Unc Basketball

Luke Maye, Kennedy Meeks And The Endorsement That ‘meant Everything

... Coach asked me about Luke, and it was an automatic ‘Yes!’ You know a good player when you see one. Kennedy Meeks, on the endorsement he gave Luke Maye in 2013. Williams wasn’t at that playoff game. By that time, he had already signed Meeks to a scholarship and was involved in coaching the final weeks of the Tar Heels’ 2013 season. But Williams knew the game was happening. The coach called Meeks soon after it was over to say he was sorry Meeks wouldn’t be able to win another prep state championship to go with the one he earned in 2011. Then he asked about whether Meeks thought Luke Maye was the real deal. Mark Maye, Luke’s father and a former Tar Heels quarterback , has had conversations with Williams about what happened next. “Now Luke really loves Kennedy,” Mark Maye said. “Really looks ...

North Carolina Basketball Never Loses Transfers, In An Age When Every Team Does

... NBA draft after one season — since 2007, despite wooing several candidates. But the lack of freshmen stars has not prevented them from remaining at the top of college basketball, with a raft of highly rated recruits who become upperclassmen at Carolina, not someplace else. Only juniors and seniors comprise this season’s starting lineup. “Everybody falls in love with the campus,” junior Justin Jackson said. “Everybody falls in love with the program. It’s a family. Sometimes, it’s hard to leave a family, even when you know you could possibly go one-and-done.”. Mc Grath said players stay at Carolina despite adversity, mostly, for the simple reason that they are happy. Williams may be folksy and team-oriented, but he manages to relate to his players even as he nears the end of his 29 th season as a head coach, at age 66. “It’s so corny it’s ridiculous, but I tell them all the time that the teams that win, the players will get the awards and the rewards,” Williams said. “And I truly believe that. Today’s youngster is different than it was 10 years ago or ...

Unc Finds A Way To Avoid College Basketball Transfer Epidemic

... back in the Final Four, too, for a reason that's perhaps overlooked: Roster continuity. The Tar Heels have managed to avoid college basketball's epidemic of player transfers, and that has helped allow Roy Williams and his coaching staff the opportunity to build teams that have largely remained intact. Last year, according to ESPN's Jeff Goodman, more than 700 players transferred from one Division I school to another institution. Goodman said on Friday that approximately 250 players have already decided to transfer after this season, and that number will undoubtedly grow by the hundreds. UNC, meanwhile, hasn't had a player transfer since 2011, when Larry Drew II left the program in the middle of the season. The year before that, twins David and Travis Wear transferred from UNC to UCLA. Since 2011, though, UNC has not had a single player transfer. In an era of constant roster turnover in college basketball, UNC's lack of transfers has allowed for a rare kind of continuity that the vast majority of the nation’s 351 Division I teams are never able to experience, as they bid farewell to old players and welcome new ones. In recent weeks, several ACC ...

1 North Carolina Vs #2 Oregon

... outside-in style of play promises to clash wildly with the Tar Heels’ inside-out philosophy, which provides endless possibilities for this game. Tyler Dorsey has been the big name for the Ducks in the Tournament, having scored over 20 points in every tournament game so far at a ridiculous 58% clip from beyond the arc. This obviously isn’t sustainable over a long period of time, but both the beauty and the harshness of March is that it doesn’t have to be. Dorsey’s hot hand could last for just two more games and the Ducks could find themselves cutting down the nets. The Tar Heels, fortunately for them, have faced a similarly prolific shooter already this tournament in Kentucky’s Malik Monk , and were able to severely limit him until the final minute through dedicated defense that involved staying on him at all times, not helping on the drive as is standard Carolina strategy. Similar measures ...

C.b. Mcgrath To Take Unc Wilmington Head Coach Job

... Gottfried after six seasons without much hope in sight for the program. UNC Wilmington head coach Kevin Keatts was hire to fill the vacancy earlier this month. Now Mc Grath is shifting over to replace Keatts. In his time with UNC, Mc Grath has assisted in recruiting and scouting, while also providing bench coaching duties. He oversaw the team’s coaches clinic and the autographed basketball program, which supported local charities. Mc Grath was a big part of Carolina basketball, and he will certainly be missed. Not only will North Carolina be losing a strong coach, but they have lost one of their best recruiters. Mc Grath built himself a reputation as a strong recruiter after working with stars like Marcus Paige , Brice Johnson , Joel Berry, Kennedy Meeks , and Isaiah Hicks. He also helped to bring in guys like Luke Maye ...

Unc Tries To Adjust To Shooting In Cavernous Stadium, But Is It Really More Difficult

... that's a lot of space behind the goals,” said Jackson, who earlier in the NCAA tournament became UNC’s most prolific 3-point shooter in school history. “And at first it's hard to get used to.”. The Tar Heels have some experience with this sort of thing, at least. Jackson and others who were around last season remember what it was like to play inside of NRG Stadium in Houston, the site of the Final Four last year. University of Phoenix Stadium isn't much different, at least on the inside. The common perception is that it's more difficult to shoot in these large, spacious football stadiums because of, well, perception. Depth perception, to be precise. The belief is that all the space behind the basket alters a shooter's ability to measure his shot, to find the right amount of touch. Recent history, though, suggests that it might be a myth – the notion that it's more difficult to shoot from the perimeter inside of places like University of Phoenix Stadium. In the past five Final Fours – all of them held in large stadiums built to host ...

Justin Jackson Has The North Carolina Brotherhood On The Brink Of A Championship

... that evening more than two weeks later, Sharon and Lloyd are lounging in the dining room of their home just outside Overland Park, Kansas. A bundle of suitcases sit in the entryway, still unpacked from last week's trip to Memphis for the NCAA tournament's South Regional. With 24 points in a Sweet 16 win over Butler and 19 against Kentucky in the Elite Eight, Jackson propelled the Tar Heels into their second straight Final Four. In four NCAA tournament games, the 6'8" small forward is averaging 19.8 points while shooting 46.8 percent from the field. "That talk with my parents helped so much," Jackson says. "It changed everything.". Leaning on family members for support is nothing new for Jackson, who developed an especially close bond with his parents and three younger siblings while being homeschooled throughout most of his ...

Unc's Roy Williams References Phone Booths, Describes Generational Gap With Players

... not know what's going on. But I guess that's just kind of the different times.”. It was then when Kennedy Meeks, the senior forward, interjected. He has spent four years now around Williams, and has likely heard it all. Meeks' assessment: “He's not of our day and age.”. Williams broke out in laughter then. So did Jackson. So did UNC's other four starters on the dais. They were laughing, partly, because of Meeks' comedic timing, but also because what Meeks said is what Williams often tells his players: That he's from a different time. “That's an inside joke,” Williams said. “I tell them all the time, 'I am not of your generation,' and I like that. None of these guys have ever been in a phone booth.”. Unless they'd happened to walk into one in a museum. Or maybe somewhere in some old, forgotten corner of a city someplace. Williams was probably right, though: His guys had probably never been inside of a phone booth. Maybe they didn't know who Mr. Miyagi is, either. Then again, there's a lot Williams doesn't know about the things they talk about – especially when it comes to technology. “I don't know what the crap ...

One Year Later, The Legacy Of Marcus Paige’s Final Shot Lives On

... tied the national championship game at 74 with 4.7 seconds remaining. It sent souvenir seat cushions flying inside NRG Stadium in Houston. It sent however many tens of thousands of people running through their living rooms. And imagine, for a moment, what the legacy of that shot would be had it not come 4.7 seconds before the 3-pointer Jenkins made at the buzzer. Paige’s shot created a storm of seat cushions. Jenkins’ a downpour of confetti. Two of the greatest shots in NCAA tournament history, separated by 4.7 seconds and whatever the emotional distance is between losing and winning a national championship as time expires. Legacy of Paige’s shot. What is the legacy of it? How will it be remembered? How will the memory of that moment change in five years, or 10 or 20? Jenkins’ shot will live on the way game-winners do. Thirty-four years later, we’re still talking about Lorenzo Charles and ...