The Tar Heels now have a fitting tribute to all those involved with Carolina basketball. Not every player can be honored individually, but the sense of worth they all possess is conveyed at the new the new Carolina basketball museum inside the Ernie Williamson Athletics Center.

Construction on the building, named for the late Williamson, a former Carolina football player and head of the Rams Club, was just recently completed.

The Williamson Center sits next to the Smith Center and Koury Natatorium, and it is the new home to the UNC Athletic Department and the school's booster club. The first thing a visitor sees on entering the building is the entrance to the basketball museum.

Success is the predominant theme throughout the displays, but the family atmosphere cultivated through the years is a close second. In the video tributes to former All-Americans, such as Phil Ford and Michael Jordan, talk is not only about wins and championships, but frequently to the close-knit bond that exists within this group.

Whether it is Frank McGuire's former players or the many who played for Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge or Roy Williams, there is a closeness and pride in the program that does not always exist at other athletic programs around the country.

In speaking with former Carolina players and men who played at other schools through the years, this quality is something that draws attention.

Some people outside this exemplary group go so far as to mock it or even to call it a "cult," but those people are usually jealous or lack an understanding of what came about here in this college town of Chapel Hill.

"He often knows what's going on with me before I do," former All-American Sam Perkins said of Smith, laughing.

And that is what separated Smith from so many other coaches. Lots of other people talk about being in coaching "for the kids" but fall short of the ideal, and short of Smith's performance.

As more than one player says in a video at the museum, a player's identification and association with Carolina basketball only just begins during his time at the school. Smith fostered this.

As for the museum, just as when other schools scrambled to build similar facilities to the Kenan Football Center when it opened in the 1990s, competitors will scramble to match this new phenomenon at UNC. The museum, which spreads through several rooms and many eras, is just too impressive not to match in some way.

Teenaged recruits will be awed by it. The competition will not be able to stand by and watch a recruiter the caliber of Williams secure another advantage without fighting back. Williams has already sent a chill through the game with the commitments he has gotten from players within the next three classes of school kids.

There will be universities that assemble a collection of trophies and video clips to honor their program, and in some cases, approximate Carolina's. However, what no one else in the country will be able to do will be to duplicate the genuine sense of family portrayed in this new monument to UNC basketball.

As far as that goes, it will be hard to match the accomplishments of Smith or Jordan. Carolina can claim both as its own.

Smith, who just last year was passed by Bobby Knight as the winningest coach in college basketball, remains the game's greatest innovator.

It might be changing defenses, offensive and defensive schematics, pointing to a teammate to say "thank you for the pass," or huddling at the free-throw line to ensure all five players understand what defense to play next; regardless, Smith's additions are now standard parts of the game that all take for granted.

Jordan has an exhibit to himself in the new facility, and he donated quite a few items from his collegiate, Olympic and professional career. The one sure to get the most attention is a letter from a coach named Mike Krzyzewski written in 1980.

It begins:

"Dear Mike, I'm sorry to hear that you no longer have an interest in learning more about Duke University."

To his credit, Krzyzewski goes on to wish Jordan well in his career, wherever that carries him.

That career, of course, will eventually lead to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Fittingly, however, it brought him home to Carolina first.