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The Carolina women’s soccer program has produced some of the best players in the United States, so why not form a United States team made up mostly of former Tar Heels? That will happen June 1–4 at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary for a 32-team, seven-on-seven $1 million winner-take-all event called The Soccer Tournament, put on by TBT Enterprises, the same company that has run The Basketball Tournament annually in the summer since 2014.
There were rumors two weeks ago that Caleb Love would decommit from Michigan and the guard shot them down on Twitter. Now, multiple reports Wednesday indicate that he is indeed moving on. Love, who originally committed to Michigan on April 7, will look for another school, according to On3.com and 247 Sports, and Fox Sports is reporting that he didn’t have the needed academic credits to transfer.
Entering North Carolina’s big regular-season-ending three-game series at No. 7 Clemson, the Tar Heels still have a shot at winning the ACC Coastal Division title while still being projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels (33–18, 14–11 ACC) would need to sweep the Tigers (36–17, 17–10) and get help to win the division.
The reigning national champion North Carolina women’s lacrosse team was battle-tested heading into the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, where the young Tar Heels face the latest of many huge challenges this season. UNC (16–4) faces No. 5 Denver (21–0) at 5 p.m. (ESPNU) at Dorrance Field with a trip to the Final Four in Cary on the line as the Tar Heels seek their fourth national title. It will be the Tar Heels’ fifth top-five opponent and third in the last five games.
As North Carolina tried to work its way through the one-game player suspensions, the short-handed Tar Heels couldn’t generate enough offense without four big bats missing from the lineup. The Tar Heels took an early three-run lead, but No. 8 Coastal Carolina quickly took control on its way to an 8–6 victory Tuesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C., to end their five-game win streak.
Tyler Hansbrough is the latest Carolina legend elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Hansbrough was voted into the Class of 2023 a year after Coach Roy Williams and guard Larry Miller were part of the Class of 2022, and will become the 14th Tar Heel to enter the Hall.
North Carolina’s weekend sweep of N.C. State didn’t get the Tar Heels back in the D1 Baseball Top 25, but gave them an outside shot at winning the ACC Coastal Division title entering a week featuring two opponents ranked in the top eight nationally.
A young Carolina women’s lacrosse team took No. 17 Richmond’s best shot and withstood it Sunday to reach the NCAA tournament quarterfinals for the 20th consecutive season.
CHAPEL HILL — From suicide-squeezing in the game-ending run in the opener to a pair of blowout victories, North Carolina’s three-game sweep of N.C. State showed that the Tar Heels have the potential to repeat the May magic of a year ago. A year after flipping the switch and surging to the ACC title before hosting a regional and a Super Regional, UNC — after never reaching low points quite as dire — appears to have flipped the switch faster than a Mac Horvath drive shoots over the outfield wall.
CHAPEL HILL — Suddenly, Carolina’s previously struggling starting pitching is tough to beat, although N.C. State did all that it could to stop right-hander Jake Knapp on Saturday. Before the fourth inning, the Wolfpack requested that the umpires check Knapp’s cap, glove and hands for sticky substances. The short investigation produced a smile and a laugh from Knapp but no substances. And he resumed sticking it to State batters in his best outing as a Tar Heel.
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