Bart will have a full wrap-up of the McD’s All-American game coming up before too long, but here are a few other links to keep you busy while highlight reels from the future dance in your heads…
- Larry Drew II is officially transferring to UCLA, now also known as “Carolina Western.” No doubt the Wear twins will be ecstatic to see him again (and I’m also imagining a healthy dose of high-fiving and commiserating between the Wears’ dad and LD2’s mom in the Westwood stands next year). With the departure of Tyler Honeycutt, the Bruins were in need of a PG, so this is hardly a surprise, but UCLA fans are less than thrilled. Best headline summarization goes to Bruins Nation, who writes: “Howland’s Answer to UCLA’s Poing Guard Crisis: Bring in a Rapping Quitter from North Carolina.” Enjoy, UCLA! (Personally, I’m betting on Zeek Jones to beat him out for the starting job midway through the season. Call it a hunch.)
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Meanwhile, UNC deepens their own PG rotation a little with a commitment from Wilmington’s own Stillman White, who turned down offers from BYU and Utah State (yes, he’s Mormon - how did you guess??) to enroll at Carolina for the 2011-12 season, then take his 2-year mission, and presumably return to UNC. Most fans seem relieved at the probability of seeing Dexter Strickland at the point less, though it’s not clear how many minutes White will find in the rotation with a less-than-stellar assist-to-turnover ratio in high school. Nonetheless, for him to develop into a fan favorite we need to start brainstorming Mormom-related nicknames IMMEDIATELY! What’ve you got, people?
- Tar Heel Fan’s “Beyond the Box” feature for UNC-UK, which shows that not getting the ball to Zeller earlier in the game may have been the biggest factor in the Heels not returning to the Final Four.
- With NBA draft watch season upon us, the News & Observer’s Carlton Tudor seems to think the difference in UNC getting all of their prospects back and losing all of them is the difference in first in the country and fourth in the ACC. Duke, however, stands to be fine regardless of whether or not Irving goes.
- UNC Football will hold their Pro Day today, and former Tar Heels Marvin Austin, Robert Quinn and Greg Little will be allowed to participate, which AD Dick Baddour believes is a way for both the athletes and the school to “move forward,” by which he means “get publicity for having first-round draft picks.”
- Frontline is digging into the ever-present issue of whether or not NCAA athletes should be paid. HBO’s Real Sports, however, is apparently revealing that lots of college athletes already DO get paid! Although, technically speaking, not legally, which is why it’s a bit of a controversy.
Finally, with the Final Four coming up this weekend and both rivalry teams out of the hunt, our official stance at Blue vs. Blue is that we are putting our support firmly behind… Butler. Go Bulldogs!