Tar Heel born, bred, and working on that third thing
That sound you hear is the door slamming on the Tommy Lloyd to UNC rumors. After weeks of playing coy, Lloyd made it official today saying he is staying at Arizona for less money (North Carolina apparently offered a top-two coaching contract) while also gaining more control. One of the sticking points for Lloyd appeared […]
We are a few days away from the NCAA Transfer Portal opening in basketball, and while all the attention has been on the men’s basketball team because of the vacancy in the head coaching position, the women’s basketball team will also have its own portal moves to deal with. Over the last couple of days, […]
Events in North Carolina basketball world have obviously taken a turn over the last week or so, with the school letting go of Hubert Davis and beginning the search for a new basketball coach. However while a lot of the thoughts surrounding the men’s program are looking forward to what’s ahead, we still have some […]
Two weeks ago, Duke and NC State fans were getting a lot of enjoyment out of Carolina’s collapse against VCU. Now it’s our turn for schadenfreude. In a span of four days last week, we got to see NC State lose a head coach and Duke lose a tournament game, both in a much messier […]
There isn’t really an off weekend in ACC Baseball. Take the upcoming series, for example — you’d think that after pulling off the series sweep over then-#23 Notre Dame last weekend, the Tar Heels might be able to take a breath with Boston College coming to town this weekend. Then you look at the standings, […]
Our class grades continue with the junior class. The junior class was the biggest group for the Tar Heels at six — one more than the sophomore class, and one more than the freshman and senior class combined. On the whole, it was a bit of a mixed bag and consisted almost entirely of transfer […]
UNC supports 28 varsity sports. In this decade, women’s soccer, field hockey, women’s lacrosse, and both men’s and women’s tennis have added to the University of National Champions’ accomplished list of title winners. Dean Smith, when asked about UNC being a basketball school, once famously said that UNC was in fact a women’s soccer school. […]
Part One discusses the crucial differences between the NBA and the college game. One’s built on a foundation of assets and tactics. The other’s built on a foundation of relationships. All those matter in both, but not in the same proportions. In college, checking the off-court boxes matters more than being an elite tactician. Let’s […]
As we continue our look through the classes, today we bring up the sophomore class. Now, unlike the freshmen yesterday, the sophomore class was pretty disappointing considering that it was mostly transfers. Jonathan Powell Powell easily had the best season amongst the sophomore class. Often finding himself in Coach Davis’s top seven, Powell was often […]
Much of our collective focus as North Carolina fans in recent days has been around men’s basketball, as they officially moved on from Hubert Davis and have begun the search for a new head coach. However, there have been plenty of other things happening if you wanted to take your focus off that. One of […]
With the season now at an end, it is time for that all-time fun job of grading the classes. First up is the freshman class. Caleb Wilson When it comes to freshmen, sometimes you get nothing, sometimes you get something, and sometimes you get Caleb Wilson. Wilson was a once in a lifetime player for […]
We are in a quiet period of the head catching search for Carolina Basketball. A lot of that silence has to do with two of the top candidates still being in the NCAA Tournament, and another part of that has to do with one of the candidates still finishing out the NBA season. The name […]
We all grew up thinking of college athletes as amateurs, with the best programs landing the amateurs most likely to go pro. It’s been a rough and rapid change to this new world of paying players. Today, many basketball players will make far, far more money playing college ball than they ever will make playing […]
Let’s start with this: Billy Donovan is a very good basketball coach. He’s currently a head coach in the NBA, and only 30 of those spots exist. Donovan’s been seated at that exclusive table for over a decade. Prior to that, he won back-back-titles at Florida, in addition to reaching four Final Fours and three […]
Before UNC blew a 19 point lead against VCU and battle lines were drawn between those who wanted Hubert Davis to be fired and those who didn’t, the biggest issue dividing Carolina Basketball internally and externally was what to do about the Smith Center. The administration has pushed hard for building a new arena at […]
Well, Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May both had pretty good weekends. Lloyd’s team blew out Arkansas and then figured out Purdue at halftime to run away with that game. May’s team figured out Alabama at halftime to run away with their Sweet 16 matchup and then blew out Tennessee in the Elite Eight. Three dominant […]
Since spring sports got underway in February, we at Tar Heel Blog have offered regular updates on the Carolina baseball team, but we haven’t yet checked in with UNC’s other diamond squad. Carolina softball sits at 24-9 and 5-7 in ACC play with conference series against NC State (April 2-4), Duke (April 10-12), Florida State […]
I don’t think I’m exactly breaking any news here, but that was one of the worst endings to a UNC basketball season I can remember in my decades of fandom. The feeling that things were slipping away for this version of the Heels slowly snowballed into a crescendo of bad mistakes, missed free throws, and […]
UNC’s coaching search at this time focuses heavily on coaches still coaching. Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May top that list. While TJ Otzelberger and Ben McCollum have strongly indicated they’d rather remain in Children of the Corn country, Nick Saban once said these words to an entire room of reporters: “You’re going to make me […]
Per his Instagram account, UNC forward Caleb Wilson has declared for the NBA Draft. His announcement arrives just less than a week after former head coach Hubert Davis was relieved of his duties. Wilson had one of the most incredible individual seasons that we’v seen in a long time at UNC. He finished his season […]
To beat a team when you are a 29.5 point underdog, you need to do everything right. Shots have to go in, the defense has to be on point, your opponent needs to make a ton of mistakes, you need to hold onto the ball, and you need to rebound missed shots. The defense wasn’t […]
In the spring of 1953, America was moving on from a lot of things. The end of World War II wasn’t even a decade in the rear view mirror, the Korean War was still going on and wasn’t officially ended until that summer, and the country had just sworn in Dwight Eisenhower as President. Brown […]
While we’re sitting over here focusing on what’s going on over at the Smith Center with the men’s team, the UNC women’s basketball team had an amazing weekend in Chapel Hill. They hosted an NCAA Tournament pod for the second year in a row, and showed that they earned the fourth seed that many questioned […]
What constitutes a bench player? Obviously, it isn’t someone who started all season, so that quickly eliminates Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar, and Seth Trimble. What about guys like Jarin Stevenson and Luka Bogavac? They did start most of the season, but they also came off the bench at varying points as well. Do they count […]
Today is the day: the North Carolina Tar Heels will face off against the UConn Huskies in the Sweet Sixteen. For Carolina fans, this is a huge game that could have huge implications on the program if they were to win, but fans are well aware that the chances of pulling this off are really […]