North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams is now the happiest man on the planet, as a trio of stars is apparently returning to school.
According to sources, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green will all turn their backs on the NBA and try to finish what they started and win a national championship. The three were unsure if they would be selected in the first round of the draft.
Lawson, who was arrested last week for underage alcohol consumption, was expected to be the highest pick among the UNC players, but said he wanted to return for his junior season to fine-tune his game.
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Ellington and Green were looking like second round picks, which doesn't carry any guarantees of making the team or getting a contract. So the biggest decision of their young careers was to come back to school and work on improving their draft status for the following year.
They will team up again with returning senior and reigning player of the year, Tyler Hansbrough. This should without a doubt make Carolina the favorite to cut the nets down next season.
The Heels finished last season 36-3 and won the ACC regular season and tournament titles, but took a beating in the Final Four at the hands of the eventual national champion Kansas Jayhawks.
In next year's NBA draft, the Tar Heels could do what few college teams ever do and have four players drafted in the first round from the same school.
Roy Williams said this was a lengthy process and looked to his stars to make a decision on their own. He is excited to have all his starters return for one more year.
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2 months ago
No. 1 without a doubt.
2 months ago
amazing. they wont lose a game next year. I'm not just saying this as an excited fan. I'm being serious. Who is capable of beating them? Duke returns everyone, and they will be good, but they were clearly worse than UNC last year and UNC has everyone returning AND added more talent. Duke added a couple of marginal prospects. UCLA? they lost too much. Memphis and Kansas as well. Who else is there? UCONN isnt gonna be good enough. GTown as well.
from 2 months ago
While I completely concur with your statement that UNC should be considered the prohibitive favorite entering the season, do you really believe that they won't drop a game?
Remember, this is the team that dropped a home game to a mediocre Maryland team and won two very close games against Clemson. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just not sold that this is an undefeated squad.
from 2 months ago
I really do believe they will go undefeated. They only lost 3 times last year. And they lost to MD and came close to losing to Clemson, but they didnt. And they are getting better, while both those teams are gonna be worse. They are going to be better than they were last year, while nobody else got better, or at least the teams that did, we so much worse then the tarheels that they still arent going to be close.
2 months ago
Yes UNC looks great on paper but UConn will make a strong run in this year as well.
My final four pick: UNC, UConn, UCLA, Florida
2 months ago
As a Michigan State fan, I like to think that with our incoming freshmen we have a chance to beat anybody in the country...
But seeing all that talent at North Carolina decide to stay in school should frighten anybody. Really looking forward to the season!
2 months ago
I'm a Tar Heel fan, and no way does this team go undefeated (although they will enter the season ranked No. 1). Anybody who saw the lack of defensive intensity on this team last year knows that is a major hole that needs to be shored up should this team be a contender to win it all. Plenty of talent to get it done, but this team was in way too many close games last year due to marginal defense, something that has to change for this team to go the distance.
2 months ago
Adam, don't get carried away. NC will not go undefeated, it's called an upset, that's how they will loose. I believe everyone of NC losses last year was by upset. Do i need to remind you, you play in the ACC, not conference USA.
from 26 days ago
sure, they could "loose" in an upset, I'm not saying it's a 100% that they will go undefeated, but they will be favored in every single game this season. By a good margin. And last time I checked, the ACC isnt the ACC of old. This year it's only UNC, Duke, and Miami (who should be pretty good, but it's still Miami, my bet is they arent as good as advertised). Last year, there was kansas, memphis, and ucla that could have all been considered the best team in the nation. Now there is only 1. This team has the most experience and talent in college basketball in years. Last team I can think of that was this good was the 2003 team, and this years team would crush them I think. Besides them, who else? 90-91 UNLV might have given them a run for their money, but that's it. This team will be legendary.
2 months ago
I hate UNC but they will be the best team in the nation. I do always hope they beat the shit out of dUKe though.
2 months ago
No chance for undefeated. Returning a team that was beat down so badly by Kansas will not survive the entire season without a loss.
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