Tag: UNC Tar Heels

PHOTOS: Tar Heels drop three straight with loss to Alabama

Check out the photo recap of North Carolina’s home loss against Alabama.

North Carolina started the season with a rough November. Despite beating all the mid-majors and most games they should have, the had no traction against any top-25 teams. They lost to Kansas, Auburn, and Michigan State in the month and have now dropped another ranked game to Alabama.

North Carolina only led for a moment in the game and fell to a deficit of double-digits early, on par from the rest of the season. The team was not able to overcome Alabama’s lead as they shot 41% from the floor and 17.9% from beyond the arc.

Davis ended just 1-for-11 from three and 7-for-24 from the floor. Trimble was 4-for-13 from the floor and 1-for-4 from three. Here is a photo recap of the Tar Heels loss against the Crimson Tide.

UNC football loses commitment to West Virginia

UNC football loses three-star DB to West Virginia on a signing-day flip.

College football’s Class of 2025 officially has started Early Signing Day. You can track North Carolina signings on our Tar Heels Wire Tracker.

North Carolina is expected to make a splash by signing those who have given verbal commitments. However, sometimes, it is an opportunity for players to flip from one school to the next, as is the case here.

UNC football was expected to sign three-star defensive back Julien Horton after he gave the Tar Heels a verbal commitment. However, on signing day, Horton flipped his decision and signed officially with West Virginia.

The firing of head coach Mack Brown, the coach that recruited most of these players making decisions today, has thrown a curveball into the decisions that will be made over the course of today and most-likely in this scenario.

The 6-foot-0 defensive back is the No. 56 ranked safety in the country with a 247Sports score of 88. His composite score via the same is .8683 which dropped him to the No. 82 overall safety in the nation.

According to 247Sports in 2023, “The Aegis Football Player of the Year. Got snaps at both SAF and WR for Bel Air after transferring in from Calvert Hall. Totaled 32 tackles and an INT on defense to go along with 65 catches for 696 yards and 8 TD on offense. Also had a KORTD.”

The Bel Air, California, product chose West Virginia over North Carolina, Maryland, Boston College, and Buffalo.

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North Carolina football signs two 3-star recruits early in signing day

With signing day here, two three-star recruits are the first to make their journey to Chapel Hill official.

The Class of 2025 is officially able to make their verbal commitments on paper. North Carolina is off to a fast start as two three-star recruits make their journey to Chapel Hill officially on paper.

With the departure of Mack Brown as the head coach of the Tar Heels, many players that he recruited are expected to rethink their decisions which makes early signing day that much more intriguing for UNC football.

The first two of the Class of 2025 to sign with North Carolina are three-star edge rusher Kamden Laudenslager and offensive lineman Trey Blue.

Laudenslager chose North Carolina over warm offers from several rival ACC teams including Boston College and Duke. He was also interested in UMass and Maryland.

The 6-foot-3 edge from Owings Mills, Maryland, played his senior season at McDonogh School. He has a 247Sports score of 85 as the No. 47 ranked player in Maryland and a composite score of .8639 as the No. 39 Maryland player.

Trey Blue is a 6-foot-5 interior lineman from Cary, North Carolina. The in-state recruit chose UNC football over Bethune Cookman, Charlotte, Duke, and Maryland as well.

He was the No. 17 ranked player in the state with a 247Sports score of 88 and a composite of .8681 dropping to the No. 23 ranked statewide player.

More players are expected to make their decision as the day progresses. The Tar Heels have several players who have made verbal commitments that will put pen to paper over the course of Wednesday.

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Six Tar Heels are represented amongst the four All-ACC teams

All-ACC honors have been awarded and multiple Tar Heels find their names on the list!

With the regular season in the books, North Carolina finished 6-6 overall this season and just 3-5 against teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

However, despite the third-worst record in the conference, the Tar Heels were well-represented in the recently announced All-ACC teams.

Starting off with the honorable mention team, Alijah Huzzie, Power Echols, and Howard Sampson made the list. Huzzie in fact made the list twice, once on defense and once as a special team star.

Echols finished the season as the No. 2 tackler on the team with 76 tackles and six passes defended. He has 0.5 sacks and one interception. Huzzie finished with 39 tackles and eight defended passes with an interception.

Heading to the third team, Jahvaree Ritzie, North Carolina’s senior lineman, was awarded. Ritzie had just 40 tackles this season but led the team in sacks with Beau Atkinson and Amare Campbell with 6.5 sacks. Ritzie also had an interception and was one of just three Tar Heels with a pick-six this season.

Omarion Hampton was awarded second-team honors as an all-purpose player, which includes primarily his receiving ability. Hampton was the second-leading receiver on the team with 373 yards. He caught the most passes on the team with 38 and two touchdowns through the air.

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First-team honors for North Carolina include Omarion Hampton, the sole running back, and Willie Lampkin, the Jacobs Blocking Award winner for best blocking offensive lineman in the ACC.

Hampton finished the season with 1,660 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground with his longest breakout run being 75 yards.

For a team that won just three games in the conference, seeing three players in the three All-ACC teams is a stellar achievement.

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Tar Heels issued max fine for role in post-game brawl on Saturday

North Carolina was slapped with a fine for the fight that ensued after the NC State game.

North Carolina dropped a tough regular-season finale on Saturday at home in Kenan Stadium against NC State during rivalry weekend.

The game went down to the last seconds as Hollywood Smothers ran in a game-winning touchdown after Omarion Hampton broke what was thought to be a game-winning touchdown just seconds prior.

After the game had ended, NC State players attempted to plant their flag at midfield on the UNC logo. Several Tar Heels players took exception to that, grabbing the flag, throwing it before it could be planted, and inciting a brawl.

The ACC announced that it will give “the maximum fine according to its bylaws to both institutions.”

The commissioner of the ACC weighed in on the matter to Yahoo Sports.

We have to collectively come together. We can do things independently as conferences, but we need to all come together, and our approach must be aggressive. This is unacceptable. It doesn’t appear that any suspensions will result from Saturday’s incident with North Carolina and NC State.

This was not a stand-alone incident, however, as there were a handful of brawls on rivalry weekend led by the Ohio State and Michigan sidelines and included multiple others as well.

For the most part, they were all for the same incident as well, Away rival wins trying to plant their flag at the mid-field logo of the home team.

It is yet to be seen what will come of these incidents this weekend, though, the Big Ten did fine both Ohio State and Michigan $100,000 each, one of the largest for the offense.

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Tar Heels plummet in latest college basketball AP Poll

After two losses in Hawai’i, UNC basketball fell off a cliff in the top-25.

North Carolina had a rough last week losing two of three games in the Maui Invitational after beating Hawai’i earlier that weekend. Despite even the one win against Dayton, they still trailed by double-digits in the first half.

This Tar Heel team has plenty to figure out this season going forward with another huge game against No. 10 Alabama this Wednesday, which could be the big quad-one win on the team’s resume looking at March.

Nevertheless, as a result of the three games last week, the North Carolina men’s basketball has slid from the No. 12 overall spot in the Week 4 AP Poll to the No. 20 rank, down eight spots in the Week 5 AP Poll.

Only two teams fell more than the Tar Heels did this week. No. 2 UConn lost all three games of the Maui Invitational and now finds themselves as the No. 25 ranked team in the country, dropping 23 spots off a cliff.

Houston, who was previously ranked No. 6 in the Week 4 AP Poll is now the No. 17 ranked team after losses to Alabama and San Diego State in the Players Era Festival.

North Carolina has an opportunity to start climbing back up the poll with a win on Wednesday against Alabama, one of the most highly anticipated games of the preseason since the Crimson Tide knocked the Tar Heels out of the NCAA Tournament last year.

Mark Sears and RJ Davis are two of the most prolific scorers in the country and will face off head-to-head. After that, North Carolina will start ACC play with a game against Georgia Tech on Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center.

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PHOTOS: Tar Heels drop regular season finale to NC State at home

If you weren’t able to catch the game live, here is a photo recap of North Carolina’s loss vs NC State.

North Carolina has had a wild week after the firing of long-time head coach Mack Brown. With the 16-year veteran heading into his final game as a Tar Heel inside Kenan Stadium, the team was hoping to go out on a high note.

That was far from the case. However, this was a take of two halves. The first half saw minimal yardage and just a total of 13 points. NC State led UNC 7-6 at the break with a touchdown on either side and a missed extra point for the Tar Heels.

The second half was a gun-slinging shootout. North Carolina dominated the third quarter, taking a 20-13 lead into the final quarter. In a back-and-forth matchup, NC State got the final word on a two-yard punch in from Hollywood Smothers.

Here is a photo recap of the UNC vs NC State matchup.

UNC dual-sport recruiting target commits to the nation’s top team

One of the top tight ends in the current class has bypassed in-state UNC for the country’s top team.

The Class of 2026 just got sweeter for the nation’s top-ranked team in Oregon, and it got more bitter for North Carolina fans.

The No. 4 ranked player from North Carolina has committed across the country to the top Big Ten currently. Kendre Harrison had long thought about becoming a Tar Heel and before the firing of Mack Brown, was widely considered on his way to Chapel Hill.

However, when things changed with the Tar Heels head coach, the added uncertainty of the program put many recruits back into the thinking phase. Harrison was not immune to that.

Just days after the announcement was made, the No. 2 tight end in the Class of 2026 has made his way to Oregon.

The 6-foot-7 product of Reidsville, North Carolina, has dominated this season as a two-sport recruit in basketball as well as football. Harrison is also a top-50 recruit in basketball, which makes him just that much more valuable as a prospect.

According to 247sports, Harrison is a four-star prospect with a 92 rating, the No. 34 ranked player in the nation. According to his composite score with 247sports, he is a five-star, the No. 9 player in the nation, the No. 1 tight end, and the No. 2 player in North Carolina with a .9937 score.

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CBS Sports weighs in on UNC’s head coaching search, including this massive name

Shehan Jeyarajah and CBS Sports have their UNC candidates picked out.

Mack Brown will run out with North Carolina for the last time today in the regular season finale against NC State and will be dismissed from duties on Sunday. Bubba Cunningham and the athletics department have already undergone talking to potential candidates about the vacancy.

Since the news broke that this would be Brown’s last week at the helm of the ship, everyone has had different names that belong on the list of head coaches. You can find the entire list of potential head coaches and resumes on our Tar Heels Wire Big Board.

Now, CBS Sports analyst Shehan Jeyarajah has created his list of candidates that he thinks should be involved in the discussions going forward.

Headlining this group of six coaches is current Colorado coach Deion Sanders. It makes perfect sense for Sanders to be looking for something new as his sons and prodigies, Sheduer Sanders and Travis Hunter, will be heading to the NFL Draft at the end of this season.

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We have already evaluated the potential hiring of former head coach Dan Mullens. Also on the list are Penn State offensive coordinator, Andy Kotelnicki, Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell, UNLV head coach Barry Odom, and Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall.

The future remains to be seen, but this current vacancy is one of the hottest in college football, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a big-name head coach make a move to Chapel Hill.

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UNC guard says two Maui losses got the team hungry for future games

Can the Tar Heels use these losses as a spark for the remainder of the season?

North Carolina did not have a Maui Invitational that they wish to remember. They walked away with two losses and are now 4-3 on the season.

On top of that, they trailed by double digits in the first half of all three games despite coming back and winning the game against Dayton.

The schedule for North Carolina is not going to get any easier. They will take on No. 9 Alabama next Wednesday, followed by No. 18 Florida in the Jumpman Invitational later this month.

That’s all before starting ACC play which will dominate January and February and are always some of the toughest games of the season ranked or not.

Coming away from losses that the team feels like were in their grasp is hard. Elliot Cadeau emphasized that these losses are going to feed the team the fuel they need going forward, via Inside Carolina.

I feel like we feel hungry now. We know that nothing is going to be given to us, and we just learned a lot from it. I think the main thing we learned from it is our toughness just has to be better. We have to be more tough. I feel like we’re going to start bringing that every day in practice. We have to. We have no choice. So I think that’s one thing.

North Carolina will next be seen in action next Wednesday against No. 9-ranked Alabama in the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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