For many years, it was the Tar Heels and the Seminoles battling for ACC supremacy and carrying the conference banner in the NCAA Tournament. So, as the deans of the conference’s coaches, Sagula and Poole — more often than not — would spearhead the discussions when the ACC coaches got together.
They talked about ways to beef up schedules to help RPIs. They talked about trying to recruit better and show that talented players didn’t have to land in the Big Ten or Pac 12 to be successful.
Lo and behold, 2021 seemed to be the realization of that goal. Pittsburgh and Louisville both advanced to the NCAA national semifinals and Georgia Tech lost to the Louisville in the NCAA regional final.
“We were both thrilled for it because that’s the vision we had,” Sagula said. “To see it come to fruition is extremely gratifying.”
There was just one problem. Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.
As Sagula and Poole chatted before their match, they also knew they weren’t playing for an ACC title.
“Unfortunately, the days when it was North Carolina and Florida State at the top haven’t happened for quite a while,” Sagula said. “The fact that he and I were playing for fifth and sixth says a lot about what has happened.
“I don’t know if we’re the measuring stick anymore. I think now with what Louisville and Pittsburgh have done the past couple of years, they have kind of raised the bar … I like the fact that people respect our program for our consistency over the years. But now, we’re in an era where people are like, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ ”
Lately, North Carolina hasn’t produced the kind of results it is accustomed to seeing. The Tar Heels went 21-9 (10-8 in the ACC) and sneaked into the NCAA Tournament last season — losing in the first round to Tennessee — and that was their first trip to the tourney after a four-year hiatus.
In that four-year stretch, North Carolina finished no higher than tied for third (2019) and as low as a tie for 14th (2018) in the ACC.
That followed a stretch when UNC went to seven NCAA tournaments in a row and eight in nine years.
“One of our biggest things for our class, we came in at a tough time,” said senior libero and co-captain Karenna Wurl. “It was after a ton of transfers, and they called us a rebuilding team when we came in. So our big thing through our four years was bettering the…
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