Tar Heels in NBA: Improved, more mature White vying to be Bulls’ starting point guard; Anthony, Barnes have solid preseason openers

The Chicago Bulls are noticing a more seasoned, mature Coby White off the court, and he showed that it’s translating to the court in his preseason debut. White, Cole Anthony and Harrison Barnes got their exhibition seasons off to a good start, as every NBA team has played at least one preseason game.

Freshmen Toomey, Hull to redshirt, rehabilitate injuries

Two highly touted members of Carolina’s five-player freshman class will redshirt this season. Five-star stretch forward Ciera Toomey (top photo), the No. 4 player in the Class of 2023, and wing Laila Hull (bottom photo), last season’s Miss Basketball and Gatorade Player of the Year in Indiana, won’t play while they continue to rehabilitate high school injuries.

Tar Heels in NFL: Downs has best day of rookie season; Holcomb has big game; Chandler gains big on fake punt

Josh Downs had the best game of his rookie season, Cole Holcomb had a big day and Ty Chandler made a fake punt work on a Sunday with few bright spots for UNC alums. Although a touchdown still has eluded Downs through five games, the wide receiver caught all six passes targeted to him Sunday for a season-high 97 yards to put up a season-high 15.7 fantasy points in the Indianapolis Colts’ 23–16 home victory over the Tennessee Titans.

Good, Bad and Ugly Report: Syracuse

Sometimes things happen in college football that are simply unexpected. UNC’s dominating 40-7 win over Syracuse in Chapel Hill certainly falls in that category. It’s not that Carolina won the game; the Heels were an eight-point favorite and had a 61% chance to win, according to the ESPN FPI index. But I don’t think anyone anticipated such a dominating performance on both sides of the ball, leading to UNC’s biggest margin of victory since beating Georgia State 59–17 in 2021.

Cadeau has ‘two-year plan’ with no pressure to be one-and-done

CHAPEL HILL — Whatever comes to pass for Elliot Cadeau after a season sure to be full of eye-popping passes is fine for the precocious freshman.
When the five-star Class of 2024 guard with outstanding court vision reclassified last summer to join Carolina this season, many assumed he’d play one season and then move on to the NBA. While that’s still possible, the 6–1, 180-pound Cadeau says there is no urgency for it to play out like that.

Size of Hubert Davis’ rotation still mystery but his desired tempo isn’t

CHAPEL HILL — With a more veteran team and many options on his overhauled North Carolina roster, will Coach Hubert Davis play a bigger rotation? That answer may come later, but he didn’t offer one at men’s basketball media day, reiterating that he doesn’t have any philosophy on the rotation size he prefers.