Quintet of defensive Heels dominate preseason ACC team

By Bud L. Ellis

The hopes for the University of North Carolina to improve on its 8-5 showing from last season rests with another strong showing from its defense.

That’s the expectation put in place thanks to a unit who finished sixth in the nation in total defense a year ago, and that expectation was upheld with the announcement of the Preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference team.

Defensive end Robert Quinn, defensive tackle Marvin Austin, linebacker Quan Sturdivant, cornerback Kendric Burney and safety Deunta Williams were named to the team. The five Tar Heels is the most of any school on the team. ( Read More…)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 9:43 pm by bud

Tags: Atlantic Coast Conference, Deunta Williams, Kendric Burney, LSU, Marvin Austin, North Carolina Tar Heels news, North Carolina Tar Heels schedule, North Carolina Tar Heels tickets, Quan Sturdivant, Robert Quinn

Henson looks to add muscle

North Carolina Tar Heels forward John Henson has been working hard to add muscle in the offseason.

The 6′ 10″ slender forward showed some glimpses of becoming one of the team’s top players last season.

However, Henson struggled at times as he was easily banged around in the low post by much stronger players. ( Read More…)

Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 7:05 am by steve

Tags: Tar Heels news, Tar Heels schedule, Tar Heels tickets

Wear twins to transfer from UNC

North Carolina players David and Travis Wear will transfer from the school and are expected to be released from their scholarships.

The Wear twins are from California and it is thought that the cross-country challenge of playing at UNC is one reason for the move.

The twins considered both UCLA and Arizona before deciding on UNC, so both schools are once again possibilities.

Both schools would likely welcome both with open arms considering the type of seasons they just had.

The McDonald’s High School All-Americans would not go into detail about why they are leaving but said they will be happy to be home.

Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 3:39 pm by steve

Tar Heels fall short of N.I.T. title

The North Carolina Tar Heels fell short in the N.I.T. championship game in a loss to the Dayton Flyers.

It certainly wasn’t the title the Tar Heels were after following their national championship run last year, but it’s where they ended up after a rough season.

Nonetheless, the experience of playing in a postseason tournament was great for all of the younger players.

Head coach Roy Williams said he was impressed that his kids still wanted to play when it came time for the N.I.T.

Williams had expressed frustration throughout the season about his team’s lack of passion.

Saturday, April 3, 2010 at 8:21 am by steve

Tar Heels headed for N.I.T.

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be playing postseason basketball, but not the kind they had hoped.

The Tar Heels will become one of the only teams to ever miss the NCAA tournament just one season after winning a national championship.

Some Heels fans held out hope that their team might be able to pull off four straight wins and take home the ACC championship.

Instead, the Tar Heels struggled in their first round game and came up short against Georgia Tech.

North Carolina gets a chance to continue the development of its young players in the N.I.T., but fans won’t be lining up for tickets to those games.

Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 9:59 am by steve

North Carolina falls to Florida State, 77-67

The North Carolina Tar Heels continued their downward spiral in a 77-67 loss to the Florida State Seminoles.

Will Graves was one of the few bright spots for the Tar Heels, finishing with 21 points and six rebounds.

The loss drops North Carolina into a tie for last place in the ACC with the North Carolina State Wolfpack, who they beat twice this year.

Snow was in the forecast for the area, but I don’t think that’s the reason for all of the empty seats at the Dean Dome.

It’s hard to support a team that not only isn’t any good, but also doesn’t seem to give maximum effort.

Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 12:30 pm by steve

North Carolina falls to Boston College, 71-67

The North Carolina Tar Heels continued their freefall with a 71-67 loss to the Boston College Eagles.

Deon Thompson led the Tar Heels with 17 points and 9 rebounds. He has become an even bigger focus with Ed Davis out with a wrist injury.

The only bit of good news for the Tar Heels is that they finally got forward Tyler Zeller back into the lineup.

The Tar Heels and head coach Roy Williams have to be really embarassed by such a poor season after winning a national championship.

They have a lot of youth, but there is way too much talent to be fighting to stay ahead of N.C. State for last place in the conference.

Friday, February 26, 2010 at 7:39 pm by steve

North Carolina embarassed by Georgia Tech, 68-51

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets made very quick work of the North Carolina Tar Heels in a 68-51 win.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak and completed a season sweep of the struggling Tar Heels.

You might as well enjoy such good news while you can because North Carolina won’t be down for long.

Derrick Favors finally shook off his recent scoring slump by pouring in 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.

The Yellow Jackets took a 20-point lead into halftime and were never threatened in the second half.

Friday, February 19, 2010 at 4:38 pm by steve

Davis out six weeks

North Carolina Tar Heels forward Ed Davis will miss the next six weeks with a broken bone in his left wrist.

Davis injured his wrist when he fell during the team’s loss to the Duke Blue Devils.

With the Tar Heels floundering, it’s highly unlikely that Davis would return to play this season.

It would require a quicker timetable for recovery as well as the Tar Heels making a deep run in either the NCAA tournament or N.I.T.

Davis missed time earlier in the season with an injury and has not been able to show his first-round NBA talent.

Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 5:47 pm by steve

North Carolina falls late to Duke, 64-54

The North Carolina Tar Heels made a strong push but didn’t have quite enough energy to take down the rival No. 7 Duke Blue Devils, 64-54.

The Tar Heels actually held a halftime lead and the two teams each took charge at different times in the second half before North Carolina faded down the stretch.

North Carolina’s penchant for taking bad shots really came back to bite them down the stretch, as they struggled to put the ball in the basket in the final minutes.

That’s one of the team’s biggest problems, as they throw up a couple of ridiculous shots and they go in, giving them false confidence to continue to play that way.

It has worked out at times in the past when the team was extremely talented, but this young bunch is nowhere close to championship groups of the past.

Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 1:15 pm by steve