"No," he said with a chuckle, "Roy Williams won't be here."
Beyond that, however, the president of the Robeson/Bladen County chapter of the University of North Carolina booster club doesn't know who will represent Tar Heels basketball Monday night in Lumberton.
"From the way it sounds," Nealy said, "we won't know who'll be here until they drive up."
UNC's booster organization, known as the Rams Club, will host three get-togethers around the state Monday - including its annual dinner in Lumberton, at United Methodist Church on Chestnut Street, beginning at 6:15 p.m.
"We've got commitments from four head coaches, and we understand we'll get someone from the basketball program, but we don't know who that will be," Nealy said.
All members of the Tar Heels' men's basketball coaching staff - including Williams, hired as head coach April 15 - are on the road recruiting.
"It sounds like we'll get whoever is closest, proximity-wise, on Monday night," Nealy said.
The coaches scheduled to attend are football's John Bunting, Dennis Craddock from track and field, swimming's Frank Comfort and wrestling's Bill Lam.
Lam retired as UNC's wrestling coach in March after guiding the Tar Heels to their 15th Atlantic Coast Conference championship. He had a record of 378-131-4, including a 136-35-1 mark in ACC matches, and following the 2002-03 season was named ACC coach of the year for the 10th time in his career.
Bunting has an 11-14 record in his two seasons leading the UNC football team, including a 3-9 mark in 2002.
Craddock, in his 19th season leading the Tar Heels' track and field teams, has guided the women's program to 25 of a possible 32 ACC titles - indoor and outdoor - since 1987. His men's teams have won six conference crowns in that span.
Comfort is entering his 26th season heading UNC's swimming teams. He's led the men's team to 10 ACC titles and the women to 15. He is the winningest coach in the 50-year history of ACC swimming, a distinction he has held since 1995.
For all the success presided over by Lam, Craddock and Comfort, Nealy is sure the hottest topic at Monday's dinner will center on the UNC men's basketball program.
"Something everybody's talking about is whether Phil Ford is going to be an assistant coach here or not," Nealy said.
Ford, who works for the fundraising arm of UNC's athletic department, probably will not be a coach with the Tar Heels this season, according to published reports.
North Carolina's all-time leading scorer with 2,290 points, Ford was a Tar Heels assistant coach under Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge after an eight-year NBA career with four teams.
But Ford wasn't retained by Matt Doherty, who brought along his staff from Notre Dame when he became Tar Heels coach in 2000.
Doherty was replaced as UNC's head coach by Roy Williams, who said intends to bring his entire University of Kansas staff of three assistant coaches and two administrative assistants with him, provided they wanted to come.
"Apparently one of Roy Williams' assistants at Kansas might stay at Kansas," Nealy said, referring to Ben Miller.
If Miller stays at Kansas, Williams has said he has options in mind as to who would fill out his staff, and Ford is among those options.
"That's something I believe all the boosters would want," Nealy said of Ford joining Williams on the Tar Heels' bench. "I don't think you could find one person, whether they're a Tar Heel fan or not, who has anything bad to say about Phil Ford.
"He's just a nice, personable, enthusiastic, intelligent - he's just a good all-'round fella."
Nealy said Dave Odom, the University of South Carolina's men's basketball coach, has expressed interest in hiring Ford as an assistant. Ernie Nestor, a South Carolina assistant for the past two seasons, was hired three weeks ago as the head coach at Elon University.
"I hope we get him," Nealy said of Ford. "He's a big, beloved part of the Carolina family."
Steve Beaudry can be reached at 739-4322, Ext. 118 or by e-mail at robsport@bellsouth.net.
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