[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 22, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4586-S4587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 110--CONGRATULATING THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA 
    TAR HEELS BASKETBALL TEAM FOR WINNING THE 2008-2009 NCAA MEN'S 
                        BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

  Mr. BURR (for himself and Mrs. Hagan) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 110

       Whereas on April 6, 2009, the University of North Carolina 
     defeated Michigan State University 89-72 to win the 2008-2009 
     National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's 
     basketball national championship;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina was the consensus 
     preseason number 1 basketball team in the Nation;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina Tar Heels were 
     saddled with a tremendous amount of pressure to get to the 
     NCAA Final Four and win the national championship in 2009;
       Whereas after the Tar Heels' 0-2 record to start the 
     Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season, the team 
     finished with a record of 13-3 and won 13 out of their last 
     14 games in conference;

[[Page S4587]]

       Whereas the Tar Heels were the 2008-2009 ACC regular season 
     conference champions;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough 
     became the ACC's all-time leading scorer;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough 
     and Ty Lawson were selected to the 2008-2009 All-Atlantic 
     Coast Conference (All-ACC) first team;
       Whereas Tyler Hansbrough became the first player in league 
     history to be unanimously selected 4 times to the All-ACC 
     first team;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina's Danny Green was 
     selected to the 2008-2009 All-ACC third team and the All-ACC 
     defensive team;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina's Ed Davis was 
     selected to the All-ACC rookie team;
       Whereas entering into the 2008-2009 NCAA College Basketball 
     Championship, President Barack Obama picked the Tar Heels to 
     win the championship title;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina beat each of 
     Radford University, Louisiana State University, Gonzaga 
     University, and the University of Oklahoma by 12 points or 
     more to win the South Division and reach the Final Four for 
     the second straight year;
       Whereas Ty Lawson was named the South Division most 
     valuable player;
       Whereas with their victory over the University of Oklahoma, 
     the Tar Heels became the first team in NCAA Tournament 
     history to reach 100 tournament wins;
       Whereas several media outlets, including ESPN and CBS, 
     reported that more than 60,000 fans in attendance at the 
     final tournament game would be cheering for Michigan State 
     University;
       Whereas the 55 points the University of North Carolina 
     scored in the first half of the championship game broke the 
     all-time first half scoring record for any team in the 
     history of the NCAA tournament;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina's Wayne Ellington 
     and Deon Thompson played exceptionally well in the first half 
     of the championship game to push the lead to 21 points;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina withstood Michigan 
     State University's late surge and pushed the lead back to 19 
     points with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game;
       Whereas the University of North Carolina's Wayne Ellington 
     was named the Final Four most valuable player;
       Whereas Ty Lawson's 8 steals set the record for the most 
     steals in a NCAA championship game;
       Whereas the 2008-2009 championship was the University of 
     North Carolina's fifth national championship in school 
     history;
       Whereas the 2008-2009 championship was Coach Roy Williams' 
     second national championship since taking over as head coach 
     of the University of North Carolina men's basketball team; 
     and
       Whereas with the victory over Michigan State University, 
     the University of North Carolina tied the University of 
     Kentucky for the all-time winningest program in NCAA Division 
     1 men's basketball history: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) congratulates the University of North Carolina for 
     winning the 2008-2009 National Collegiate Athletic 
     Association men's basketball national championship;
       (2) recognizes the achievement of the players, coaches, 
     students, and staff of the University of North Carolina whose 
     perseverance and dedication to excellence helped propel the 
     men's basketball team to win the championship; and
       (3) respectfully requests the Secretary of the Senate to 
     transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to--
       (A) the chancellor of the University of North Carolina, H. 
     Holden Thorp;
       (B) the athletic director of the University of North 
     Carolina, Dick Baddour; and
       (C) the head coach of the University of North Carolina 
     men's basketball team, Roy Williams.

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