Tuesday News and Notes

Here are some random items for your Tuesday.

• The fame of the pick-up games at UNC has reached the Wall Street Journal. In case you were wondering, according to Kendall Marshall, Roy Williams knows about the games and supports them as long as no one gets injured. The article notes the UNC players will hang on the rim to avoid landing on someone and refrain from chasing loose balls. Of course the old saying “it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt” applies here or until there are so many people campus police have to start showing up for crowd control.
• Harrison Barnes was interviewed by the Tar Heel Sports Network about his NBA decision on Saturday after he tossed out the first pitch prior to the Heels’ first game versus Miami. Barnes discussed what he will be working on for next season(shooting, ball handling and creating for others in that order.) Barnes said he talked about the decision with his family and his teammates noting that had John Henson or Tyler Zeller left, it would have impacted his decision. It is his belief that all three needed to come back together to make a run at the national title.
• Daily Tar Heel sports editor Jonathan Jones has an outstanding piece on Deunta Williams as he recovers from a broken ankle and prepares for the NFL Draft. Williams adds a few more details to the public record about the NCAA violations which sidelined him for four games. He noted that on his trip to California to visit Omar Brown one of the things that tripped him up was Brown paying for drinks one night and Williams paying for drinks when they went out again. You know, what normal adults do when they go out with friends. Someone pays the bill because they have a credit card and you give them some cash or you pay for it on your card the next time you go out. Yes, I know how that might be abused by someone which is why the NCAA is so anal but in this case these were people doing what people do which the NCAA says is a violation worth 1/3 of a player’s season. Williams ankle appears to be ahead of schedule and he hopes to be 100% by June 1st.
• The NFL Draft starts on Thursday. Among the Tar Heels who could be taken are: Marvin Austin, Robert Quinn, Quan Sturdivant, Bruce Carter, Deunta Williams, Kendric Burney, T.J. Yates, Greg Little, Zach Pianalto and Johnny White. I would expect Austin and Quinn to come of the board in the first round with Austin possible falling to the second. The fact Yates is even being discussed is just another amazing step in his story. There has been some noise about White as well which would be nice for a guy no one was even thinking about before last season started.

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