Posted on 10/14/2005 2:41:29 PM PDT by Perdogg
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina still forbids incoming freshmen basketball players from doing interviews until after their first game. That was Dean Smith's rule, and Roy Williams wouldn't dream of going against the man he still calls ``Coach.''
So when reporters assembled for media day Thursday, only five players were available: David Noel, Reyshawn Terry, Quentin Thomas, Byron Sanders and Wes Miller. The quintet combined for exactly one start last season during North Carolina's run to the NCAA championship, and Noel was the top scorer at less than four points a game.
Repeating that title? Williams just hopes to be competitive.
``It's funny, because everyone I've talked to, they ask, 'What do you expect? Are you going to be able to do this?''' he said. ``My honest answer is, I don't know.''
The Tar Heels have never before lost even their top three scorers from the previous season, and Williams will have to make do without his top seven. That includes four players who left early for the NBA -- Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Sean May and Marvin Williams -- and departed seniors Jawad Williams, Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott.
School spokesman Steve Kirschner says this is the first time any school in the Atlantic Coast Conference has had such a mass exodus. It leaves North Carolina with only 10 players on the roster, thanks to five freshmen from what most analysts agree is one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
And each and every one will be needed simply to make the teams even in practice.
``It's going to be different,'' Sanders said with a smile.
Noel is the unquestioned leader. The senior has 20 starts during his career, including 17 as a freshman in what turned out to be Matt Doherty's final season as coach. And Noel should have help from Terry, a 6-foot-8 swingman who has shown glimpses of an explosive scoring ability in limited playing time over the previous two years.
``If you come watch a pickup game, Reyshawn Terry is going have five or six highlight moments,'' Miller said.
None of the other players has served as much more than a little-used reserve. Thomas got his lone start simply because Felton was suspended for one game, and even though he played in all 37 games, he struggled mightily running North Carolina's fast-paced offense. In barely 6 minutes a game, Thomas averaged better than a turnover.
Over the summer, he sat down with Williams to map out a plan for improvement, and Thomas came away from the meeting with a better relationship with his coach.
``I need to be the coach on the floor,'' he said. ``I think this year, me and Coach will be even closer.''
The rebuilding begins this weekend with the start of practice, the one facet through all the turnover that Williams actually plans to enjoy. After spending a long offseason traveling around the country recruiting, he gets five weeks of daily contact with his players, and he plans to make the most of it.
``This is my favorite time of the year,'' he said. ``I get to coach, and that's want I've always wanted to do.''
tarheels!
I'm not buying this; they say this EVERY year......LOL.
Rebuilding, my white Southern butt.
Rebuilding for UNC means winning only 23-25 games and making it to the Great 8 right?
LOL
Should be an interesting year -- this year will be the first with players that were wholly recruited by Roy. Plus, I'm sure a lot of the guys that were "practice dummies" before will become solid role players. The article doesn't mention that other ACC teams lost key players as well. Not as many as da Heels, but none of the good ACC schools are returning all their underclassmen.
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