Coby went absolutely scorch mode for the Bulls tonight, hitting 7 three pointers in the 4th quarter against the Knicks, with Roy and Eric Hoots in the stands watching. He actually outscored the Knick 23-17 in the 4th quarter in route to 27 total points. His effort also set an NBA rookie as the first rookie to knock down 7 three pointers in a game.

And the best part, as Adam Lucas tweeted, was how he talked about the Carolina Family being a REAL THING in the post game interview.

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Caleb:

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RJ:

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And add in Dayron… the first commit from the class:

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Creighton @ Michigan - 6:30 on FS1 with Michigan favored by 5.

Oregon @ Memphis - 9:00 on ESPN with Oregon favored by 4.

Anybody know if Wiseman will play?

Needless to say, I don't root for Creighton. I'm not a Howard fan, either. I should probably get over Creighton, since none of the criminal players are still there. But the coach is. So I guess I'll root for Michigan.

I'll probably root for Oregon in the other game. Just because I feel like Memphis/Penny are a bit shady. But I could be wrong.

...Chrissy Collins and Northwestern lose at home by 10 to.......
wait for it.....
Merrimack?

...and if you're forced to open the season with a damn conference game, well, ya might as well win it!

And that's the theme tonight --- acceleration. To be sure this accelerated ACC schedule --- especially starting off against a team with five returning starters, no less --- forced us to accelerate some learning curves. It wasn't always pretty, but it worked out pretty danged well.

Let's start with the bad side of that:
- Accelerated heart rates. There was definitely some opening-night adrenaline and wide eyes out there early that resulted in some ugly shot attempts, bad decisions and poor ball-security.

- Keeling in particular was less than judicious with the rock, picking up some bad TOs from taking the ball into no-man's land, as well as missing some defensive rotations. I'm sure Christian will be ok once he gets his feet wet at this level, and as soon as he figures out he can't get away with the same stuff here as in the Big South.

- Cole was also jacked up and it showed early with some forces and TOs.

- In the first half we were forcing drives instead of reversing the ball in transition. Missing those transition ops plays right into the hands of and experienced bunch like ND. We also weren't creating good entry angles.

But boy did that turn at halftime:
- Accelerated learning curve. Yeah, Cole took some lumps in the first half, but he flat dished out the lumps in the second! Once he hit a rhythm-3 off a catch, that lit the fuse --- and young fella lit up ND! Just as important, other than a freshman mistake in Press-O, Cole took better care of the rock and got us into tempo.

- Speaking of which, accelerated tempo. As I posted this week, this would be a game in which tempo was key. In the first half we allowed ND to dictate their tedioius, methodical tempo, But the second was a different story. Following what I'm sure was a "stern lecture" from Roy, the last 20 minutes looked like Carolina basketball. After trailing by a putrid scoire of 31-30, we reeled off 46 2nd-half points (and that's no small feat against a team that stubbornly keeps game in the 60s.

A few stats of note:
- The obvious good team number that jumps out is rebounding. 51-31 advantage for the good guys, and it finally fueled our transition game in the second half.

- The obvious bad one is TOs. 18 is not awful but most of those came in the first half. Cleaning that up was a big factor in our clenching run.

- And fo course Cole's opening night line (breaking McCants's frosh scoring number) is something special. and howz about a PG's first double-double including the Rebound number?

- Going back to the accelerated tempo, the second half shooting numbers reflected our moving the ball in more Carolina-like fashion, to the tune of improving from 31% to 64% FGs! We also kept ND out of their comfort zone, holding them to 35% for the game.

- One concern was 10/17 FT shooting. Fortunately ND uncharacteristically helped us out by laying a few bricks of their own. The good news was being 50% from 3 --- pretty impressive with BRob missing --- thanks largely to Cole and AP.

Random stuff:
- Pierce looked a bit more comfortable tonight than in the exhibition, mixed it up on the glass and gave us a solid 20 minutes.

- Leaky quietly did yeoman's work logging 32 minutes with a Theo-like stat line. With Brob out and Pierce playing a good bit of 4, Leaky spent almost all of his time at his natural 3 position where he does his best facilitating.

- My biggest concern was not getting the ball in the paint!...something I'm sure Roy will let the guys know about. Ultimately we can't rely on late-shot-clock heroics --- we need to play inside-out.

- Speaking of Bigs, Bacot showed some flashes tonight. As his post repertoire smoothes out he's gonna be a good one. Let's hope that leg tweak on the fall wasn't serious.

- With functionally a 7-man rotation there were some major minutes played by some guys (39 for Garrison!), and with relatively few whistles there wasn't much time to catch a breath. At one point late in the second half the whole team was flat-out gassed, to the point Roy actually called a Timeout ) after Andrew was too gassed to get to his spot on time and Cole was too gassed to make the pass.

- Speaking of these guys, with Cole as our new Floor General, Andrew was his veteran First Officer, directing traffic, calling plays, balancing the floor and generally wrangling the troops. Platek logged a career-high 25-1/2 minutes (and 24-1/2 of those were with Cole) and Roy even called a couple of Isos for him. BTW, this was easily our most productive backcourt, at a pace of better than 2 ppm, and a strong +/-.

- Finally, speaking of plays, although we were primarily freelance, Roy was very judicious with his set plays and our execution rate was impressive, especially on OB plays.

Well alrighty then --- cast right into the fire and we're 1-0 (1-0). I'll take it! Let's get BRob healthy and get right back at it...

Duke bet its hopes vs. UNC on a RB's jump pass and you'll never guess what happened next.

Chazz "Freakin" Surratt ............ The Heels finally win one of these!

Heels still in running for Coastal Division title.


https://www.yahoo.com/sports/duke-north-carolina-jump-pass-acc-coastal-235126550.html

Who do you think will we GET, regardless of who you want.

ASSUME WE HAVE 2 SCHOLARSHIPS TO GIVE

The poll lists the guys we still have offers to who haven't cut us (to my knowledge).

Listed in order of rank.

This weekend, I think.

I know some here think we don't need him, but I really hope he comes on board.

Sure, Caleb probably starts at PG next year, but RJ and maybe Jeremiah will push him. Then if Caleb is OAD, we'll be fine the following year and for several years with RJ (and Jeremiah).

We have enough scholarships for RJ and another wing, right? Doesn't depend on whether Mando is OAD, does it?

From practice - ours or anybody's? I haven't seen any comments on this.

When the announcement was first made we had a bunch of different opinions on the impact.

Some opined that it wouldn't matter. The players will adjust.

Some thought it wouldn't matter for some, but might bump several players lower in the rotation because their percentages would drop. Whereas a few might not even notice. Probably wouldn't have bothered Cam, for example, if it had happened last year.

And some thought it would affect enough players that we might see some serious offensive and defensive changes. More packing in, for example, since some teams may not be able to punish you from deep. Perhaps some trick zones - box and triangle versions that focus on the 1 or 2 deep threats. More 3-point shooting from corners, meaning more players running to those spots on breaks, among other things.

I saw this on TOS. I could only identify a few. After reading the names, I think I should have been able to identify nearly all, but I couldn't.

How many can you name?

Before you actually give names, just report how many you feel sure of, so others can have time to work on it.

First, let me preface this by saying it's questionable as to whether Sterling can get healthy enough to even play this year. If he does, it is still questionable whether or not his conditioning would allow him to make a meaningful contribution. So I am going on the assumption that he won't play, and if he does, anything he gives us will be gravy.

After rewatching the LNWR scrimmage, I am happy to see that Huff and Walker both seem to have improved enough to at least "hold the fort" when they relieve one of our starters. Both seem to be in pretty good shape and run the court reasonably well. And someone has obviously been working on adding the jump hook to their arsenal, as both demonstrated multiple times during the exhibition. I have always felt it was the most effective shot a big can master, being almost impossible to block if executed properly. It can be especially effective for bigs who aren't great athletes, a description that fits both of these guys. If they continue to work on their footwork, establishing position, making themselves available for the pass and catching it, they can give us adequate play off the bench. And I think we'll need that because Garrison has been foul prone thus far(hoping the light will come on for him as it did for Brice in his junior year), and Mando is a freshman adjusting to bigger/faster/stronger competition, and is liable to encounter foul/conditioning issues as most freshmen bigs do.

Mando has a lot to learn, a lot. I can't see any way at this point that he doesn't play at least two years for us. He has good, but not great, hands. He has a good frame which should enable him to put on more muscle. While he isn't a great leaper, his long arms should compensate somewhat and allow him to be a solid rebounder. His footwork and post moves are going to need a lot of work, much as most freshmen bigs do. I do think he will, by necessity, start alongside Garrison from day one. I expect steady improvement as the year progresses.

Garrison has steadily improved as he's gotten stronger and played more. He will finally get to play his more natural PF position and that should benefit him. We need him to be an upperclassman leader, like BRob, and be a steadying influence on the team. He and Mando need to control the boards if we're to compete for the ACC title. I think they are capable of that, with help from our rangy wings of course.

What do you think?

https://www.si.com/college/2019/10/02/all-decade-team-ncaa-zion-williamson-anthony-davis


1st Team:
Anthony Davis, Kentucky
Zion Williamson, Duke
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Kemba Walker, UConn
Doug McDermott, Creighton

2nd Team:
Jimmer Fredette, BYU
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
Jalen Brunson, Villanova
Jahlil Okafor, Duke
Jared Sullinger, Ohio State

3rd Team:
Shabazz Napier, UConn
Frank Mason, Kansas
Draymond Green, Michigan State
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State

Before the Walker signing, I thought we had a good chance at Hunter. I thought it was basically between us and PU. If we didn’t get him I was hoping he would go to PU. He was supposed to have an official visit with them this week. The rumblings are he’s dropping PU and now FSU/Michigan are favorites. Very surprised hearing that. One thing about Matt Painter is he runs his offense through his studs. Last two examples are Carson Edwards PG and The year before that was Calib Swanigan (C). Juwan hasn’t done anything and FSU is FSU.

I figure we might get a better feel for our walking wounded, now that practices have started.

Anybody have any dope?

To Carolina. A great get for Coach William's.

...(Walker Kessler edition).

First off, my apologies for not having much to share earlier. It's been a weird summer --- My best AAU source has been on the road a lot for his day job (as have I) and my best pickup source signed on with a S.American pro team for some summer tourneys, so info has been more sporadic than usual.

That being said, the last couple of weeks have been like a fire-hose --- everyone be catchin' up now, it seems.

- Interestingly, the first agenda item amongst my cirle "reconvening" a couple of weeks back was the Kessler recruitment, and to a man everyone I spoke with down here basically gave the look to the narrative that he was ever a dook lock (or even favorite, for that matter). In fact, at that time the thought around ATL was that Auburn was in the driver's seat, if anyone was. The one thing for sure (and I reported as much here and on an Auburn board) was that the Kesslers were always gonna do their due dilligence. So when it was reported here and elsewhere that Roy had turned up the full-court press I even warned some Auburn fans that this thing wasn't over (they didn't much like that).

- Sorry if this offends anyone, but the Kessler-to-dook "crystal balls" were little more than a lazy default from the get-go. And speaking of which, I can also report that the Auburn staff was absolutely stunned by the sudden UNC commitment --- and not just the suddenness, but that it happened at all. They truly thought they had Walker and were gonna cement it this weekend (on his planned return visit).

- Bottom line is the Kesslers took a methodical and smart family approach to recruiting, and their finalists reflected that. Still, it was no surprise they eliminated Zaga and Michigan because of distance. This one came down to Auburn/dook/UNC... and Auburn (not dook) came in second. I was told the family really liked Bruce and the proximity, and that their recruiting has moved into elite territory with the FF run. Thus, all that speaks volumes for the impression UNC made on Walker on his visit to cause him to pop. It also speaks to the fact that if a recruitment is clean (which this one was), the basketball mecca that is Chapel Hill is a tough pass.

- Speaking of which, I previously addressed the obvious question of how a double-legacy like Kessler could eschew UGA, and I said months ago that he was likely theirs... as long as Crean didn't screw it up. Welp, guess what? He did. I'm told there was more than one thing about Crean that turned the family off (including his offensive system), and perhaps one of those concerns Crean's recruiting tactics. I held off posting this (since my original source was a friend who is ---believe it or not --- a UGA booster), but it's now making the coach grapevine rounds down here that UGA bought Ant Edwards, to the tune of (get this) $300k. Stay tuned on that one...

- Finally, a postscript. Walker plays at Woodward (a high-$ private school just south of town) and their competition is not always the best except for tourneys, and he has a rep (deserved or not) of being "soft". Realizing that, Walker is going hard-core with a local Big-man guru (who's tight with one of my coach buds) --- sorta like a suburban boxer going to Rocky's inner-city gym --- where he's gonna get banged on by some grown-ass men. In fact my guy was supposed to play pickup with them down here this week. Will be interested to hear his feedback...

That's all for now... I'll post some Chapel Hill pickup tidbits from the past few weeks next time. Meanwhile, here's to a succesful Late Night weekend!

When you look up the commits for a team on 247, just below that year's players you'll see a scrolling line of what they call "All-Time Commits."

First, these are not really All-Time Commits, since as far as I can tell they only looked back to 2003. Which is why I named this thread "Top Recent Commits."

They base the lists on the numerical score of the player, rather than the rank. If you think the numerical ratings are a better measure - which they probably are - then that makes sense. But it isn't my intent to quibble about that.

The question I asked myself is which teams had the most 5-stars, 4-stars and 3-stars among their top 25 commits from 2003 thru 2018 (so not including Cole and Armando), according to 247's scoring.

Here's the list. I put them in order of total 5-star PLUS 4-star players, and broke ties by looking at the number of 5-star players. That just seemed to work a little better than going only by the number of 5-stars.

First number is the number of 5-stars, then 4-stars, then 3-stars

Duke-------25 0 0
UNC--------19 6 0
Syracuse---12 13 0
Louisville--8 17 0
NC State----7 18 0
FSU---------6 19 0
Ga Tech-----5 19 1
Wake--------3 20 2
UVa---------1 22 2
Pitt--------2 19 4
Miami-------4 14 7
Notre Dame--0 18 7
Va Tech-----1 16 9
Clemson-----1 9 15
Boston Col--0 5 20

Hello my Tar Heel Family! Has anyone heard of how Jeremiah and Anthony are doing with their unfortunate bouts with some severe injuries? Going into the summer I thought that Jeremiah might redshirt for the upcoming season. Both players look extremely talented when healthy. I hope the young men can come back at 100% or close to it. I know that Jeremiah’s injury is extremely serious.

Login to view embedded media That Wendell Carter loves his strip clubs.

Just saw on inside Carolina that Late Night with Roy will be on Friday 27 September with doors opening at four with a girls volleyball game played prior to the basketball activities. This is s big weekend as UNC hosts Clemson at Kenan in football the next day. So 38 days after today and we will get our first REAL look at the roundball team...

Apparently Todd was also in town but I have yet to see anywhere on numerous sites any comments from the possible recruitments to UNC how they felt about being part of the Carolina family...

I know it will depend on how they (and others) actually play and practice and fit in. But a fair argument can be made that Roy should highlight them, if possible.

It seems that grad transfers are becoming a more popular thing among the better players at small schools. If they have the coursework and feel they can improve their prospects of playing for pay by showcasing for a better-known school or coach, then the question is: which school or coach?

I imagine Cam's success here helped Roy land Keeling and Pierce. But opposing coaches can always downplay that by pointing out that Cam was here 2 years. Most grad transfers don't have 2 years of eligibility.

So . . . it makes sense that if Keeling and Pierce do well here, that helps with recruiting future grad transfers. Whereas if they don't that will be used against Roy in future competition for grad transfers.

Again, it depends on whether they are good enough and fit in well enough. But if they do, it might make sense to give them extra PT or start them or do other things to make the case that UNC is a good destination for skilled grad transfers to grow and succeed.

_