Could Roy Be Offering Stephenson?

Through a little birdy, I've been told that Brooklyn's Lance Stephenson(2009, #1 ranked Small Forward) will be attending the Clemson vs UNC game in Chapel Hill on February 10th.

While this alone is great news, and a bit of a surprise if you ask me, no one on the inside believes that's the end of the story. When word leaked out that fellow 09' UNC target Dominic Cheek, who was once considered a lock to commit to UNC, had announced that he would not be a Tar Heel, things began to look a little murkier.

Xavier Henry, Nolan Dennis, and Leslie McDonald have all been offered scholarships for a wing position. Everyone assumes that Henry will end up at Kansas, because of his bloodlines to the school, and apparently Duke(although I really hope he chooses UNC or elsewhere) is hot on the trail of McDonald. Dennis has also claimed that his list is no shorter than 8 schools at this time and has no plans to make a decision soon.

None of this is written in stone, obviously, but it all makes for some very interesting story lines. This has been an unbelievable recruiting season for Roy and nothing would surprise me at this point. However, it would make little sense at this point, if Roy was willing to accept a commitment from one of the aforementioned recruits, knowing that Stephenson was planning a visit in mid-February. Once again, nothings official, but all signs point to Roy offering Stephenson during the Clemson visit. And from what I'm hearing, many in the know believe Lance may commit on the spot.

Stayed tuned, because this could get good.

Post Game Thoughts: UNC vs Miami

UNC prevails 98-82.

While the Heels won by 16, the game never quite seem wrapped up. At the same time, I never felt like they would lose the game either. This, in a nutshell, describes the past few weeks for the Tar Heels.

While Tyler and Lawson played wonderfully, the rest of the boys seemed to be playing at a different speed. Although the box score shows that Marcus and Deon had decent games, neither seemed to ever get into the flow of the game. I will say, however, that Marcus had his hands full defensively with McClinton all night, and he certainly seemed up to the task.

Danny, Wayne, and Alex all had sub par games in my estimation. Both Danny and Wayne forced a lot of questionable shots and once again, the closeouts on 3-pointers were very hit-or-miss. It's becoming such a cliche statement, but at some point if we don't remedy this problem, we are gonna get exposed in some big games(aka Duke.)

Obviously, the effort tonight was much better than Saturday against Maryland, but I still think we are under achieving, at least considering our immense potential. Hansbrough and Lawson were absolutely beasts tonight, and I loved the energy and attitude both showed tonight. I still do not like how we seem to fall apart the minute Tyler or Ty come out of the game and really wish someone like Marcus or Wayne would step up and be a strong leader during those stretches. I'd also like to see Q get a little more burn, if no other reason then to lighten the load on Ty and give Q the chance to establish some confidence. We all know a game is coming soon when Ty picks up 2-3 quick fouls and Q will be forced into some tough minutes. I'd love him to have faith in himself once that time comes.

I do want to mention the Canes a bit. They impressed me quite a bit. They can really shoot the ball and I thought they seemed extremely well coached. Frank Haith is not a super fiery guy, but I like his demeanor(a heck of a lot more than some ACC coaches.) He has gotten the most out of these kids and they certainly seem like a NCAA Tournament team. McClinton(although Ginyard limited him tonight) and Hurdle seem like legit All-ACC players, and their post guys play very physically, without resorting to brute force like GT did. I applaud this team and really hope they finish in the top half of the ACC and make the NCAA tourney.

Now, I'm just curious what this eight game lay-off is gonna do to us? More on that tomorrow.

Previewing: UNC vs Miami

So after the horrible game that was Maryland on Saturday, we head down to Miami to play the surprisingly good Hurricanes. Let's just hope they come with some defensive intensity tonight.

Miami has some great shooter, so we really need to close out quickly tonight. They aren't as blessed with interior scorers as the Heels, but they hustle and go after loose balls.










If the Heels actually play some defense tonight and Tyler doesn't get tunnel vision, I think we can win on the road and build some confidence.