North Carolina
Johnson plays with new aura in Carolina Blue
Tom Shanahan Feb 17 2019CHAPEL HILL – Cameron Johnson is the same guy that averaged 11.9 points a game two seasons ago, but he possesses a different aura about him. He’s no longer just another good ACC player in a Pitt uniform. At North Carolina, a blue blood basketball program, he's a focal point...
Williams supporting Manning but not this week
Tom Shanahan Feb 15 2019CHAPEL HILL – Wake Forest coach Danny Manning is struggling. He guided the Demon Deacons to the NCAA tournament two years ago, but otherwise he’s mired in a fourth losing season out of five in Winston-Salam. The temperature is turning up on the hot seat. Manning never played or...
The education of a Tar Heels point guard
Tom Shanahan Feb 3 2019Watch Coby White now that the ACC basketball logjam at the top has been halved to three one-loss teams, Virginia, Duke and North Carolina. In the past week, North Carolina’s maturing freshman has moved ahead a couple chapters in the education of a point guard. You can hear it in...
Julius Peppers surprised Williams long ago
Tom Shanahan Feb 1 2019CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Roy Williams was still coaching at Kansas the first time he saw Julius Peppers in a summer tournament. Upon hearing Peppers was committed to North Carolina he thought the kid was in over his then-6-foot-5 height. “The Peach Jam is my favorite tournament of...
More to ACC Saturday than Virginia at Duke
Tom Shanahan Jan 18 2019Virginia and ESPN’s College GameDay crew are at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday for an ACC first-place showdown. The unbeaten Cavaliers (16-0) are 4-0 in conference play and the Blue Devils 14-2 and 3-1.But what about the other 3-1 teams in range of a first-place tie if...
North Carolina vets needed against Duke
Tom Shanahan Jan 4 2019By Tom Shanahan Can anybody beat Duke? On paper, the answers appears to be no. We already know that Kentucky, the only school that can keep pace with Duke’s ability to recruit NBA lottery picks, isn’t a likely candidate. The Blue Devils’ NBA combine roster beat the Wildcats’...
Bateman brings plenty from Army to Tar Heels
Tom Shanahan Dec 27 2018Numbers aplenty explain Mack Brown luring Jay Bateman to leave Army for his newly assembled staff at North Carolina staff. But in college football, statistics are only half of story to grading a coach’s value. What about developing talent? What about recruiting? Those are parts...
North Carolina relying on veterans
Tom Shanahan Nov 4 2018Can anybody beat Duke? On paper, the answers appears to be no. We already know that Kentucky, the only school that can keep pace with Duke’s ability to recruit NBA lottery picks, isn’t a likely candidate. The Blue Devils’ NBA combine roster beat the Wildcats’ NBA combine roster...
Paying back a mentor who opened doors
Tom Shanahan Sep 27 2018A light drizzle fell midway through the 12th annual Jimmy Raye Youth Foundation free football camp as NFL coaches and players ran kids through drills Tuesday at Raye's alma mater, E.E. Smith High in Fayetteville, N.C.Then-Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, a...
Blake Proehl motivated to face North Carolina
Tom Shanahan Sep 6 2018By Tom Shanahan, CorrespondentGREENVILLE -- East Carolina’s players thrive on chances to show ACC schools they were overlooked, but the Pirates were beaten last week by another team motivated by the desire to prove themselves.North Carolina A&T, a Football Championship...