Tag: North Carolina

CBS to broadcast Notre Dame-North Carolina men’s basketball game

A sign that the Irish are drawing interest.

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team is on the verge of something special. It won’t happen this year, but it likely will when the Irish’s top-ranked 2025 recruiting class comes in. Until then, there’s interest in where the Irish currently stand.

To that end, CBS Sports unveiled its regular-season schedule for its longstanding college basketball coverage, and the Irish will be part of it. Specifically, they will help tip off a tripleheader of games for CBS on Jan. 4 when they welcome North Carolina to Purcell Pavilion.

This will be the first time the Irish have played on CBS since they picked up a 64-63 road victory over Kentucky on Dec. 12, 2020. It didn’t broadcast any of the three games the Irish played during their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022.

The last time the network broadcast a game from South Bend was an 82-55 loss to Virginia on Jan. 26, 2019. The Cavaliers went on to win that year’s national championship:

Here’s hoping the Irish will rise to the occasion of getting national exposure on college basketball’s most prestigious broadcast coverage.

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On3 names Notre Dame’s Matt Allocco among top 20 ACC impact transfers

How do you expect him to contribute this season?

Unlike most other ACC teams, Notre Dame didn’t dip its toes very deep into the transfer portal this past offseason. In fact, the Irish joined North Carolina, Florida State and Pittsburgh as the only schools in the conference to add three or fewer players via the transfer portal. That fell below the conference average of 4.6 transfers a team.

But one of them figures to contribute mightily to the Irish this this upcoming season. On3’s Jamie Shaw has named [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] one of 20 impact transfers in the ACC for the 2024-25 season.

Allocco came over to the Irish from Princeton and is coming off career-high averages in both scoring (12.7) and assists (3.3). That netted him his second straight Second Team All-Ivy League honor, and he now will see how well his game translates in a power conference.

Shaw described Allocco this way:

“Matt Allocco is another connector for [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag]’s team. The 6-foot-4 senior is comfortable moving the ball or knocking down shots. He brings a winning pedigree (70-21 in college) and will provide a veteran presence beside [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag], someone who compliments his game and is able to take some pressure off his duties.”

Irish fans will be watch Allocco every step of the way. He’ll be crucial to any success this still-young team has.

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Notre Dame guard Markus Burton named to Preseason All-ACC First Team

He’s the player to watch on the Irish this season.

Although Notre Dame was rebuilding a season ago, [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was a clear bright spot. He led the Irish in averages for scoring (17.5), assists (4.3) and steals (1.9). Basically, he was the men’s equivalent of [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] and [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] put together.

All of that was enough for him to be named ACC Rookie of the Year as well as Third Team All-ACC. Now entering his sophomore season, a select media panel expects to produce highly once again.

Burton has been named to the Preseason All-ACC First Team, receiving 41 votes. He joins a group that includes Cooper Flagg of Duke, Hunter Sallis of Wake Forest, Nijel Pack of Miami and RJ Davis of North Carolina, the unanimous selection for Preseason ACC Player of the Year.

The same panel has picked the Irish to finish 10th out of 18 teams in the expanded ACC. It’s an indicator that the Irish still have some work to do to get back near the top of the conference. It should be a fun season though.

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Virginia Tech coach Megan Duffy talks Notre Dame at ACC Tipoff

We wish her reasonably well in her first ACC season.

[autotag]Megan Duffy[/autotag] knows all about Notre Dame. She played there for four years during its Big East days, making the all-conference first team twice and being named the conference’s most improved player once. She led the conference in free-throw percentage twice and steals and minutes once apiece.

After playing professionally for a few years, she turned to coaching. For the past five years, she coached Marquette and made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including last year when the Eagles got to play their lone tournament game at Purcell Pavilion.

Duffy now is beginning her first year at Virginia Tech. So when it was her turn to field questions at the annual ACC Tipoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, it was inevitable that she would be asked about the Irish. She was, and here was her answer to that question:

“This has been a dream to play and coach at the best and with the best every single day. My Notre Dame background back in the old Big East it was the depth of the conference, how competitive it was, and this is the same in the ACC.

We obviously understand this is the best conference in the country for all different reasons: the talent of the league, guard play, post play, and then some of the best coaches. I’ve always wanted that challenge.

Just to have it unfold as player and then you obviously build your resume as a coach. It’s special to be here at Virginia Tech and to hopefully be just a small piece of a bigger picture of women’s college basketball and continue to put a great product out there.”

Duffy won’t get to return to South Bend this season as the Hokies will be hosting the Irish on Jan. 30 in Blacksburg. Hopefully, when the time does come for her to come back to her roots, she’ll get a nice ovation from the Irish faithful. She’s earned it.

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State of North Carolina football in shambles

Sad football times in the state of North Carolina

North Carolina State and the University of North Carolina joined the Carolina Panthers on the awful side of football on Saturday.

The Wolfpack and and Tar Heels entered play a combined 5-1.

They left the field having been clobbered to the tune of 129-85 and 5-3. At the half, the combined scores were 98-28.

It is hard to understand how Clemson could put 59 points on NC State, given the Tigers are not the power they once were.

Don’t be fooled by the 35 the Wolfpack put up. Twenty-one came after they were down 59-14. NC State had three turnovers and allowed 523 yards of total offense. Dabo Swinney’s reserves took over for most of the final quarter.

However, North Carolina was home to James Madison of the Sun Belt Conference. The former FCS powerhouse Dukes put a whoopin’ on the Tar Heels, winning 70-50.

Alonsa Barnett III accounted for seven JMU touchdowns. He threw for five and ran for two Barnett had 388 passing yards and 99 rushing.

The teams combined for more than 1,200 yards of offense. North Carolina somehow outgained JMU. Much of UNC’s yardage came after the break when they were down by as much as 36.

James Madison led 53-21 at the half and reached 70 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. It was the most first-half points that a Power Four team, aka Power Five, allowed against a Group of Five opponent since 2012.

James Madison was paid $500,000 to come play in Chapel Hill. They left with a big check and a lot of respect.

Toss in the Carolina Panthers, who enter Week Three of the NFL season at 0-2 and having been roasted to the tune of 73-13 and you can see why the state of football in North Carolina is in disarray.

Minnesota football mistakenly lit off fireworks after a missed game-winning kick to North Carolina

Many teams are still working out the kinks both on and off the field.

It is still early in the college football season and many teams are still working out the kinks both on and off the field.

Never was that more apparent than when the Minnesota Gophers hosted the North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday night. Heading into the final seconds of the game, Minnesota kicker Dragan Kesich had an opportunity to secure a victory for his team.

Kesich, who missed a 27-yard field goal attempt earlier in the game, missed a 47-yard field goal and North Carolina was officially victorious. Despite that, though, the fireworks operator still set off the display for the home crowd.

This was a sitcom-worthy awkward series of events.

Hopefully for Minnesota fans, isn’t a preview of what is to come as the season progresses for the Gophers.

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Minnesota set off fireworks after missing game-winning field goal vs. North Carolina

In case you missed it last night, Minnesota set off fireworks after losing to North Carolina:

Friday is not a good day to be a Minnesota fan.

The Gophers dropped their 2024 season opener to North Carolina, 19-17, on Thursday night. They did so in heartbreaking fashion, missing a 47-yard game-winning field goal attempt as time expired.

Related: Ranking the biggest storylines entering Wisconsin’s Week 1 contest vs. Western Michigan

The loss is a disastrous start to a pivotal year for the P.J. Fleck era at Minnesota. The team went 5-7 during the 2023 regular season and showed signs of steep regression. The loss to North Carolina continues that trend, especially given the team’s nonexistent offense.

Transfer quarterback Max Brosmer was supposed to be a significant upgrade over 2023 starter Athan Kaliakmanis. His Gopher debut against the Tar Heels included a pedestrian 13 of 21 passing for 166 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. The Minnesota offense managed 244 total yards in the loss.

To add insult to injury, somebody at Huntington Bank Stadium thought the field goal was good. So they shot of celebratory fireworks:

This captures the current state of Fleck era at Minnesota. A lot of flashy, bright lights all around the stadium, yet another loss on the field.

Minnesota has games upcoming against No. 25 Iowa, No. 9 Michigan, No. 23 USC, Maryland, Rutgers, No. 8 Penn State and Wisconsin. It looks like Gopher fans are in for a long season.

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Thousands of dollars of football equipment stolen from North Carolina high school

A North Carolina high school had football equipment stolen from its fieldhouse.

A high school in North Carolina had thousands of dollars of football equipment stolen over the weekend.

The thefts at West Caldwell High School (Lenoir, North Carolina) took place on Sunday. The equipment stolen included nearly two dozen helmets that were taken from the football team’s fieldhouse.

The loss of the items stolen is estimated to be $12,000. The burglars appear to have broken into the fieldhouse to access the equipment.

The program’s head coach told Charlotte television station WSOC-9 that he is hoping the community will rally around and help the program in their time of need.

“Our community is going to step up and help. That’s what I told them. And I said we’re going to face it; we’re going to rise,” West Caldwell head coach Tony Pyland told Dave Flaherty of WSOC.

“Nothing that happened in the last few days takes away from what we’ve been doing since May.”

The police have been investigating the theft of the equipment and are looking for surveillance camera footage from locations near the school.

The West Caldwell coaching staff told WSOC that they will continue with their offseason workouts as scheduled, despite the loss of the helmets.

OKC Thunder sign North Carolina’s Cormac Ryan to Exhibit-10 deal

OKC Thunder sign North Carolina’s Cormac Ryan to Exhibit-10 deal.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed North Carolina’s Cormac Ryan to an Exhibit-10 deal. The 25-year-old went undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft.

Ryan spent five college seasons various stops from 2018-24. He spent his first campaign at Stanford before transferring to Notre Dame for three years. He then went to North Carolina for his final year last year.

In 36 games last season, Ryan averaged 11.5 points on 38.2% shooting, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He shot 35.4% from 3 on 5.9 attempts. At 6-foot-5, 195 pounds, he has decent size for a guard.

Ryan will likely get plenty of minutes to play in summer league, especially as the event draws to a near. If he impresses, expect him to be assigned to the G League’s OKC Blue roster for next season.

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Who Tennessee baseball will play next in College World Series

A look at who Tennessee baseball will play next in the College World Series.

Tennessee (57-12) awaits its next opponent in the College World Series. The Vols remain undefeated after wins against Florida State and North Carolina.

Tennessee will not play on Monday or Tuesday. The Vols are slated to play the winner of Tuesday’s elimination game between the Seminoles and Tar Heels.

First pitch for the Florida State-North Carolina game on Tuesday is scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT. ESPN will televise the matchup.

The Vols are the No. 1 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee advanced to the College World Series by defeating Evansville in the Knoxville Super Regional.

PHOTOS: Tennessee baseball defeats North Carolina in Omaha

Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports