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Michael Norwood knew better than to get in Michael Jordan’s way when Jordan had a breakaway. Norwood, a former North Carolina walk-on and team captain who played for Dean Smith in the 1980s, had the perfect view during a summer camp pickup game when Jordan took off and delivered the same rock-the-cradle dunk fans had seen so many times.
Coach Michael Malone got the backcourt addition he needed to fill the roster of his first Carolina team when former Buffalo guard Angelo Brizzi, who began his college career at Villanova, committed to the Tar Heels according to multiple reports.
Tar Heel Tribune is adding another way for Carolina fans to follow the Tar Heels, launching the “Tar Heel Tribune Podcast” with hosts Britt Whitmire and R.L. Bynum.
North Carolina is in contention for one of the top big men in the Class of 2027. Four-star 6–11 rising senior center Darius Wabbington, a standout at Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix, has included UNC in his final six schools, along with Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville and Texas, according to On3’s Joe Tipton.
Day’Ron Sharpe appears set to stay in Brooklyn, and the former North Carolina big man could be in line for a larger role next season.
North Carolina men’s basketball coach Michael Malone spent a day far from the Smith Center, trading a whistle and practice plan for a parachute and a leap from thousands of feet above the ground. Malone went skydiving Saturday with the U.S. Army Golden Knights and documented his first jump in a video. The setting was a departure from his usual environment, but the approach carried a familiar tone, confidence, curiosity and a willingness to embrace something new.
Caleb Wilson formally introduced himself to Chicago on Friday, and Bulls fans quickly found out what Carolina fans have known for a while: the talented forward isn’t lacking in confidence.
A full day of memorable Carolina victories, from postseason thrills and rivalry showdowns to a memorable Seth Trimble shot, will take over ACC Network on Wednesday as part of the channel’s annual school takeover programming.
Henri Veesaar’s first full day as an Atlanta Hawk came with a familiar face watching from the back of the room. UNC coach Hubert Davis was on hand Thursday at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex in Brookhaven, Ga., as Veesaar, Atlanta’s second-round draft pick, met with reporters alongside the Hawks’ other two draftees, Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor.
North Carolina and Illinois, two programs with national ambitions and a shared history on college basketball’s biggest stages, will meet Jan. 30 in the Nashville Hoops Showdown at Bridgestone Arena. The late-season non-conference matchup will bring together two teams expected to contend for league championships, adding a marquee national test in the middle of conference play. Game time and television information will be announced later.
The North Carolina–N.C. State men’s basketball rivalry appears set to get an extra venue next season, and a familiar one for ACC fans.
Jaelynn Murray Burrus’ Carolina story has already taken her from player to captain, from graduate student to staff member, and now into one of the program’s key leadership roles at a pivotal moment in college athletics. After three years on North Carolina’s women’s basketball staff as assistant director of recruiting operations, Murray Burrus was elevated Thursday to Director of Women’s Basketball, giving the former Tar Heel forward an expanded role in a program she has helped shape from multiple vantage points.
Henri Veesaar bet on himself, on his development and on the idea that the best path to becoming a productive NBA player is to start his pro career next season. In the long run, he may still be right. In the short term, though, draft night made that decision look costly financially.
Caleb Wilson is headed from Chapel Hill to Chicago, joining one of the NBA’s most iconic franchises and following the path of the most famous Tar Heel in Michael Jordan. The moment Tuesday night in Brooklyn, when the Chicago Bulls made Wilson the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA draft, carried added meaning because former Carolina coach Hubert Davis was at the Barclays Center to share it with him.
OMAHA, Neb. — Pitching and defense got No. 4 North Carolina to the brink of the College World Series Finals, but it was the Tar Heels’ explosive offense that sent them there for the first time since 2007. The hitting was contagious in UNC’s 12–7 victory Wednesday over West Virginia, and it was needed to withstand six late Mountaineers runs. Carolina bettered its combined output of 11 runs in the first two games and showed that this team can swing the bats as well as any team in the country.
