By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — There were wow moments and one anxious moment on Saturday as a tradition going back to the 1970s returned for the first time since 2003: A Blue-White men’s basketball scrimmage following a Carolina football game.
With the way the game went at Kenan Stadium and the tragic news of Tylee Craft’s death, Tar Heels fans needed a pick-me-up. The deep UNC basketball team didn’t disappoint as Seth Trimble scored 19 points to lead the Blue team to a 63–53 victory Saturday at the Smith Center in a 24-minute game.
Coach Hubert Davis watched from a courtside table and didn’t address the media after the scrimmage.
The anxious moment that had the crowd nervously quiet came in early in the second half. Fifth-year guard RJ Davis was driving to the basket on freshman James Brown, lost his balance and landed awkwardly, suffering a lower-back contusion.
Davis, who scored nine points and one 3-pointer in 11 minutes, was slow to get up. After getting attention from athletic trainer Doug Halverson, he joined his White teammates on the bench but didn’t return to the game.
“I think the whole building got a little silent,” said Belmont transfer Cade Tyson, who collected 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and a block for the Blue team, but missed all three 3-point attempts. “But RJ is a tough kid. I knew he’d get back up. He should be fine.”
Trimble provided one of the wow moments in the second half when he got the crowd going with a monster dunk on Georgia Tech transfer Ty Claude.
“That was crazy,” said White teammate Drake Powell, who had eight points and two rebounds. “I was trailing behind him a little bit. Ian [Jackson] and I were just talking about, like [an NBA] 2K animation or something.”
The Blue team included Tyson, Trimble, Brown, Ven-Allen Lubin and Elliot Cadeau, and walk-ons Russell Hawkins and John Holbrook. On the White team were Davis, Jackson, Drake Powell, Jae’Lyn Withers, Jalen Washington and Ty Claude, plus walk-ons Elijah Davis (Coach Davis’ son) and Dante Mayo.
Washington led the White team with 11 points and Jackson added 10.
“I just wanted to go out and play my game,” Jackson said. “I wanted to go out and compete, not trying to do too much.”
Two other Blue team players scored in double figures: Cadeau with 12 and Vanderbilt transfer Lubin with 10.
“I feel like everything’s coming together,” Cadeau said. “We improved a lot from when we when the group of guys came in first together. I see a lot of improvements. So hopefully we can keep improving.”
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Cadeau was relieved that RJ Davis will be OK after going up against him during the scrimmage, as he routinely does in practice.
“It’s always a blessing to be able to play against what I think is the best guy in the country,” Cadeau said. “It just makes me better every day. So any chance I get to be able to guard him. I just think it pushes me and makes me better. So I just try my hardest.”
Cadeau said that he feels like he’s more mature now that he was last season and that the game is slowing down some for him.
“I feel like my pace is different, and I feel like I’m a more of a leader this year,” Cadeau said. “As a point guard, you have to be very vocal. I feel like I wasn’t that vocal last year because we had a lot of veterans on the team, but this year, I feel like I’m one of the veterans.”
Tyson enjoyed his first Smith Center experience, even if it was just a public scrimmage.
“It was awesome. It was fun to be out there with my teammates,” said Tyson, who was matched up for much of the game with Powell. “Feel like we really competed. It’s a different type of energy with all the fans in there. You know, I really loved it.”
NOTES — The proceeds from the game went toward relief for victims of Hurricane Helene. … UNC plays two exhibition games — at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday at Memphis (ESPN2) and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 27, against Johnson C. Smith (ESPN3) — before opening the season at 9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4, at home against Elon (ACC Network). … The players wore Craft No. 13 T-shirts during warmups. … UNC’s game at Hawaii on Friday, Nov. 22, will start at 7:30 p.m. Hawaii time (12:30 p.m. ET) and air on ESPN2.
Blue 63, White 53
UNC is one under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| Freshman | Alexandros Samodurov | C | 6–11 | 212 | |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who left for the transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 |
Schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(13 of 14 games)
Oct. 18 — exhibition game vs. Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 — vs. Arkansas in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 6 — vs. Butler
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 15 (tentative date) — vs. N.C. State in a non-conference game in Greensboro
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
Jan. 30 — vs. Illinois in Nashville, Tenn.
ACC games
Home and away: Duke, Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
