Well, tonight's the big night. Marvin goes to Atlanta at #2, Raymond and Sean to Charlotte with picks 5 and 13, respectively. Rashad right after at 14 to the T-Wolves.
I'm proud of our guys and look forward to following their professional careers.
As of right now (11:00 pm), Jawad Williams has not been drafted.

The Bobcats did themselves a huge favor both on the court and financially. Their selections of two Tar Heels will work wonders for their ticket and merchandising sales. Plus, grabbing the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 2004 worked out for them (Emeka Okafor was Rookie of the Year).

So you won't have to go far to see your Tar Heels. Raymond and Sean get an excellent opportunity to learn the pro game together on a young, improving team. I won't say they'll make the playoffs next year, but they're building a foundation.

I'll post links and more reaction tomorrow.

Why is Shavlik Randolph entering the NBA Draft? What is going on in Durham? What makes a 6'11 PF who averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds think he can be an NBA draft pick - as a junior?

We won't know the whole story for a long time, if ever. But there's more to it than the official story. We'd been told Shavlik wanted to take the opportunity to work out for teams, get some information and feedback, then know what he needed to work on during his senior year at Duke.

We'd been told just days ago (June 6)  that his intentions were to return to Duke.
Maybe they were. He told at least one reporter that he and K were on the same page.
But were they?

What do we know? Well, not much.
What do we think? Ah, now that's a different question.

I'm not just  making up the rumors of the Randolph family feuding with K. I'm not making up the rumor that Shav was promised he'd play the 3, only to be stuck at the 4, with his back to the basket. Those are things I've heard, and I'm sure you have, too.

So what was it? Did Randolph just get tired of Duke and K? Did K get tired of Randolph's slow development, and disappointing results?

Did Shav enter the draft because he wanted to, or did K not let him back after Randolph dared work out for some NBA teams to get feedback?

You want to know what I think? I think it's a little of everything.

Shavlik just wasn't going to be the superstar that the hype machine created. Not at Duke, anyway. Shavlik needed to play the 3 to play his best game. K needed him at the 4. So he played the 4. Mom and Dad Randolph are concerned with their son's development. After all, they've been told since the kid was a junior in high school that the NBA money is waiting. The Randolphs begin to get frustrated with K. And K doesn't care to have them over his shoulder. And Shav is stuck in the middle.

Did he even have mono? Maybe. Did K just get tired of dealing with Mom and Dad Randolph? Probably.

"I'm the best college coach around. No parent is going to tell me how to do my job. My life isn't about playing games." That could have been K's thought process. I don't know. He's said the last sentence at some point.

So Shav decides he's had a lackluster career, and can't name a Duke bigman that's stayed at the University for four years and turned out a great career in the NBA. So he takes the media on this 'getting some feedback' ride. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad have decided he isn't going back no matter what.

Do I think they were being dishonest? Maybe tactful.
Do I think K's ego wouldn't allow a kid who never had his blessing to try the draft camps back into Duke? I wouldn't put it past him.

Anyway, as I said five weeks ago, Shav seems like a kid that got caught in the middle of a tug of war. The hype maching gave him high hopes. K wanted what's best for the team. Mom and Dad want what's best for the kid's career, and maybe not his own emotions.

So he walks away. Blue Devil or not, he deserves a fresh start. Away from K, away from the Broughton High School hype factory. Away from floundering behind the new kid.

Channel 11 just said "the lure of big money has taken another player out of school early..." It wasn't that. It was the broken promises.

The Tar Heels got an in-state committment at tailback from Shaun Draughn of Tarboro, who looks like a good catch. Missed 3 games last year yet still had over 1000 yards and 'about 25' touchdowns. 
So who's in the backfield for 2005? With Ronnie hurt, it only gets harder. I believe it will look something like this:
1. Barrington Edwards (RS Soph)
2. Vince Wilson (Soph)
3. Richie Rich (Fresh)
4. James 'Cooter' Arnold (Fresh)
I think Antwain Carey (Soph) will be on the other side of the ball somewhere, though I may be wrong. So we're defnitely young in the backfield. It's going to be an interesting season...

Eric Montross continues to be committed to Carolina, 11 years after graduation. Wick Smith wrote a fantastic article on what Montross continues to do for the school. Check it out at Inside Carolina.

Well, I really went and did it this time. Just yesterday, I mentioned that not much was going on, and I didn't have much to talk about. So Ronnie McGill went and tore his pectoral muscle.

Great. The leading returning rusher will be out for four to five months. Ouch. Let's hope Barrington Edwards is as good as we're being told.
The next leading returner is Matt Baker. And after that, Vince Wilson with  7 carries for -3 yards.
Great. The ball's in your hands, B-town. Go get 'em.

So there's not a whole lot going on nowadays. Not a whole lot of news. Not a whole lot to read, recap and react to. Readership is down, but I expected that.

Right now I'm watching Game 3 of the NBA Finals, hoping Larry and Rasheed can get this thing together. It's interesting to think about the degrees of separation and how Carolina basketball permeates professional basketball. I bet you could connect any NBA player to a Carolina guy in less than two degrees. Either a) is an alum, b) has been coached by an alum, or c) has played with an alum. The next degree would be has played with someone who has played with or been coached by an alum. I haven't tried it, but I bet you could do it.

Russ Adams is mentioned in an article in the current ESPN the Magazine about young shortstops. Congrats to another Carolina guy.

The first student-athletes were recognized by the Carolina Leadership Academy in its first season.

Nine Tar Heels received the Carolina Leadership Academy's highest honor, the Three Dimensional Leader (3DL) Award. Winners of the 3DL Award for the 2004-05 school year were Darian Durant and Jason Brown (football), Emily Glunz and Julie Domina (rowing), Carey Fetting-Smith (field hockey), Alice Schmidt (cross country), Lindsey Stover and Gina Allen (women's lacrosse) and Katie Wright (volleyball).

The 3DL Award is determined by the ratings given to captains and team leaders by UNC coaches and teammates using the Team Leadership Evaluation, which measures a leader's ability to be an effective leader vocally and by example.

Congratulations to those folks.

Email me with tips. Thanks for readiong.

Terry Hunter has been dismissed from the North Carolina football team. Sad to see this happen, but it appears Coach Bunting and his assistants evaluated the situation and determined that this was the right move.
I have to give the coaches the benefit of the doubt on discipline issues. It's hard to determine the balance between a winning program and a clean program. Ideally, you wouldn't have to have one and not the other.
It's a shame that the winningest all-time football programs are the ones you tend to associate with NCAA infractions, recruiting violations, and discipline problems.
Ohio State. Tennessee. Florida State.
Like I said above, I've got to side with the coaches on this one. Not all publicity is good publicity.

For more updates on the football roster, check this article from Kinston.

Frank Dascenzo of the Durham Herald-Sun wrote a column yesterday on the uncertainty surrounding Carolina's football program, including  missing Darian Durant, the potential of Matt Baker, and the recent poor play of the defense.

It kills Bunting not to have a big-time defense in Chapel Hill. He earned a living as an Eagles linebacker and before that was a darn good one for UNC. But his defensive team had far too many mental breakdowns against Boston College in a 37-24 loss in Charlotte last December.

"To be a good defense, you cannot be making mental errors," Bunting said. "In 2001, we were No. 1 defensively in the ACC and No. 12 in the nation."

That was then. This is now, and the Heels are near the bottom in the nation in defense. They haven't held an opponent to single digits in 40 consecutive games and haven't registered a shutout since blasting Duke 38-0 in 1999.

He's right of course. There are questions. But the way I figure it, there are three ways to describe a football program in the preseason: certain of a bowl season, uncertainty, and certain to fail.

The Heels are in the middle. There are questions about offense and defense. The defense hasn't been great since 2001, and it would be nice to have some more experience returning. The offensive line will probably be better than last year (despite the loss of Jason Brown), but how good will the guy they're supposed to protect be? The backs and receivers are solid. If Ronnie is healthy and Barrington plays as advertised, there will be nothing to worry about in the backfield.

So the biggest questions really are at quarterback and in the secondary (I think the D-Line is showing some promise). Those questions will be answered September 10.

There are only two ways to go. I'm certain it won't take too long to find out which way our Heels will go.

Well I was going to let you know exactly who was where in preparation for this month's NBA Draft, but Adam Lucas beat me to it.
He gives a great update on who's been where, who's hurt, who's sick, and who's climbing up the charts.

Thanks Adam.

John Bunting gave his summer press conference yesterday. He confirmed that the schedule was rated as the toughest in the country, and gave some thoughts on life without Darian, Barrington Edwards, and spring football.

We had a great spring. Our players are doing a terrific job academically. We've had a good spring eligibility-wise, and we expect that to continue as we get into summer school.

Well those are two great things that won't win us game one. Of course academics are important, and eligibility is important. What about on the field?

Matt Baker and Chase Page and other players on both the offensive and defensive sides have really taken a major step forward in terms of leadership. This will be the largest number of seniors I've ever had on scholarship - 17. We had 14 my first year, 10 the following year, and then 13 the next two. We have 17 seniors on scholarship now and I'm real excited about their leadership.

That's good and expected. Chase Page has spent a whole year waiting to be the senior leader. Baker is going to the 'the guy,' so he needs to bring confidence to the huddle.

On Barrington Edwards:

I have never seen anything like what I saw last fall in terms of a player participating on the scout team. Everyday he was upbeat. Everyday was his game day, and that's the way that he took it. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays it was game day for him against our defense, and, frankly, at times he torched us.

This is great to hear. JB has been really touting Barrington and I hope he's not over-hyping him. He looked good in the spring game, but again, that was against our defense. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do against ACC foes. It is so important to have a good tandem of backs so we can always have fresh legs in the game.

An article from last week about the SOS.


And here's a good read on Matt Baker from the Winston-Salem Journal.

"It was more taking over the leadership role," Baker said. "I know the whole offense. Coach Tranquill is still around. Nothing has changed. It was more proving to the team that they can trust me and I can take over the quarterback position and lead them to some victories. I think I had a successful spring and accomplished that."

Hope so, Matt. There are a lot of skeptics in and out of Tar Heel nation. Me? I am as I am. Hopeful. Let's get after it.

Sean May thinks the Charlotte Bobcats should select at least one former Tar Heel. He's right. Their fanbase could be enhanced by the Carolina fans in-state that otherwise couldn't care less about professional basketball.

"I think it would be good for the franchise to have a Carolina basketball player here, especially someone the fans can relate to since they have seen them play the last few years," May said Monday. "What other great person can that be besides me?"

I think that last bit was sarcastic given the number of Tar Heels that could potentially be drafted.

(Charlotte Coach Bernie) Bickerstaff insists he's looking only for the best available players. But when pressed if having a local tie would give a player an edge, he relented.
"All things being equal, I would say 'Yes,' " Bickerstaff said. "That's the intelligent thing to do. But they would have to be equal."

Michael Jordan and Dean Smith will help select the USA Olympic basketball team as part of Jerry Colangelo's committee.

Jordan :  "I think what we need to do here is to get some of the basics taught back to kids, to where the emphasis is not so much on the highlight film. Yes, it's a part of it. We have some very good athletes. But if they're shooting 35% from the free throw line and can't make a three-pointer, a zone can really bother them. We can't compete, when (international) guys are very versatile. We have to re-evaluate our approach."

He's absolutely right. If you bothered to watch Olympic basketball last year, you know that too much highlight-style individual play was the downfall of the American team. That and the fact that no one but Allen Iverson a) wanted to play or b) cared. AI ought to be on that 2008 team, in my opinion. Who would you pick?