Baddour's status uncertain (or is it?)
The Jamestown News reported today that UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour is going to be "reassigned". Later, the University made a public statement that he isn't being re-assigned.
Seems like the press is having a lot of fun at Carolina's expense lately (I'm also referring to the McCants incident).
InsideCarolina.com: Bynum Makes Decision
Turns out my gut was right about Bynum. He is announcing today that he chose UConn over UNC and Ga Tech. That sucks, but I suppose there is a chance he'll go straight to the NBA anyway. Big men like him are few and far between in the college basketball ranks these days.
Let's hope Ol Roy is able to pull another 2005 recruit out of his sleeve...
Andrew Bynum to announce decision on Wednesday
Andrew Bynum, the #1 center in the class of 2005, is set to make his decision on Wednesday. UNC, UConn and Ga Tech are in the running. Bynum attended Midnight Madness at UNC, but I think he is going to UConn. Why? Well he just got back from his Uconn visit and said it was the best one and he liked Coach Calhoun a lot. He seems eager to announce after his UConn visit.
Carolina needs a big man in the 2005 class and if they don't get Bynum, there aren't many top prospects left.
Truth About Duke - Debunking Duke
I stumbled upon a new site: Truth About Duke - Debunking Duke. Bookmarked! The guy who maintains the site is a Maryland fan, but I won't hold it against him. We both have a common nemesis. The Dook Vitale picture is priceless. Now all he needs is an RSS feed.
Article: Adam Lucas on Rashad McCants
Adam Lucas on Rashad McCants.
McCants Responds
The saga continues. It looks like McCants was misquoted to some degree. Yes he made certain references to jail (using a quote from his uncle) and referred to basketball as a job, but he never said "unc basketball is like jail". The job reference was more about how he takes basketball very seriously, as if it were a job.
McCants along with Roy held a press conference on Tuesday and InsideCarolina.com was nice enough to provide a partial transcript and the full audio. The short of it is, Roy was pissed as hell. The madest he's ever been at a player in fact. He didn't let McCants practice on Sunday because he was so mad. He talked about the damage this has done to the program and how he is sure all of his current recruits have received a fax about McCants' comments (from the competition supposedly). Then he listened to the interview. He said he didn't agree with McCants' use of the term jail and job, but he thought it was poor journalism to take two sentences from a 10 minute interview and portray it the way it was. He wasn't very happy with the media. They actually replayed the full interview for everyone at the press conference. The sound was pretty low and I couldn't hear most of it.
McCants spoke and said he is "nervous". Said he loves Carolina basketball and his comments were completely taken out of context. He did reiteriate that he does feel that playing basketball at UNC is a job and one that he takes very seriously. He said he knows how lucky he is.
My feelings on this is that McCants is a very complex character. And I wonder if he doesn't suffer from depression or some other psychological disorder. Sometimes he appears to be hot and other times cold. He has a nack for saying things that get him into trouble. From the outside it looks like he has a bad attitude at times. I think he is very intelligent, but doesn't always consider how his actions will reflect on him. Mixed in with all of that, he is one of the best shooters to be at Carolina in a long time.
McCants is back at practice now and apologized to his teammates. I think this will blowover, but I wouldn't be surprised to see fans from some of our rivials wearing orange jumpsuits this year.
Article: Grant Healthy, Fit and Excited
I mentioned in my midnight madness post that Damion Grant looked fit and was a blocking machine during the scrimmage. Here is an article that talks about how the junior center lost 22 pounds after a rigorous training regimen in the offseason. May said he'd love for Grant to step up and get more playing time so he can get a breather during games. I'd love it too.
ACC Unveils new Logo and Divisional Names
We are one step closer to the 12 team ACC with the unveiling of the new ACC logo and divisional names. In case you aren't up on your ACC expansion news, with Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College joining the ACC that makes a total of 12 teams in the ACC. And just like the Big 12 and SEC, we will have two divisions; one will be called Atlantic and the other (the one UNC is in) will be called Coastal. Here is how the divisions are split:
Atlantic:
Maryland
Clemson
NC State
Wake Forest
Boston College
Florida State
Coastal:
Virginia
Ga Tech
North Carolina
Duke
Virginia Tech
Miami
My initial impression is that UNC got the hardest conference for both football and (arguably) basketball. As far as basketball goes, you play the teams in your division twice and you play the teams in the other division once. That means only one game next year against Maryland, NC State and Wake.
CarolinaBlue.com - Outrageous skits highlight Late Night with Roy
Here are some more photos of Late Night with Roy courtesy of carolinablue.com.
Citizen-Times.com: McCants compares time at UNC to job, prison
Ohh McCants. The citizen-times.com has an article that quotes McCants comparing time at UNC to a job and to prison. Nothing is ever easy with McCants. To be honest, I didn't get a good feel from him during Midnight Madness. He doesn't seem to be that close with the other team members. But then again, I guess he never has been. The problem is that people like me want him to turn into an outgoing person that says the right things and gets along with everyone, but that is just not who he is. However, from my seat, he has a chip on his shoulder (for the third straight year). What McCants had to say about his USA Basketball experience just doesn't sit well either. He did it for Coach Williams??
Regardless, he isn't going to win points with fans by comparing the UNC Basketball program to prison. That will get him the fan base approximately the size of Joseph Forte. McCants needs to realize how lucky he is. And even though I'll miss his clutch shot, maybe we'll be lucky to be rid of him next year (I'd put money he won't stick around for his senior year).
Thanks Jon for pointing this article out (you are such a State fan).
Hendrix Makes Decision
InsideCarolina is reporting that prized recruit Richard Hendrix will announce on Tuesday that he is choosing Alabama over UNC. This totally sucks! We need another strong big man in next year's class. All attention has to focus on Andrew Bynum now.
Late Night with Roy Recap
Midnight Madness at Carolina was a blast once again this year. Not quite as many people turned out compared to last year, but all but the upper levels were packed. Stuart Scott of ESPN fame (former UNC alumnus) MC'd the event. Unlike last year, the UNC women's team wasn't part of the night. Most of the skits involved dancing acts ranging from modern day hip hop to Michael Jackson Thriller (Jackie Manual did the moonwalk) to a John Travolta disco special. The highlight of the night was Wes Miller's impersonation of Roy. It was dead-on with the outfit, hair, bowlegged walk, and jacket throwing. Roy said (jokingly) that he'd see Wes at practice on Saturday. They did many of the same skits as last year including a variation of American Idol called Carolina Idol. They had a NC State redneck, a Duke Nerd, and a UNC all-star. I'll let you guess who won.
When the clock struck midnight it was all about basketball. The team warmed up for a good 30 minutes by putting on a dunking exhibition. David Noel was awesome. I hate to make comparisons like this, but he glides through the air similar to Carter and Jordan. After the warm-ups, the guys split into blue and white teams. Surprisingly, McCants didn't start on either team. I read later that he's had a groin problem, which may have been the cause. He was icing his groin when he wasn't playing and had a noticable hobble as the game progressed. The MVP of the game had to be Jawad Williams. He made four three pointers. He was on fire. He started last year like this too, but got injured and went downhill from there. Let's hope he can keep it going this year. Felton looked good as usual. Fast and smooth, although he did get his pocket picked a couple of times. He has a different looking shot now--not so much of the awkward release he had before. He missed a couple of early shots and made a couple later on. Sean May did ok, but he missed a few around the basket and was noticably frustrated by the physical play. Damion Grant was a blocking machine! He blocked at least 2 or 3 shots. He didn't do much on offense, but it would be nice to see him get more playing time this year. He dropped a lot of weight and said he is in the best shape of his life. Wes Miller looked quick, but missed numerous shots from outside. I saw a quote from Noel earlier that said something to the effect that "Wes will be our shooter", so he may have had a bad night. Jackie Manual actually made a couple of shots from outside. He missed a couple early, but started to get on a role. He looked good. I didn't see much out of Melvin. Reshawn Terry looked much improved. He didn't look as lost on the court and made some very good plays. It will be nice to get quality minutes from him this year. Surprisingly, CJ Hooker, a senior walk-on, looked sharp on the court. He had a steal and made at least one shot. Now, for the two freshman. I have to say that I was impressed by both. Quentin looked very good. He was a little shaky early and made some freshman mistakes, but I think he'll be a great floor general some day. Marvin Williams is going to be a good one. He had a strong presence down low and wasn't afraid to mix it up with Sean May or Damion Grant. Let's hope he sticks around for a few years.
There were a few UNC recruits in the stands watching the event. Students led a chant of "We Want Bynum" before the skits started in reference to 7 foot senior center Andrew Bynum. Recent commits Danny Green, Bobby Frasor and Marcus Ginyard were also present. Here are some photos of the recruits.
Here are other reports about the event:
Heels Get It Started (includes photos and player quotes)
Katz blog from UNC's Madness
Lucas: Live from Late Night Recap
Hoops time for Heels
Media Day!
Thursday was the first Media Day of the basketball season. Fortunately for us, Insidecarolina.com took photos and recorded audio from the interviews including 30 minutes of the interview with Roy.
Roy Audio
Player Audio
Photo Gallery 1
Photo Gallery 2
In His Own Words: Rashad McCants
Finish this: Jackie is to defense what Rashad is to.....shooting. In the latest edition of Adam Lucas' In His Own Words series, Rashad talks about shooting the big shots.
Article: McCants Hopes to Change Perceptions
Lucas talks with McCants about the USA Basketball team tryouts and the perception issues he continues to deal with. My perception last year was that McCants wasn't a good team player at the beginning of the season, but did improve over the year. And with the way he shot, how can you not love the guy? He's one of the best pure shooters I've seen at Carolina, but he can't get down and start dragging when things don't go his way. My prediction of McCants in the NBA is that he'll be a selfish player and not terribly liked unless he becomes more humble.
All that said, he is my pre-season player of the year this year (NCAA and ACC :-)
Late Night with Roy is tomorrow
Late Night with Roy is tomorrow night and I'll be in attendance! I went last year and even though you have to arrive early and do a lot of sitting to get a good seat, nothing gets the carolina blue blood running in my veins more. Last year's highlight was Coach Williams dancing for about 15 seconds at center court. Doors open at 7:30pm, admission is free, and parking is $5.
I'll provide a full update this weekend.
In His Own Words: Melvin Scott
The senior guard takes an introspective look at growing up in Baltimore and coming to Chapel Hill. Continue at tarheelblue.com.
Article: Noel Motivated for Rebound from Frustrating Season
David Noel is looking forward to the upcoming season so he can guard smaller players and sink more shots. Get into David's head.
I'm a big David Noel fan and hope to see more of the Jordan/Carter/Stackhouse-esqe moves he had his freshman year.
In His Own Words: David Noel
David Noel doesn't think Coach Williams has seen the "real" David yet. I agree, last year was a bit of a disappointment and the injured thumb didn't help. He has great promise and I hope this year will be his breakout. Read more from David.
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