Felton making impression as rookie with Charlotte Bobcats
It was messed up that Felton wasn't part of the Rookie game at the All-Star break. And with the way he came on at the end of the season, it seems down right "ludicrous". “That was ludicrous that he wasn’t in that game,” Bickerstaff said of his star rookie point guard. “If you see Raymond play, there’s no way he shouldn’t have been on that team.” Continue...
Harvard-Westlake Stepheson rules the paint
Here is a good article from SI on incoming UNC freshmen Alex Stepheson: "Rebounding is an art form practiced by many players but perfected by only a select few. When it comes to snaring boards on the high school level, however, Harvard-Westlake senior Alex Stepheson is a modern-day Picasso."
Adam Lucas on the annual basketball banquet
"This year's Carolina basketball banquet was different. Not because there was no food--a very positive change made by Roy Williams last year that trims about an hour off the evening--making it one of the rare banquets you'll ever find without a piece of baked chicken. But because there was no tension." Continue...
Noel, Tar Heels face future challenges
It looks like David Noel will continue to make a run at the NBA, but he hasn't counted out football either. Check out the heraldsun.com's article on Noel.
UNC’s Miller returns to walk-on
I wondered how Coach Williams was going to pull off having so many scholarship players and now we know. "The numbers? The Tar Heels have six incoming scholarship freshmen, including Dudley High's William Graves. Counting Miller, they have eight returning. The NCAA limit is 13."
2006 North Carolina Recruiting Yearbook
I stumbled upon HoopTV today. They have exclusive footage of the three UNC recruits at the Sunday practice before the McDonald's All American game. And if you are a diehard UNC fan like me, then the 2006 North Carolina Recruiting Yearbook is of interest as well.
Preseason Top 25: All about Heels and Gators
Gregg Doyel from CBS SportsLine.com puts UNC first in his Preseason Top 25. Next year Coach Williams is going to have the opposite situation from what he had this year. This year the expectations were low and we achieved a lot. Next year the expectations will be huge.
ESPN.com 2006-07 April Top 25
Andy Katz gives a rundown of his top 25 for next season. He has UNC ranked third: 3. North Carolina (23-8)  The easy pick is to put the Tar Heels at No. 1, but UNC still will be relying on national freshman of the year Tyler Hansbrough to carry a heavy load inside. The expectation is that the super freshman class, with Tywan Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Brandan Wright, will come in immediately and star. They might, but we'd like to see a bit more before we anoint the underclass-dominated Tar Heels as the favorites.
2006 McDonald's All-American Game
Like last year, UNC had three incoming freshman that played in the 2006 McDonald's All-American game. Last year it was Hansbrough, Frasor, and Green. This year it was Tywon Lawson, Brandan Wright, and Wayne Ellington. I'd had seen Lawson and Ellington play in a nationally televised game this year, but I hadn't seen Wright play before. None of the Tar Heel recruits stood out from the other players, but they had solid games. Lawson is fast, Ellington is silky smooth, and Wright is long. One interesting thing about Wright is that he has a very unusual release, kind of like former Chicago Bull's center Bill Cartwright. Instead of shooting at the pinacle of his jump shot, he releases on the way up. It will be interesting to see if the UNC coaches try to modify his shot or let him keep it. I was impressed by a couple other ACC recruits. Wayne Ellington's high school teammate and future Duke player, Gerald Henderson, looked VERY good. He can jump, shoot, and run the floor as good as anyone. He won the slam-dunk contest. It is clear that I'm going to hate him ;-) Georgia Tech recruits Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton also looked good. Ga Tech is definitely reloading for next year. Greg Oden, the national high school player of the year, is only 18 but looks like 35. At 7'1" he is a monster down low. He is going to Ohio State along with several other top prospects. They are going to be a top 3 team going into next year. I'm sure UNC will also be top 5 and some people are already talking about them being preseason number one. I'm going to write later about how I think it might not be all roses for us next year. McDonald's All-American Game Box Score
Jawad Williams signs with the Fayetteville Patriots
Here is a good article that discusses what Jawad Williams has been doing since not being selected in last year's NBA draft.
Rivals join for national recognition ceremony
Coach Williams and JJ Redick took part in a ceremony to honor them as AP Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, repsectively. I like this quote the best: "Coach Williams did a great job this season at North Carolina, but you did ruin my senior night," Redick said, referring to a loss to the Heels in his final home game. Continue at newsobserver.com
Noel Wins Dunk Contest
I just got back in town and was able to watch the College Slam Dunk Contest David Noel was in. Despite being up against some amazing dunkers, Noel pulled out the win! Maybe this will improve his professional basketball profile. Noel had an awesome windmill dunk along with a cartwheel, back flip, dunk combination. Continue at InsideCarolina.com
Roy Williams Named AP Coach of the Year
"University of North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams is the 2006 Associated Press Coach of the Year, the AP announced at a ceremony in Indianapolis this morning." Continue at InsideCarolina.com
Herb Sendek leaving NCSU
I just heard on CBS that Herb is leaving NCSU for Arizona State. Reportedly he is frustrated with all the criticism he's received. I thought NCSU had a really good year. They did much better than expected, but they did falter at the end.
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