UNC’s Jae’Lyn Withers praised for facing media postgame after lane violation

Sports at both the professional and collegiate levels often see players declining to talk to media after an impactful mistake. But that’s not what happened with North Carolina Tar Heels’ forward Jae’Lyn Withers Friday night against Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. That came after Withers entered the key too early on a late Ven-Allen Lubin free throw that would have tied the game:

Withers’ error there took immediate and notable criticism, including from analyst Jim Boeheim on the ESPN postgame studio show:

After the game, though, Withers faced the media. And he had head coach Hubert Davis by his side offering support:

Aaron Beard of The Associated Press wrote up that scene:

To his credit, Williams — a graduate forward who had helped lead the Tar Heels’ final-month surge to revive their NCAA Tournament hopes — didn’t hide from reporters. He instead faced the questions about that painful moment. He spoke in a low voice, his coach standing at his side in a public show of support.

“I guess you could just say I kind of mistimed the shot,” Withers said. “I was trying to make sure I crashed hard to secure a rebound in case he did miss.”

…“The emotions (that) followed was just just the sense, I’d say mostly disbelief initially,” Withers said. “But following that, of course upset with the end result.”

His voice trailed off. That’s when his coach interjected.

“Guys,” Hubert Davis told reporters, “we’re not here without J-Wit.”

This was an unfortunate loss for UNC, with the Tar Heels coming quite close to beating the top-ranked Blue Devils and solidifying their place in the NCAA Tournament field. Instead, they’re in a place where ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said “I would not want to be North Carolina” postgame. (He had them as his first team out in a Saturday morning update.) But it led to a notable postgame moment thanks to Withers facing media questions about his error, and doing so with his coach’s support.