Michael Jordan gave UNC his best advice after crushing loss to Villanova
Shortly after Villanova pulled off its miraculous buzzer-beater win over North Carolina to claim the National Championship, as people shared Crying Jordan memes, Jordan himself made his way to the Tar Heels locker room to offer some encouragement to the heartbroken team.
Via Scout.com, here's how Tar Heel senior Marcus Paige, swept up in a whirlwind of devastation, experienced the visit:
“Honestly, I didn’t even know who was talking until about 30 seconds after he had started because I didn’t have a chance to look up. I was so hurt from what had just happened. But I looked up to see the greatest player to ever play basketball."
"He said it was okay, that he was proud of us and that we made him proud to be a Tar Heel and be a Tar Heel alum. And that you can’t be a great winner without having to experience struggles and losses and how to use this as fuel."
Famous for transforming any slight in to fuel -- real or imagined -- that's how you turn lemons into lemonade Jordan-style.
"It means a lot because he’s the face of basketball worldwide," Paige added of Jordan's visit. "He means a lot to us as kids looking up to him, and for him to say that he’s proud of us and to have him have a moment with [Roy Williams] before Coach comes in, it’s special and it speaks a lot to this program.”
Paige recorded 21 points, six assists and five rebounds in the loss and was incredibly well composed when speaking at the postgame press conference, especially considering the nature and magnitude of the defeat.
