Tag: UNC Tar Heels

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.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

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.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

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.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

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?

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

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.”

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

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.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

UNC baseball gets committment from in-state recruit

UNC baseball adds Tuscola pitcher to Class of 2026 commitments.

The North Carolina Tar Heels add another pitcher and outfielder to their roster in the future with Class of 2026 standout Amos Rich announcing his verbal commitment to the program today.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound North Carolina native, has been currently playing club ball in-state at the Charlotte Academy. He is playing high school ball at Tuscola High School in North Carolina as well.

The right-handed pitcher has a 92-mile-per-hour (mph) exit velocity on his fastball as well as a 76 mph exit velocity on his curveball. The 17-year-old will feel perfectly at home as he looks to continue college in his home state.

Rich becomes just the third pitcher in the Class of 2026 to commit to the Tar Heels joining Caden Glauber from Fort Mill, South Carolina, and Kerrick Shannon from Yardley, Pennsylvania.

Carson Michael, catcher, and Sawyer Smith, shortstop, round out the only five recruits that have committed to UNC in the class. He should be able to make an immediate impact as he enters the program in the coming years.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

 

UNC soccer coaching legend announces retirement

Thank you, Anson Dorrance, for all you did for the UNC and the game of soccer.

The North Carolina Tar Heels family sees a legend of the game walk away today as Anson Dorrance, the head coach of the women’s soccer program, announced his retirement from coaching.

Over the past 47 seasons at UNC, Dorrance has set the standard in all of collegiate soccer. Players wanted to play for him, coaches wanted to be him, and soccer longed for him.

In almost five decades, the gold standard coach has won 22 national championships including a period of winning nine-straight NCAA National Championships from 1986 to 1994.

Overall in his career, he has 1,106 wins with only 152 losses. He averaged 3.23 losses per season for almost 50 years. He also had 75 ties.

He was a seven-time national coach of the year, a twelve-time ACC coach of the year, and a member of the UNC Sports Hall of Fame, UNC Soccer Hall of Fame, National Soccer Hall of Fame, and US Coaching Hall of Fame.

Anson Dorrance also helped the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) win a Women’s World Cup in 1991. He will go down in history as the most decorated head coach in women’s coaching history, not only at the collegiate level but also among all.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Four-star daughter of Joe Girardi lists UNC in her final five

Joe Girardi’s daughter includes UNC women’s basketball in her final five schools!

After ending the 2024 season as the No. 5 team in the ACC, the North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team quickly lost in the conference tournament by one point to Miami (FL).

They drew a No. 8 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament set to play Michigan State in the first round. After a three-point win over the Spartans, they fell by 47 points in the second round to the NCAA Champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

The future may be getting a little brighter for women’s basketball fans as Class of 2025, four-star guard Lena Girardi keeps UNC in the running as she cuts her list down to the final five teams.

The other four schools include Virginia Tech, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, and Arizona. The Hokies are the only other school that would be an inner conference battle.

The 6-foot-0 guard from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been playing at IMG Academy. According to 247sports, “[she] is regarded as one of the premier off-the-ball guards in her class nationwide.”

North Carolina doesn’t currently have any commits for the Class of 2025 in the ESPNW Top 100. If Girardi were to decide on UNC, it could be a huge bolster for Courtney Banghart going forward.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Follow all of your favorite Carolina teams at Tar Heels Wire and Panthers Wire!

Tez Walker gets one target in preseason debut

Devontez Walker didn’t have the debut we hoped, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

The Baltimore Ravens took on the Philadelphia Eagles in the first week of the preseason for the NFL. A highly anticipated game for North Carolina Tar Heel fans with receiver Devontez Walker getting his first action after all the drama that happened last season.

Well, the debut was not like we had hoped. We were anticipating getting a wide range of Walker usage, and it took a painfully long time just for Walker to make his way out onto the field for his first drive. On top of that, Walker received just one target over the course of the little time he did see in action.

His minimal impact was not all on little playing time. In one of the plays he was involved in, he was streaking free on a breakaway one step ahead of his defender and Josh Johnson didn’t have the time in the pocket to get the ball out to him.

Regardless, Walker’s involvement was questionable.

That could lead us to believe in two different ways. Firstly, Walker’s chances of being the WR3 are not as high as we thought they were. Secondly, and most likely, he is solidified in the first-team offense that didn’t see much work at all.

Receivers Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and Nelson Agholor weren’t heavily involved if at all either. It is likely that as the preseason goes on, we will see more of the Tar Heel product.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.