North Carolina: Larry Drew Is Gone, but Should the Tar Heels Really Care?

North Carolina Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams announced that he received a phone call from Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew on Friday morning stating his son's intentions to transfer, but the real question is, should we care?

After absorbing the initial shock of Drew's departure and realizing there are few options behind new starter Kendall Marshall, the next logical line of thought should be to thank Drew for his efforts and move towards the future.

But, unfortunately the Tar Heels recent play of late and the fact that their recent winning streak coincided with Williams' decision to start Marshall over Drew places the program in a very precarious situation over the next several games.

Drew's production has never been anything to get excited about as he has averaged about five points and four assists this season, but the move to the bench clearly motivated him and it was revealed in his play over the last three games.

In those games Drew tallied 18 assists and only two turnovers and appeared to be the spark plug the young Tar Heels needed off the bench.

But, there were signs that Drew was less than pleased about Williams' decision, and it must have become crystal clear that the starting point guard position exclusively belonged to Marshall now.

So where does North Carolina go from here?

Drew's announcement couldn't have come at a worse time with upcoming games against Florida State and Duke on the schedule, and the only real back-up for Marshall now is second year guard Dexter Strickland.

Williams said he wished the best for Drew, but he was clearly puzzled by his decision, and junior forward Ty Zeller said that even though he didn't think any of his teammates were angry with Drew, they were obviously blind-sided by the turn of events.

Not to mention left in a pretty bad spot.

At least when David and Travis Wear decided to transfer they waited until last season ended, but Drew has departed like a thief in the night.

Drew or his father have yet to announce what school he will transfer to but he must sit out one season per NCAA rules, and he will have one season of eligibility remaining once he returns.

This young Tar Heels team was finally beginning to round into the type of squad that many fans felt they could be once the season began, and emerging stars Harrison Barnes and John Henson will likely be forced to step up their efforts if UNC hopes to remain near the top of the ACC.

I wish the younger Drew well in his future endeavours, but I'm not sure he will find that the grass is really that much greener on the other side.