One Fantastic Ride: An Interview with Adam Lucas

It’s a big night for sports fans in Chapel Hill–the Tar Heel basketball team, rebuilding after winning their fifth NCAA championship last year, is hosting that other blue team in the state: Duke, owners of a paltry three national championships. Historically, the Heels have a 130-97 lead in the series and have won the previous three meetings, but the eighth-ranked Blue Devils are favored over the unranked Tar Heels in tonight’s game.

Yesterday, UNC Press’ Mark Simpson-Vos sat down to interview Adam Lucas, Tar Heel sports expert and co-author of One Fantastic Ride: The Inside Story of Carolina Basketball’s 2009 Championship Season. Besides the coaching staff, no one spent more time around last year’s Tar Heel team than Lucas. Click here to listen to his thoughts on:

• Is the 2009 team the best in UNC history?
• His favorite Tyler Hansbrough stories
• The writing process for One Fantastic Ride
• How much UNC shooting guard Wayne Ellington liked the book
• And much more

If you listen to the entire interview, you’ll learn that UNC Press and Adam Lucas are teaming up again to bring you a book on UNC basketball. Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence is scheduled to be in stores in October of 2010, and will feature the greatest stories from the history of Tar Heels basketball, as well as personal accounts from the most famous names in the program. Preorder your copy today!

–Matt