Category: Tar Heels in the pros

UNC Basketball: Dante Calabria inks high school head coaching job

Former UNC basketball wing Dante Calabria is returning to the high school league he starred in and taking over as head coach of Bethel Park.

Former UNC basketball wing [autotag]Dante Calabria[/autotag] is returning back to his home state for the next step in his professional career. On Wednesday, it was announced that Calabria would be the newest men’s basketball coach at Bethel Park in Pennsylvania.

Calabria returns back to the WPIAL basketball league where he starred for Blackhawk back in the early 1990’s and was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame in 2014.

Bethel Park moves on from Josh Bears who resigned after last season. Bethel Park went 16-7 overall last year and reached the first round of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs.

Calabria arrives at Bethel after a professional playing career that stretched 16 years overseas. He most recently was an assistant coach at Barry University in Miami (Fla.).

“His resume speaks for itself,” Bethel Park athletic director Dan Sloan said. “It’s exciting to be able to show our kids a guy who came from around this area and made it to where he made it, played at a big-time Division I college under legendary coaches, played professionally and then moved up through the coaching ranks.”

Calabria played for North Carolina from 1992-96 under Dean Smith. He was on the 1993 NCAA Championship team and was a Third-Team All-ACC player his senior season.

Following his time at UNC, he went on to eventually be an assistant for Larry Brown in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A and also an assistant for Rollie Massimino at Keiser University. He also spent time at powerhouse prep school Montverde Academy and UNC Wilmington.

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Reggie Bullock wins 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award

Former UNC guard and current Dallas Mavericks wing Reggie Bullock was awarded the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award.

Former UNC basketball wing [autotag]Reggie Bullock[/autotag] was named the winner of the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award, announced on Sunday.

Bullock is the second winner of the award after its inception in 2021. The winner of the award is given the option of which social justice organization to receive a $100,000 donation on their behalf.

The award is given to a player ‘for pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged.’

Bullock has been very active in the LGBTQ equity community over the past few years following the murder of his sister in 2014 who was an open transgender.

Bullock established an organization called RemarkaBull which is ‘a social enterprise providing revitalized spaces, housing and businesses developed based on the needs of the community. The Foundation portion focuses on LGBTQ support and the nonviolence movement.’

Jrue Holiday, Jaren Jackson Jr, Karl-Anthony Towns and Fred VanVleet were the other finalists for the award.

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Former UNC basketball great Rasheed Wallace receives great honor

Former UNC forward Rasheed Wallace is getting a street intersection names after him in his home city of Philadelphia.

Former UNC basketball great [autotag]Rasheed Wallace[/autotag] will be received a big honor later this summer in a place that means a great deal to him.

On June 24, the intersection of 18th street and Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia will be renamed ‘Rasheed Wallace Road’. Wallace great up in Philadelphia and attended Simon Gratz High School where he was named a two-time All-American, McDonalds All-American and USA Today High School Player of the Year as a senior in 1993.

Despite playing just 19 minutes per game his senior season, Wallace averaged 16 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks per game.

Here is a look at the announcement.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdekT_KDWpt/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=418d8276-23ef-4030-8da4-aa5e3f07f43c

Wallace played two seasons at North Carolina (1993-95) where he helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1993 Final Four. As a freshman, Wallace averaged 9.5 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game. During his sophomore year, he was named an All-American and First Team All-ACC player while averaging 16.6 points on 65.4 percent shooting and grabbing 8.2 rebounds per game. At the time, his shooting percentage was the second-highest mark in UNC basketball history.

Wallace was then selected No. 4 in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets. After one season in Washington he was traded to the Portland Trailblazers where he made his big splash to get his NBA career started.

In eight season with the Trailblazers, Wallace was a two-time All-Star while averaging 16.8 points and 7.0 rebonds per game.

He then was traded to the Detroit Pistons where he won an NBA Championship in 2004 while playing for fellow Tar Heel Larry Brown. The Pistons would also make it back to the NBA Finals in 2005 before falling in seven games to the San Antonio Spurs. He was a two-time All-Star with the Pistons as well.

After six seasons in Detroit, Wallace then played one season in 2009-10 for the Boston Celtics before retiring for two seasons. He then came back and played one final season in 2012-13 for the New York Knicks.

In 1109 career NBA games, Wallace averaged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

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“It taught me a lot”: Former Tar Heels running back Ty Chandler discusses transfer to UNC

Former UNC running back Ty Chandler discusses the lessons he learned in his career, including what he learned from the transfer portal.

The transfer portal has been a long and windy road for multiple prospects in multiple sports. Over the past two years, however, it has become the main recruiting area for most college coaches looking for impact players.

Look no further than former UNC football running back [autotag]Ty Chandler[/autotag]. The Tennessee running back transferred to North Carolina for the 2021 season and had a breakout year.

Chandler rushed for 1,092 yards with 13 touchdowns in his lone season at UNC and put himself in line for a selection in the 2022 NFL Draft.

And with hard work comes reward as he was taken in the fifth round by the Minnesota Vikings.

Chandler discussed his decision to transfer and the lessons he learned along the way with Vikings.com.

“It has taught me a lot,” Chandler said. “It has taught me the beauty of hard work and just speaking stuff into existence and watching stuff come to fruition. It has been a grind, it has been a process, but I feel like with every step I’ve just gotten better along the way and met great people along the way that are willing to help and continue to push me toward that success. So I’m grateful for everybody I’ve crossed paths with and everybody who has helped me benefit and gain success on the field. So it has truly been a blessing, making transitions and like I said meeting new people and getting a chance to play with new people and learn from other individuals.”

Prior to his lone season at UNC, Chandler had totaled just 2,046 yards in four seasons at Tennessee. He also had 13 combined touchdowns in his Tennessee career — the same total he had in his one season in Chapel Hill.

Chandler heads to the Vikings with the opportunity to learn after one of the best young running backs in the game, Dalvin Cook. There is also potential for early playing time due to the injury history Cook has seen in his early career.

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Former UNC basketball guard Danny Green suffers torn ACL

UNC basketball guard Danny Green suffered a torn ACL during the Philadelphia 76ers season-finale.

The Philadelphia 76ers saw their season come to a close on Thursday night but that wasn’t the only negative news to come from the game as former UNC guard [autotag]Danny Green[/autotag] left the game with a knee injury.

On Friday, it was announced that Green had torn his ACL. The injury came when 76ers center Joel Embiid drove under the basket on the baseline and slipped, falling into Green’s planted leg.

Green turns 35 in June and with a normal rehab process of nearly a year before getting back to feeling like yourself following an ACL injury, Green could go into free agency in 2023 without much time to prove himself.

Green averaged 5.9 points per game this season while shooting 38 percent from the three. He had 21 points in the 76ers Game 3 win.

The former Tar Heels guard is a three-time NBA champion (2014, 2019, 2020) and has career averages of 8.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He is also a 39.9 percent shooter from three during his career.

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Former UNC forward Garrison Brooks stands out at PIT

Former North Carolina forward Garrison Brooks made the All-Tournament Team at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament over the weekend.

Former UNC basketball forward [autotag]Garrison Brooks[/autotag] spent last weekend participating in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament — an event meant for selected players from the DI, DII, DIII, and NAIA levels to improve draft stock.

Each player must put in an application and 64 players are selected to compete.

Brooks, who spent four seasons at UNC and his final year at Mississippi State, was named to the All-Tournament Team following his performance in the event.

Brooks averaged 19 points on 60.5 percent (23/38) shooting from the field and 8.3 rebounds per game. His best game was his final, going for 25 points and nine rebounds.

The 6-foot-9 forward played in 133 games in his North Carolina career, averaging 9.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. His best season was his junior year, putting up 16.8 points per game and adding 8.5 rebounds to go along with it. He was an All-ACC performer as well as the Most Improved Player in the league that season.

After transferring to Mississippi State, where he used his Covid year of eligibility to play for his dad who was an assistant coach on staff, he averaged 10.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He also added to his game, shooting 34.2 percent from three on 2.2 attempts per game.

Brooks is currently not on any NBA Draft boards but will most likely find a spot in the G League, especially after his performance last weekend.

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Tar Heels in the Pros: Justin Jackson has huge night in season finale

Former UNC standout Justin Jackson had a huge night for the Texas Legends in the G League season finale on Saturday night.

Former North Carolina standout Justin Jackson had a huge night on Saturday for the Texas Legends of the NBA G League.

Jackson erupted for 39 points on 13-of-19 from the field and 6-of-8 from three. He added 10 rebounds and two assists in a 106-99 win over the Austin Spurs.

On the season, Jackson is averaging 22.6 points per game on 36.9 percent shooting from three and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Jackson has spent most of his 2021-22 season in the G League, playing just seven games with the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns.

The Texas Legends ended the regular season 27-21 and second in the Southwest Division. They will take on Birmingham Squadron in the first round of the G League playoffs on Tuesday.

The fifth-year pro has appeared in 255 games in his NBA career. The former No. 15 overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft played three seasons for North Carolina, averaging 13.8 points per game in 118 games.

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