to work his body into shape before becoming one of the best post men of the Roy Williams era. Shaver knows May more as a coach, and it's a relationship he appreciates.
"You can see the way he cares and the way he wants to teach," Shaver says. "Knowing he's done everything I want to do, it makes everything so much easier. Being coachable requires a trust. You can tell he's coming from a place where he cares and wants you to be better. Knowing that from a coach, you can't ask much more."
And there have been days Shaver needs that positive feedback, grinding every single day against a likely preseason first team All-America in Bacot who regularly makes much more seasoned college players look silly. It's not that different than those games in the driveway in Birmingham.
Earlier this week, Shaver was complimenting Bacot's improved perimeter game. At that exact moment, Bacot happened to walk by and hear the tail end of the conversation. The playful Bacot just grinned, and couldn't resist needling his young protégé.
"Keep sagging off me, Will," he said as he went to get ready for another demanding workout.
Shaver said nothing in reply. He just grinned sheepishly. After all, that kind of interaction, on and off the court, is exactly why he is here.
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Lucas: Shaver Gets Crash Course - University of North Carolina Athletics - UNC Athletics
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