Tag: UNC Tar Heels

Armando Bacot named this coach as attractive candidate with Hubert Davis

Armando Bacot named this coach a potential and attractive candidate if Hubert Davis didn’t get the job.

The end of the Roy Williams era in Chapel Hill had every UNC basketball fan trembling at what the future was going to hold for the blue blood. The man who eventually won the job, and rightfully so, was Williams’ assistant coach, Hubert Davis.

Davis had been with the Tar Heels since 2012 as an assistant coach under Williams. During that tenure, he won the 2017 NCAA Tournament and made it to two Final Fours in nine years.

Armando Bacot, a former center for UNC, was a junior when the switch was made and became one of Davis’s captains alongside R.J. Davis. That season North Carolina went on to lose in the National Championship game.

However, Bacot recently came out in an interview dropping another coach’s name as a potential and attractive candidate for the UNC job if Davis didn’t win, and that coach was Wes Miller. Here is what he told Inside Carolina:

 “Wes Miller was an attractive candidate. It was probably a little too early for him to go from head coach of UNCG to Carolina. For us, it was either Coach Davis or Coach Miller. That’s what made the most sense. It got crazy, too. People said maybe Brad Stevens. There were some crazy names thrown out there. Carolina is probably the best coaching job in college basketball. Carolina or Kansas, one of the two. Carolina keeps it in-house, so it had to be [Davis or Miller].”

Miller, at the time, was the head coach of UNC Greensboro and had been since 2011 getting promoted after spending a season there as an assistant coach.

Miller was a two-time SoCon Coach of the Year and tournament winner losing both of his NCAA Tournament games. After Davis was selected as the next coach, Miller eventually went on to take the head coaching job at Cincinnati.

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UNC football star earns ESPN preseason All-American honors

In addition to SN, Hampton has also earned preseason first-team All-American honors with ESPN.

After a breakout season last year for UNC football with Drake Maye and company, Hampton is poised to be one of the best running backs in the nation this season. It has earned him a spot on numerous award watch lists as well as SN and ESPN preseason first-team All-American honors.

Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II was the other first-team All-American listed alongside Hampton. Tahj Brooks from Texas Tech and Quinshon Judkins from Ohio State were the two second-team members.

In his sophomore year last year, Hampton ran 253 times for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns including 29 receptions for 222 yards and another score.

According to ESPN’s Chris Low, “He led all FBS players with 1,072 yards after contact. Not only did Hampton average 5.9 yards per rush, but he also had five runs of 50 yards or longer.”

Hampton will look to not only be the lead back for the Tar Heels this year but the overall leader of the offensive side of the ball. It is not out of the question for Hampton to surpass those breakout numbers he had last season.

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CBS Sports predicts Tar Heels basketball starting lineup for 2024-25

CBS Sports sees these five guys getting the starting nod from Hubert Davis this season.

Hubert Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels will enter this season with a National Championship on their minds and in their sights. CBS Sports predicts that RJ Davis will go back-to-back on ACC Player of the Year awards. Is his presence alone enough to bolster this roster to a championship?

Jon Rothstein from CBS Sports has UNC as his No. 1 team coming out of the ACC followed by Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, and Miami rounding out the conference’s top five according to the analyst.

Rothstein projects the following as North Carolina’s starting lineup this year:

Guard: Elliot Cadeau

Guard: RJ Davis

Guard: Ian Jackson

Forward: Jae’Lyn Withers

Forward: Ven-Allen Lubin

Cadeau and Davis are the only two players staying in the starting five from last year. Jackson is a freshman and the No. 8 overall player in the Class of 2024. Withers served as a role player off the bench last season after transferring from Louisville the offseason prior, and Lubin transferred in from Vanderbilt this offseason.

Don’t forget that depth will be on Hubert Davis’ side as well with the No. 11 overall player in the 2024 class, Drake Powell, coming off the bench. The star power and young talent of this team could be the perfect championship mix.

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Two UNC freshmen get leadership opportunity at Lillard’s camp

Two UNC freshmen will get the opportunity to compete again and lead some of the nation’s top high school players this week.

Beginning today, James Brown and Ian Jackson will get an opportunity to be college counselors in Damian Lillard’s Formula Zero Elite Camp. The two UNC freshmen will look to use this opportunity and bring heightened skills back to Chapel Hill both on the court and in their leadership capabilities.

According to Lillard’s website, the camp’s purpose is to take the top 20 high school players in the nation and pair them with the top 20 college counselors in the country.

They will compete with and against each other for the next three days in Phoenix, Arizona.

Lillard also said, “The Formula is not fake or superficial, It is a catalyst for real change.” That is what Tar Heel fans should want to hear about two potential big-impact freshmen.

The opportunity to mentor and lead the next generation of young basketball stars should translate back to their leadership with their peers on the court this season.

Some other notable names joining them as counselors will be Kansas’ AJ Storr, Florida State‘s Jamir Watkins, and Kentucky’s Koby Brea.

There will be several influential high school stars there including Jasper Johnson, a player that UNC has been linked to and highly recruiting in the past couple of weeks among others.

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Could Dyami Brown win a starting role with Washington?

Dyami Brown is off to a fast preseason start, could that spell good news for his role on the team this season?

Former North Carolina Tar Heel receiver Dyami Brown has been a standout at training camp and has doubled down in preseason. Brown spent 2018-2020 with UNC totaling 2,306 yards and 21 touchdowns throughout the three seasons.

Brown was selected in the 2021 NFL Draft with the 82nd overall pick in the third round by the Washington Commanders. Since then, he has taken a back seat to other receivers and bad quarterbacks.

In three years in the nation’s capital, Brown has just 476 yards on 29 receptions and 62 targets in 47 appearances with three touchdowns. Patiently waiting, Brown and the Commanders now have the quarterback of their future.

In the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, they drafted LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels who Brown has already shown that he has early connections.

In their first preseason game together, Daniels called an audible and hit Brown for a 42-yard pass that was the highlight of the game. Overall, Ben Sinnott ended up passing him with 57 receiving yards to his 55 yards, but he almost led the team in receiving.

It is now widely anticipated that Brown will not only make the roster again, but he could rise as high as the No. 2 receiver on the team going into the season second only to Terry McLaurin.

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Kentucky trending as leader for UNC Basketball recruiting target

Five-star center, Malachi Moreno, was dubbed with new crystal ball predictions on 247sports.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are watching another four-star recruit that they were “warm” with on 247sports fall out of their grasp. Great Crossing’s Malachi Moreno is the No. 26 ranked player on their composite rankings.

He also is the No. 2 ranked center in the Class of 2025 and the best player coming out of Indiana in the class native to Georgetown, Indiana.

Currently, North Carolina has just four-star James Brown on the roster heading into that season at the center position and no committed center recruits in the class.

Moreno is set to “warm” with seven other programs on 247sports, but there is only one other blue blood on the list. Kentucky is currently the school selected by the crystal ball with a 100% chance of landing Moreno in the coming months.

Moreno is set to visit with all six of the eight “warm” programs in the next two months. He will be in Chapel Hill on September 13th and round out his tour visits with Kentucky on October 11th.

The crystal ball is not a hard commitment so there is still an opportunity for UNC to come back with a great visit. The Tar Heels could use a rim-protecting center like Moreno.

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Mack Brown hints on the possibility of a two-QB rotation for UNC

Could we possibly see two quarterbacks share the starting role entering the 2024 season?

It is no secret that the North Carolina Tar Heels are in a heated battle for the starting quarterback role heading into 2024. Conner Harrell is the only QB from the 2023 roster while Mack Brown also brought in Jacolby Criswell and Max Johnson as graduate transfers as well.

So far this offseason, we have seen reports on just about each of them looking better than the other at some point in time. However, Mack Brown has still yet to decide who will start under center heading into their Week 1 game against Minnesota in just under three weeks.

Something unheard of yet is the idea the Brown could start two quarterbacks in a rotation or at the same time this year.

According to an interview that Brown did he is doubling down on the fact that Harrell and Johnson are “competing at the highest level.”

When asked about starting two quarterbacks, Brown didn’t have an immediate answer, but he did express that it’s not likely.

We have in the past. We will not if somebody separates, but if we’re not really sure which will be the best, we’ll play both. I don’t know what that means yet. You don’t get to that point until you get about 10 days out.

The idea is not unheard of and has been successful for the right programs, but let’s just hope that one of these two quarterbacks passes the other.

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Omarion Hampton listed in preseason 2025 NFL Draft Top 50

UNC star runningback listed in preseason “2025 NFL Draft Top 50”

The North Carolina Tar Heels‘ offense is set to be led by superstar running back Omarion Hampton in the 2024 season. The star is set to top his 253-attempt, 1,504-yard season last year. He also ended with 15 touchdowns rushing while also pulling in 29 receptions for 222 yards and another touchdown.

The star back has found his way onto Ryan Wilson from CBS Sports‘ list of the preseason Top 50 players on the 2025 NFL Draft big board. Hampton is listed as the No. 39 best player in the draft and the No. 3 running back on the board going into 2025.

The only two running backs listed ahead of Hampton are Ohio State‘s Quinshon Judkins and Oklahoma State‘s Ollie Gordon III.

The powerful frame of a strong back makes him a great contender to be a three-down back in the NFL given the right circumstances. There are plenty of teams in the league that could use a back that blocks as well as he runs.

Barring injury, Hampton has the opportunity with North Carolina to do nothing but rise up the board as the season goes on. Could this be the year that Hampton breaks 2,000 yards from scrimmage? Could he bolster himself into a projected first-round pick?

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Echols and Rucker listed on 2024 Bednarik Award watch list

Two defensive stalwarts for the Tar Heels find themselves on a prestigious award watch list this season.

Two North Carolina Tar Heel defensive players are listed on the released watch list of the 2024 Bednarik Award. Kaimon Rucker and Power Echols look to anchor the Tar Heel defense to an excellent season this year.

Echols is a 5-foot-11, 220-pound linebacker who finished last season with 103 total tackles including 5.5 for a loss, those both tie and beat career highs. He also had one interception and two forced fumbles on the year in 13 games.

The senior linebacker, Rucker, finished his 2023 campaign with 61 total tackles and a whopping 15.0 for a loss. To put that dominance into perspective, he had just 15.5 total tackles for a loss heading into last season over his first three seasons.

He also added 8.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.

They will both be up for one of the top defensive awards of the year.

According to goheels.com, “The winners of the 30th Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 12, 2024. The formal presentations of the Chuck Bednarik Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards on Friday, March 14, 2025, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.”

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Four-star UNC target adds visit to rival

This four-star is set to visit Duke shortly after his trip to Chapel Hill and UNC.

Class of 2025 four-star shooting guard Braylon Mullins is set to visit the North Carolina Tar Heels in just over a month from now. The No. 23-ranked recruit overall in the class and the No. 5-ranked shooting guard is not the only player on the Tar Heels watch list nor is UNC the only one on his.

He has already visited UConn and is slated to visit Michigan before Chapel Hill and Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky in the month after UNC. With only one blue blood in the mix before today, Duke has risen on the list on 247sports of “warm” with a scheduled visit.

Mullins is a 6-foot-5 dominant presence who is lethal from behind the arc. The Greenfield, Indiana, native averaged 25.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game for Greenfield-Central. He shot 56% from the field and 43% from behind the arc.

North Carolina will have only Class of 2024’s Ian Jackson on the roster for the 2025 season should he stay for his sophomore year. That should not only encourage him to Chapel Hill but should also push North Carolina to pursue him even more.

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