ESPN Men's Basketball

1. Former Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was convinced he had a much-improved team next season. Erick Green would likely be an all-ACC guard. Dorian Finney-Smith is a possible star in the league. Last season’s team had only three seniors. That’s why this reeks of a classic athletic-director move of firing a head coach to set up a winning roster so the new coach has success in year one before a rebuild begins. The timing, with two-plus weeks left in the spring signing period, and the spring semester ending soon, might make it harder for anyone to leave.

2. UCLA has a chance for a special season with the top-rated recruiting class led by Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams and now Tony Parker, too. This is a Calipari-Kentucky-like class, oozing with one-and-done NBA potential. But for the Bruins to have a unique season like Kentucky just had, they must get veteran leadership, too. UK always had at least two selfless contributors who were upperclassmen. That puts the burden on Josh Smith, David and Travis Wear, Larry Drew II and Tyler Lamb to show significant improvement in leadership as well as their production.

3. Schools looking at Mark Lyons should pause after reading Xavier coach Chris Mack’s statement. If Lyons was against the constructive criticism about what he needs to improve upon, then why toss a potential disruptive force into a locker room for only one season? Lyons has to share some of the blame for Xavier’s mid-season collapse before the Musketeers rebounded to reach the Sweet 16. But something is clearly wrong if he can’t finish his final year at Xavier.

For more on Missouri's four incoming transfers, click here. In the meantime, a look at some other transfers set to begin play at their new schools in 2012-13.

Malcolm Armstead, Wichita State (from Oregon): The point guard will be a huge boost to a Shocker backcourt that loses leading scorer Joe Ragland and Toure' Murry. Armstead, who played two seasons at Chipola College under Wichita assistants Greg Heiar and Dana Ford, will be a senior. He averaged 8.6 points and 4.4 assists in his last season with the Ducks (2010-11).

Khem Birch and Bryce Jones, UNLV (from Pittsburgh and USC): Birch, the former McDonald’s All-American, scorched a path from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas, lambasting his former team on the way out the door. Now he’s got a more up-tempo style and a ready-made scoring partner in the form of Mike Moser. Jones, who left USC with similar ill will after reports of an altercation with a teammate followed him out of town, is already a proven scorer -- he averaged 11 points per game before his minutes dropped following the addition of Jio Fontan.

Rotnei Clarke, Butler (from Arkansas): For a Bulldog team that struggled to score and shoot, Clarke is like a Christmas present. Arguably one of the best perimeter shooters in the game, he averaged 15 points and shot 44 percent from the arc before leaving Arkansas. Butler shot a woeful 28 percent from the 3-point line last season.

Will Clyburn and Korie Lucious, Iowa State (from Utah and Michigan State): Fred Hoiberg’s Ellis Island recruiting methods paid huge dividends this past season as the Cyclones' coach was able to meld a group of transfers into an NCAA tournament team. Now it’s time for more tinkering with the additions of Clyburn and Lucious. Lucious, a true point guard, brings two Final Four berths and an early dismissal from Michigan State to Ames. Clyburn left Utah as the team’s leading scorer (17.1 points) and rebounder (7.8).

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Taran Buie, Hofstra (from UConn and Penn State): If the risks reap the rewards, then Mo Cassara could right Hofstra’s downward blip quickly. The Pride won just three CAA games this past season, but with Coombs-McDaniel and Buie, he now has two high-caliber players and two terrific scorers on the bench. Both, however, need to embrace real change at Hofstra. Coombs-McDaniel left UConn in search of more playing time, but also after being arrested for marijuana possession. Buie, the most highly ranked recruit to land at Penn State, was suspended indefinitely in his final year there for a violation of team rules.

Larry Drew II, UCLA (from North Carolina): One of the most talked about transfers in recent memory, the Tar Heels' former piñata gets his do-over at Westwood. Certainly he has good timing. After a dismal and fractured season for UCLA, the Bruins landed top recruit Shabazz Muhammad, who, along with the Wear twins, give Drew plenty of options. Just how he handles them, and whether he can cut down on his turnovers, will be the biggest question mark -- one no doubt watched by folks in Los Angeles and Chapel Hill, with marked curiosity.

Luke Hancock, Louisville (from George Mason): The Cardinals rode their defensive tenacity all the way to the Final Four this past season -- mostly because their offense couldn’t take them out of Kentucky. Bringing in Hancock will help change that. He’s not a bona fide superstar, but he’s a solid and efficient scorer who most will remember for the 3-point dagger he dropped on Villanova two seasons ago in the NCAA tournament.

Ryan Harrow, Kentucky (from NC State): Harrow’s addition will go largely unnoticed amid the celebratory din with the arrival of Nerlens Noel, but Harrow could be the most critical part of the Wildcats’ rebuilding. Kentucky went 4-for-4 in recruiting -- four players signed, four ESPNU Top 100 players -- but none of those guys are point guards. Harrow is. More important, he’s a point guard with major minutes under his belt, having started 10 of his final 15 games at NC State.

Colton Iverson, Colorado State (from Minnesota): You have to feel for a kid like Iverson, who opted for Colorado State a year ago in part because Tim Miles recruited him out of high school. Now Miles is gone, off to Nebraska, and Iverson, with one season of college basketball left, has a new coach to adjust to in Larry Eustachy. Eustachy should be thrilled, of course, to have Iverson, a solid big man who averaged 5.4 points and 5.0 boards despite sharing time with Ralph Sampson III in his final season at Minnesota.

Wally Judge, Rutgers (from Kansas State): A former McDonald’s All American who chafed under Frank Martin, Judge gets a second chance with Mike Rice. He’s another feather in Rice’s recruiting cap, but will need to play hard without the disciplinary issues that rendered him ineffective at Kansas State. The Scarlet Knights could use a big body with experience like Judge’s in the Big East wars.

Aaric Murray and Juwan Staten, West Virginia (from La Salle and Dayton): Bob Huggins made no secret about his frustration with his young Mountaineer team this past season, bemoaning after they lost to Gonzaga in March about the team’s lack of defensive pride and offensive ability. And that was before Kevin Jones and Truck Bryant left. Murray and Staten could change that. Murray, a highly touted prospect out of high school, averaged 15.2 points and 7.7 rebounds for La Salle. Staten, meantime, is a solid, tough-minded point guard who averaged 5.4 assists in his one season at Dayton.

D.J. Newbill, Penn State (from Southern Miss): Here’s why Newbill is huge for coach Patrick Chambers: He’s from Philly. If Chambers is going to turn the Nittany Lions around, he has to make recruiting inroads in the state’s biggest city. Newbill helps with that. The fact that he’s also talented -- averaging 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in his one season with Eustachy -- is a huge bonus for a Penn State team in dire need of skill infusion.

J.J. O’Brien and Dwayne Polee, San Diego State (from Utah and St. John’s): O’Brien, who elected to leave Utah after Jim Boylen was fired, is a solid scorer who averaged 6.4 points despite missing nine games with a broken foot. Polee, a gifted athlete, started 27 games for Steve Lavin as a freshman, but he was on the wrong coast. Polee is from Los Angeles, and the pull to be closer to home, where his mother has an undisclosed illness, was too much to overcome. Now Steve Fisher, who already had an impressive would-be mulligan season, has even more talent to keep the Aztecs moving forward.

Stacey Poole, Georgia Tech (from Kentucky): Poole, whose playing time headed south as the Wildcats brought in more talented freshmen, made the smart decision to head elsewhere where he will be needed. And Georgia Tech needs him. Poole, a top-50 player out of high school, will help Brian Gregory turn Tech in the right direction. An added plus: Poole’s younger brother, Solomon, 25th in the ESPNU top 60, has the Yellow Jackets on his short list.

Eric Wise, USC (from UC Irvine): Wise was looking to up his future stock, and Southern Cal, to up its future. Call this a match made in heaven. Wise averaged 16.3 points and 8.1 rebounds for the Anteaters, and will be a much welcomed shot in the arm for the Trojans, who averaged an offensive 53 points in winning one Pac 12 game all season.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina coach Roy Williams says he feels comfortable playing Kendall Marshall 35, 36, 37 minutes -- if he has to.

Marshall says he has every confidence he can do it, too.

After all, the sophomore point guard has done it before.

It was only about a year ago -- in early February, just four games after being inserted into the starting lineup -- that Marshall found himself the Tar Heels’ only true ballhandler after Larry Drew II inexplicably opted to bolt town and announce his transfer. Marshall averaged 34.7 minutes over his final nine ACC regular-season games, then 35.1 minutes in UNC’s seven postseason outings.

Now that starting shooting guard/back-up point guard Dexter Strickland is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee, Marshall finds himself in an eerily similar situation.

“It’s almost like déjà vu,’’ Marshall said Wednesday. “Last year, we took a bad loss, started playing, playing well, lost a player and had to figure it out from there.

“…I have full faith in our team that we’ll get it done. I think we’re a lot more relaxed than at this point last year. We were like, ‘Oh my God, what are we going to do without Larry?’ But I think going through it for a second time, we’re a lot more aware of the situation. And now we just want to play basketball.”

Marshall said the hardest part of last season’s final 16 games was the ACC tournament, when UNC played three games in three days (including one in overtime): “I think that’s the only time where I felt physically worn out,’’ he said.

He did have Strickland -- who grew more and more comfortable handling the ball as last season wore on -- to spell him. But now that he’s out, the only other ballhandler left is freshman Stilman White, who has averaged only 4.3 minutes over 15 games, mostly when the outcome has been decided.

Williams, whose eighth-ranked team plays N.C. State on Thursday, said he would probably use the 6-foot, 160-pounder mostly around TV timeouts to try to give Marshall a longer breather.

“If he does well, he’ll get more opportunities,’’ Williams said of White. “And if he doesn’t do well, we’ll try to make sure we try to keep Kendall fresher some way. I think it just depends on how it goes when he gets in there.”

Marshall, who is averaging a team-high 31.2 minutes this season, doesn’t seem particularly worried about his potential increase in playing time.

Since last season, he said, he’s learned to take better care of his body -- stretching more, getting to bed earlier.

Williams said Marshall could still improve in the weight room, but “he’s worked, done a nice job on his body. Not anything as much as I want him to do, but I might be able to say that about a lot of other guys, too.”

Still, he's sure his starting point guard can compete for longer stretches, just like last season.

“I think he can play 34, 35 minutes per game,’’ Williams said. “I hope that he doesn’t have to. But I think he can, if we ask him to.”

Follow Robbi Pickeral on Twitter at@bylinerp.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – As he helped injured shooting guard Dexter Strickland off the court Thursday night, it didn’t take long for North Carolina freshman Stilman White to realize the potential ramifications.

One of the reasons he was signed last spring was for insurance, to give the Tar Heels an extra ballhandler in case sophomore starter Kendall Marshall, or backup Strickland, got hurt.

Now that Strickland is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee, it’s time to see how that insurance will pay off.

“I have confidence in myself; I know I can get the job done,’’ White said Tuesday. “It’s not like they’re asking too much of me, to play most of the game. I just need to give Kendall some relief, and hopefully I can do that and do a good job.”

Strickland, the starting shooting guard, was playing only about three minutes a half at point guard – but they were important minutes, enough to re-energize Marshall, who is already averaging more than 31 minutes per game. (And enough to give the team confidence that it had an experienced backup point guard should Marshall get hurt or into foul trouble.)

Marshall can (and probably will) play more, and coach Roy Williams said the team may try running the offense in stretches without a natural ballhandler on the floor.

But White, Williams said, “is going to be given the chance to get into the game, and we’ll see. Nobody’s got a magic wand; we’ll see what happens.”

A 6-foot, 160-pounder from Wilmington, N.C., White averaged 20.5 points and 3.0 assists as a senior at Hoggard High, where he even occasionally jumped center. A Mormon, he originally planned to begin a two-year mission this season before eventually playing basketball at Utah, BYU or UNC Wilmington.

That is, until UNC, in need of another point guard after Larry Drew II transferred near mid-season last year, came calling. (White will go on his mission next season, and return to UNC in 2014.)

“I never really even thought I’d end up somewhere like here, but it was definitely an exciting moment in my life to have the option to come here,’’ said White, ranked a two-star recruit by Scout.com.

And since coming here, he’s worked. Although he’s played in only 15 games, averaging 4.3 minutes mostly when the outcome is already sealed, White has spent plenty of time guarding Marshall in practice. He said that's helped him learn, improve and prepare, just in case.

“Just going against a quality point guard every day like Kendall, who I think is the best in the country, has definitely got me ready,’’ he said. “Because I know every day in practice that I go up against the best, so anyone I go out and play against is probably not as good as Kendall. So that gives me a lot of confidence that if I can do stuff against him, I can do it against other people.”

It will be a challenge, though, even in short spurts.

Although “he’s really been doing a nice job,” in practice, Williams said, being a freshman point guard at UNC “is just overwhelming sometimes.”

During the 2004-05 national championship season, for example, rookie ballhandler Quentin Thomas was so inconsistent that shooting guard Melvin Scott ended up trying to spell starter Raymond Felton for stretches. In the end, Felton ended up playing more minutes – even when it meant the Tar Heels had to play zone to protect him from picking up too many fouls.

“Quentin Thomas’ freshman year, he really couldn’t handle it,’’ Williams said. “But Kendall Marshall, his freshman year [last season], was off the charts. And my guess is that Stilman will be somewhere in there.”

The question is: where?

Since learning that Strickland would be sidelined for the rest of the season, White said he’s gotten plenty of advice.

UNC assistant coach Jerod Haase has reminded him that this is an opportunity of a lifetime, and to do his best to take advantage. Marshall has stressed that the entire team has faith in him, and to play with confidence.

White’s high school coach has insisted that this situation is why he was recruited, and to never doubt his ability.

Thus, entering Thursday's game against N.C. State, White is anxious -- but in a good way.

“I think just being nervous comes with it, and I hope I’m a little nervous going into it, because I think that always makes people play better,’’ he said. “So I’ve just got to make sure I come in, I stay on edge, and play with some edge and play hard, and just kind of be a scrappy kid. And see what happens out there.”

Follow Robbi Pickeral on Twitter at @bylinerp.

Austin Rivers is expected to make an immediate impact in his freshman year at Duke. Larry Drew II quit North Carolina this season and transferred to UCLA. Their names carry weight not only because they play for high-major schools, but also because their fathers are current NBA head coaches.

Tyrell Corbin, the son of Utah Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin, has chosen to play for UC Davis, and it was announced today that he has signed with the Big West school. There are a couple of good reasons why Utah's Mr. Basketball decided on joining a program that finished last in the league and has a new coach.

That new coach is Jim Les, a former teammate of the elder Corbin's with the Atlanta Hawks. Les landed at UC Davis last month after being fired at Bradley, and he has a great recruiting pitch he can use when it comes to showing he believes in the Aggies program.

After all, Les' son, Tyler, is a freshman guard at UC Davis. Les was OK with sending his own child to California's Central Valley before he got there himself, and he can now tell that to the parents of recruits even if it's a dad who's an NBA coach.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Would it be OK if Dad applied to be his coach?

"I was extremely excited," Tyler Les said Friday. "It was one of my dreams to play for my dad. I've seen the success he had in the system at Bradley. I really wanted to be a part of that.

"I think he can push us to the next level."

The 6-foot Corbin is a significant recruit for UC Davis who should help Les get the program off the ground. Corbin had also reportedly been receiving interest from schools such as Louisville and Utah.

"In Ty we add a proven winner and floor general to our basketball program," Les said in a statement. "He combines work ethic, talent and impeccable character to embody the type of all-around student-athlete we need at UC Davis to be successful."

Five observations from the past week:

1. The SEC is beginning to take shape. If Kentucky had beaten Florida on Saturday night, the SEC East picture would have continued to look bunched and muddled. In many ways, it still does. Tennessee is 5-3, Georgia is 5-4 and Kentucky, Vanderbilt and South Carolina are all tied at 4-4 halfway through the SEC schedule. But we are beginning to figure a few things out. For one, Florida is now in the driver’s seat. At 7-2, the Gators have created that all-important sliver of daylight between them and the rest of their divisional foes. Billy Donovan’s team is now the obvious favorite to win the conference going forward. If anyone else -- Kentucky, Tennessee, Vandy or UGA -- is going to break away from the pack, it will have to start winning road games against fellow members of that group.

2. Speaking of the SEC, how about Alabama? There’s at least one other thing we know about the SEC: Alabama is making a legitimate run at an at-large tournament berth. After the Crimson Tide’s 65-60 win at Tennessee over the weekend, Anthony Grant’s team is now 7-1 in conference play and 15-7 overall. Alabama has been winning with its defense, which is the best in the SEC and one of the best in the country -- No. 5 in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted efficiency rankings -- on a per-possession basis. The Tide didn’t impress in the nonconference season, but they’ve been very good in league play and, thanks to the otherwise putrid SEC West, their remaining schedule includes games against Ole Miss (home and away), LSU, Auburn and Arkansas. They also have two more chances to get big road wins at Vanderbilt (Feb. 10) and Florida (March 1). Depending on what the Tide do the rest of the way, they could very well earn themselves a way into the NCAA tournament on the strength of their conference performance alone. How many wins will that take? We’re about to find out.

3. Ohio State just keeps on rolling. That’s the easiest observation of the day. On Sunday, the Buckeyes easily handled a hobbled Minnesota team in the Barn and moved to 24-0 overall and 11-0 in the Big Ten. What’s interesting about this team -- beyond its ongoing and comprehensive brilliance, of course -- is that even at 24-0, most people aren’t wondering whether or not it could maybe, just maybe, go undefeated. There are a few arguments to be made here. One is that no one should be talking about an undefeated season, because undefeated seasons never happen. The other is that this team specifically doesn’t warrant that kind of talk, because a) the Buckeyes have nearly lost a handful of close games, and it’s only a matter of time until one of those late finishes goes the opposite way, and b) Ohio State will play the meat of its conference schedule in the coming weeks.

All fair points. Still, though, this team is 24-0. In a season that saw college hoops observers far and wide casually consider the possibility that Duke could go unbeaten, you’d think we’d be having a similar conversation about Ohio State. Let’s just say this: If OSU manages to win at Wisconsin next Saturday, expect the “Could they really do it?” talk to dial up in a major way.

4. But is Ohio State even the best team in the country? I’d say yes. (Again: 24-0!) But you can make a pretty good case that Texas is playing the best basketball of any team in the nation. After late January wins at Kansas and Oklahoma State, Texas beat Missouri by 13 Saturday and utterly throttled Texas A&M -- in College Station, no less -- on Monday. The Longhorns are 8-0 in conference play with an average margin of victory of 18 points. They’re holding opposing offenses to .84 points per trip in conference play. They’re scoring 1.11 points per possession on offense. In other words, the Horns are shredding everything in their path, and they’re doing it with the kind of cohesive team effort Rick Barnes and company so sorely lacked during last season’s miserable slide. With the possible exception of Ohio State, there isn’t a team in the country you’d take over Texas on a neutral court right now. They’ve just been that good.

5. North Carolina doesn’t seem to miss Larry Drew II. Drew’s surprising decision to leave UNC -- smack-dab in the middle of North Carolina’s impressive February resurgence -- caused no small amount of intrigue this week. Would his departure cost UNC a valuable bench contributor and perimeter defender? Or would the transfer be addition by subtraction? How would Roy Williams handle the team going forward? And why would Drew quit on his team now? It’s far too early to draw major conclusions, but if Sunday’s 89-69 win over Florida State is any indication, the Tar Heels are going to be just fine without Drew in the fold. Carolina continued its remarkable offensive improvement Sunday. When you score 89 points against Florida State’s vaunted defense, you deserve a gold star. The sudden offensive awesomeness is in large part a function of freshman Kendall Marshall, Drew’s midseason starting replacement at point guard. He had a mere 16 assists in Sunday’s win. Marshall doesn’t deserve all of the credit for UNC’s improved play any more than Drew deserved all the blame. (Harrison Barnes has found his shot recently, and that certainly helps.) But there’s no question Marshall is a more capable facilitator than Drew ever was, and while UNC might miss Drew’s defense off the bench in the coming weeks, they probably won’t miss him too much.

Well, I can't say I saw that one coming.

A couple weeks after losing his starting point guard spot to freshman Kendall Marshall, North Carolina junior Larry Drew II has decided to take his ball and go home. The news was first reported by ESPN.com's Pat Forde, and UNC made it official this afternoon with this rather wordy statement from coach Roy Williams:

"This morning I spoke to Larry Drew Sr. and he informed me that it was in Larry II's best interest to leave North Carolina at this time," says Williams. "Personally I hate this for Larry and our team because he was such an important part of our team and he has continued to improve and played well in recent games. He was our defensive award winner in two of our last four games and has handled the ball really well in our four-game win streak.

"But I understand that families and players have to make their own decisions as to what is best for them at a particular time in their lives. He contributed a great deal to our program in his two and a half years here, including being a part of a national championship team. I regret that Larry and his family feel this is the right thing to do, but again, each individual has to do what they think is best. He will be successful wherever he chooses to go. I appreciate what he gave to our University and basketball program in his time here."

Reading between the carefully worded press release lines is always a fool's task, but it's safe to say Roy doesn't seem very happy about the Drew family's decision. Drew II released his own statement alongside Williams', but he gave no specific reason for his departure. (The closest he got was saying it was "unfortunate my career didn't meet expectations in Chapel Hill ... ")

I'm loathe to play the speculation game, but in this case, it's not exactly a leap of the imagination to assume Williams' recent decision to insert Marshall into Drew's spot in the starting lineup had something to do with Drew's departure. Drew II entered this year with plenty of starting experience under his belt, and losing that role to a freshman no doubt stung.

But you can't blame Williams for making the switch. Marshall has been by far the more effective player this season; he's a much better shooter, a better passer and a more intuitive floor-spacer, and his intelligent leadership has led to a much more effective Tar Heels offense in general. Marshall facilitates for his teammates -- guys like Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller -- in ways that Drew II never did. UNC's suddenly effective offensive play is no coincidence.

For his part, Drew seemed to have settled into a nice role as a defensive stopper; he's played as well in recent games as he has at any point during his disappointing UNC career.

Still, the timing of the decision, even when taken next to Williams' recent lineup change, is a bit strange. Midseason transfers aren't rare, but midseason transfers in February -- especially at North Carolina, and especially on teams tied for the ACC conference lead -- are. Why not wait until after the season is finished to make this decision? Why not try to settle into your new role? If Drew sees himself as a starter, surely he could swallow that pride for a few more months? And if that's not the issue, then what is?

Whether Drew's departure affects UNC's suddenly realistic chances of competing for the ACC title remains to be seen. Again, there's a reason he was benched; Drew was the least efficient offensive player on Carolina's team, and his play frequently contributed to UNC's frequently stagnant offense. Maybe this is addition by subtraction. But it's just as possible North Carolina will miss Drew's defensive contributions, even in a spot role off the bench.

Here's another interesting factoid about the decision, one that might or might not have any long-term implications: It continues the recent exodus of California recruits from North Carolina. As ESPN Research's Jonathan McDonald just passed along, Drew II is the fourth California recruit to transfer away from UNC in recent years, and the fifth (and maybe sixth, depending on how you'd characterize Deon Thompson's career) to underwhelm in Chapel Hill. To wit:



Compare that to Williams's career at Kansas, which included California-bred recruits like Paul Pierce, Drew Gooden and Jacque Vaughn. This is probably just coincidence, but it is notable all the same. For whatever reason, Williams just hasn't had the same success mining Cali talent to UNC as he did at KU.

Factoids aside, whatever the reasons for Drew's decision, there's no question this comes at an awkward time. Just when this team had seemed to figure it out, it loses one of its rotation members to a February transfer. That's not something most teams will be dealing with this spring. Beyond the on-court stuff -- how Williams fills out his rotation and spreads Drew's minutes, for example -- how Williams handles this will play a major role in whether this UNC team remains the ascendant, suddenly impressive entity we've seen in recent weeks, or whether the Tar Heels take a step back at exactly the wrong time.

I'd wager on the former. This team should be fine. At the very least, though, this uncertainty comes at the worst of times.

For much of the season, many North Carolina fans -- as is their wont -- have, among other complaints, argued that freshman point guard Kendall Marshall deserves to be the starting point guard over sophomore Larry Drew II.

I concur. The Tar Heels' offense requires a point guard that can score and dish in the fast break. Last year, it didn't have one. This year, Roy Williams has Marshall, but for a variety of reasons Williams has been hesitant to hand over the keys to the freshman. Instead, UNC has stuck with Drew II, instead using Marshall in gradually increased spot duty.

No more. Marshall got his first start in UNC's 75-65 win over Clemson last Tuesday, and according to the Raleigh News & Observer, Williams is going to stick with the freshman Wednesday night at Miami.

"I don't do it [change the starting lineup] a lot, but it was hard to do, especially because Larry was trying so hard defensively," Williams said. "But we were just a little stagnant offensively, and we can still get him to be extremely important to us, just like he was in the Clemson game."

As Williams sort of mentioned, there's a perception that Drew II is the superior defender, that choosing Marshall over his counterpart means sacrificing defense in favor of offense.

I'm not so sure that's true. Defense is hard to measure, and there are lots of unquantifiable things defenders can do that don't show up on the stat sheet, but it is worth noting that Marshall has a higher steal rate and a lower per-40 minute foul rate.

Marshall's clearly a better offensive player. If you've seen him break down the defense and get John Henson open for a dunk on the low block, you probably don't need the stats, but the stats indicate as much, too. Marshall has a higher offensive rating, much better shooting percentages, and his assist rate -- 46.7 percent -- is the fifth-highest in the nation (!) according to Pomeroy. The only blight on his performance thus far is his turnover rate, which is very high at 31.0 percent. But Drew II's (29.9 percent) isn't all that much better, so that's essentially a moot point.

In any case, North Carolina doesn't need defense. It's already a very good defensive team. What it needs is offense, and what its offense needs is a dynamic point guard that can get out in the break, make shots, and get UNC's talented batch of forwards (Henson, Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller) in scoring positions. Unless both our eyes and the stats are deceiving us, Marshall is the best bet to do all those things. UNC fans have been saying this for weeks. Apparently, Roy Williams now agrees.

Hey, you know what? Maybe Roy Williams listened to his radio show callers after all.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- His eighth-ranked team left Puerto Rico a disappointing 1-2, but North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he’s not panicking.

Maybe that’s the case. It’s a long season, after all. But UNC also departed here late Sunday night without knowing if it truly has a leader on its team.

Williams is taking on the responsibility of trying to develop one amid the locker room, but it remains to be seen if anyone among the current Tar Heel personnel has the right personality to take charge of the team.

“Right now, we don’t have one,’’ said Williams after Sunday night’s 72-65 loss to Vanderbilt. “It has to be the coaches until the players develop it on the floor. We don’t have bad kids. They all want to do the right thing. They just don’t know how to do it. It’s up to me to teach them and it might be by running the dickens out of them or they’ve go to accept it themselves.’’

North Carolina struggled with Lipscomb in their opener before pulling away in Chapel Hill. And then the Heels dismantled Hofstra in the first round here Thursday. But North Carolina was essentially manhandled by Minnesota in Friday’s semifinals and never had great flow Sunday against the Commodores. And there was no player to shake them out of their funk.

There is undoubtedly plenty of talent, led by AP preseason all-American Harrison Barnes. But the freshman thus far hasn’t exhibited the personality of taking over a game from a vocal standpoint. He also struggled against a more physical team (0-for-12 against Minnesota). Point guard Larry Drew II doesn’t have that extroverted personality on the court, either. Neither does Tyler Zeller or John Henson and it’s too soon to say whether or not the newcomers like Kendall Marshall can command that role.

“I’m not panicking by any means,’’ Williams said. “I feel 100 times better than I did last year. We’re still a work in progress.’’

The Tar Heels lost an unthinkable 17 games last season. Williams called the season the most frustrating he has had as a coach. Carolina had leadership -- at least some outspoken types like Deon Thompson -- but could never mesh. Thompson is gone and the offseason brought about the abrupt departure of the Wear twins to UCLA, as well as the dismissal of senior shooting guard Will Graves, the top returning 3-point shooter.

The Tar Heels will have their moments when they’re not a proficient 3-point shooting team (like Sunday’s 3-of-11 performance) and there will be games where they’re on. The ability to score on the break and from the wing shouldn’t be a question. But North Carolina shouldn’t be as dominated physically as it was by Minnesota and Vanderbilt. If that’s a trend, then the Tar Heels will be in trouble.

“I said after the first home game that this team will get better as the season goes along,’’ Williams said. “Z and Larry are the only guys we’ve had that have ever started a game before this year. We’re a work in progress.’’

Williams said the Tar Heels will show flashes of being a really good team.

Whether or not that can come on a consistent basis -- especially with plenty of quality games left on the nonconference schedule -- remains to be seen.

When the father of twins David Wear and Travis Wear asked North Carolina coach Roy Williams for their scholarship releases, Williams said it "came as a complete surprise."

When they ended up transferring to UCLA, the twins were quiet about their reasons for leaving the Tar Heels, with their father not wanting to talk about it either.

Apparently, the twins' roommate at North Carolina was left in the dark as well, as forward Tyler Zeller -- one of the Tar Heels' few returning post players -- still seems confused by it all in an interview with The News & Observer.

Zeller, who roomed with the twins, still appeared baffled by the way they made their exit: "I saw them the day before they left, and they didn't say anything [about not coming back]. Ed [Davis] called me the next morning and said, 'They left.' I said, 'What are you talking about, I saw them yesterday?' And he said, 'They left - it's all over the Internet.' I didn't know what to think."

As of this interview last month, he still hadn't heard from the Wears. He said he holds no animosity toward them, but he also prefers to look forward, not back.

The Wears' sudden departure certainly won't be remembered in the annals of weird college roommate stories, but it's interesting to note the extent to which the twins kept their intentions private.

And that, of course, led to unnecessary speculation. For example, in the hours after they announced they were leaving North Carolina, guard Larry Drew II jokingly went on Twitter with his own theory.

#theyleftbecause they found out they would have to room with zeller...again."

For the next month or so, our friends at The Mag are previewing one high profile school per day for their Insider Summer Buzz series. For the sake of all that is synergistic, yours truly will be attempting the same, complementing each Insider preview with some adjusted efficiency fun. Today's subject: North Carolina.

The Tar Heels did not have a good offense in 2009-10. You didn't need to look at UNC's efficiency profile to recognize that much. Roy Williams' team was exposed on a nightly basis as less a team than a group of promising young players with nary a clue how to run an uptempo secondary break. It was ugly to watch. When a North Carolina team can't play offense, they're in deep trouble. 20-17-type trouble, in fact.

There was, however, one aspect of offense that kept the Tar Heels from looking even more pedestrian last season, an aspect that should give North Carolina fans hope for the upcoming season. The Tar Heels could, if nothing else, rebound their misses.

North Carolina grabbed 38.9 percent of its missed shots in 2009-10, the 16th-highest rate in the country. The problem was that North Carolina's forwards lacked the ability to make much of those misses; the team shot poorly, turned the ball over, and didn't go to the line very often, all of which means those rebounds were wasted on ugly second attempts or kick-outs to UNC's young guards. Offensive rebounding is great, but it doesn't mean much if you don't use it to score more points. The Tar Heels didn't.

Still, there is reason to think UNC can repeat this proficiency in 2009-10, and that, context aside, is a good thing. Harrison Barnes is the best recruit in his class, an all-court forward who could probably play shooting guard if he wanted to. But his athleticism and ability in the paint, which this writer saw in person at Kevin Durant's Nike Skills Camp this summer, should give the Tar Heels a better option down low once they grab an offensive board. No one on last year's team had Barnes' silky scoring touch, not even the unpolished but undeniably talented Ed Davis; if Barnes can work his athletic body into prime real estate under the hoop, he could single-handedly reverse last year's ugly interior play.

Veteran forward Deon Thompson is gone, but there are other promising interior signs. Sophomore John Henson is long enough to wreak havoc on any rebounding play, but in 2009-10 he was too wispy to stand his ground under the hoop. Henson has spent most of his offseason eating like Michael Phelps and pushing iron with UNC's trainer, and he's already added about 25 pounds to his lanky frame.

Junior forward Tyler Zeller is a frequent victim of the injury bug, but has been promising big things since his arrival at UNC in 2008-09's title campaign. Before suffering a season-ending injury, Zeller was averaging 4.5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. More minutes means more opportunities, and Zeller's per-40 figures portend good things.

If there was one trait you could use to predict which teams did well in last year's tournament, it was offensive rebounding. Three of 2008-09's Final Four ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounding percentage, and six of the eight Elite Eight squads were ranked in the top 25. West Virginia's entire offense relied on the ability to grab misses; the Mountaineers were never a good shooting team, but they were athletic enough and efficient enough to make up for it when the shots didn't fall.

North Carolina could do something similar, at least in terms of scheme. But before that happens the Tar Heels need to improve all over the floor. Point guard Larry Drew II will have to be much better at running Williams' secondary offense. (He'll be joined in the backcourt by point guard Kendall Marshall and shooting guard Reggie Bullock, both of whom should improve the Heels' guard play significantly.) The Heels will have to prevent turnovers. They'll have to play some semblance of defense.

A 20-17 season means improvement is needed everywhere. As last year's Heels showed, merely rebounding your prodigious misses well isn't enough to make up for bad basketball before and after those misses. At some point, you have to make a few baskets. Eventually, you have to pull it all together.

But the good news is that a pretty bad UNC team was pretty good at one of college hoops' most consistently important team skills in 2009-10. If they can maintain that pace, get improved seasons from Henson and Zeller, and incorporate Williams' prodigious recruiting class into the mix, this team should look much more like the North Carolina we're used to.

The offensive rebounding was already there. Now the Tar Heels just have to get better at everything else. Simple enough, right?

College basketball players have taken to Twitter at roughly the same speed as everyone else their age, which is to say: quickly. Of course, the difference between your average 18- to 22-year-old and a college basketball player for, say, North Carolina is that no one really cares all that much what your average 18- to 22-year-old is tweeting at any given time. ("Just got done with classes. Bor-ing! Eating lunch now. Going out later. Might even ice my bro! Have you guys heard the new live Widespread?" Et al.)

People do care what basketball players are writing on their Twitter feeds though. It seems like a personalized medium, but at this point a college hoopster's Twitter musings are just as newsworthy as his public comments. Which is why Roy Williams is doing what so many other college coaches -- not to mention businesses and media outlets -- have already done: He gave his players a talk about what is and isn't acceptable to post on Twitter.

Naturally, they all immediately tweeted about it. Junior Larry Drew II and sophomores Dexter Strickland and John Henson all wrote similar messages complaining about the censorship. Strickland's pretty much sum it up:

well,coached just talked to us about twitter and told us we offend some people n what not so this is a farewell to bein' myself..lata tweeps

They told me I gotta watch wat I say..so I'm sry if any of my tweets offended anybody that follows me..

yeah these people be emailin coach n stuff smh...."self expression is a birthright and something you did PRIOR to hoopin...

There are a couple likely reasons for the talking-to. One is the team's playful ridicule of the Wear twins, who transferred from UNC to UCLA this spring. Drew and company started the Twitter hashtag "#theyleftbecause" and filled it up with lighthearted messages like "They found out they would have to live with Tyler Zeller ... again." It was funny, and definitely not a big deal, but probably not the wisest of ideas. There were also a couple of tweets by Strickland about his 5-year-old brother discovering the finer points of his male anatomy. Neither were particularly obscene or mean-spirited, but they unquestionably fall under the category of "Someone might get offended by this, so I better leave it off the Internet." Hey, we've all been there.

Anyway, there are a few lessons to be learned here. One: Think before you tweet. Two: Think again. Three: If it seems questionable, even if it's not really a big deal, maybe just delete it.

Four: Your coach telling you to watch what you say on the Internet doesn't really qualify as a violation of your right to free speech, so maybe don't imply as much. There are beaten Russian journalists who'd probably prefer we not throw around that word so lightly.

And five: In Internet parlance, the acronym "smh" means "shaking my head." I had no idea. See? We all have much to learn about the Internet.

North Carolina guard Larry Drew II might have struggled so much on the court this year that he was subjected to transfer rumors, but apparently he's the king of the Xbox 360.

Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer just released the new book "Blue Streak" on UNC's national championship run last year (great timing!), and this excerpt from the book has Drew dominating the esteemed Tyler Hansbrough in the video game "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe."

Hours before Hansbrough set the Tar Heels career scoring record, Drew turned him into a poor sport by beating him five straight times in the game, and it's really unintentionally funny stuff.

Inside, Hansbrough was stewing. He knew it was just a stupid video game. But he had been dominated by a freshman.

"You (bleeping) cheat, Larry," he insisted.

"Please!" Drew said with a smile.

"Seriously, you're a cheater. You do the same moves every time. It's so dumb. You're a cheater."

Drew's smug smirk only further fueled Hansbrough's irritation.

Hansbrough also becomes deeply annoyed when none of his other teammates can beat Drew in the game.

"This is sad," Hansbrough shouted. "You're sad Larry. You have no life. All you do is play video games. That's pretty sad."

"It's fine Tyler," Drew smiled back.

North Carolina point guard Larry Drew II has said it once, said it twice, and today the sophomore is using a press release -- the team's version of a bully pulpit -- to try to end rumors that he is transferring.

Here's his 179-word statement:

"Last week when we were in New York for the NIT, several reporters from North Carolina asked me about transferring after the season. I said that I would always be a Tar Heel. I thought my answer would end the speculation, but my teammates, family, coaches and I continue to be asked about me transferring.

"I want to again confirm that I am not transferring anywhere. I eagerly look forward to preparing for next season and competing with my Carolina teammates as we hope to improve on our play from this past season. I have my own basketball dreams and I know I have to work hard this summer to reach them and help Carolina reach our team goals.

"I've been asked about these rumors since the day we won at Wake Forest in February and I really want to put all this stuff to rest. I am a Tar Heel and will continue to learn from Coach Williams and his staff to become a more effective player and leader and help us have a great season in 2011."

A Southern California native, Drew has struggled at times this season quarterbacking a Tar Heels team coming off a national championship that ended up going 5-11 in the ACC.

He played better during a run to the NIT title game and is now "reaffirming" his return to the team.

But the best statements he can probably make to the doubters are the ones that will come on the court next year alongside UNC teammates who'll have plenty to prove.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- North Carolina coach Roy Williams scanned his team's schedule Friday night and saw a potential path to the NCAA tournament.

Beat Boston College on Saturday, rip off four more wins in a row to get to 8-8 in the ACC and the Tar Heels would be right there for an NCAA at-large bid.

"I thought we'd get on a run and be in the NCAA tournament," said the Hall of Fame coach. "Now we have to readjust and get it done Wednesday [against Florida State]. I've never been in this position. I've never cared if we were a one seed, two seed or a three seed. But I thought that if we win five in a row, get to 8-8, that would get us in, but we didn’t get the first step."

Despite having multiple chances to beat Boston College, the Tar Heels once again couldn't finish a game, losing to the Eagles 71-67 at Conte Forum. The loss dropped UNC to 3-9 in the ACC, 14-13 overall, and left it dangerously close to playing itself out of the NIT (it's unlikely UNC would pay to play in the CBI) and, gasp, finishing last in the ACC.

The Tar Heels have the tiebreaker with last-place NC State (3-10 in ACC play) after sweeping the Wolfpack. But if the Tar Heels were to fall so far as to finish last they would, per league rules, not participate in next season's ACC-Big Ten Challenge, just like Georgia Tech this season. That would have been unheard of a few months ago.

After the game, it was BC sophomore Reggie Jackson (17 points), not anyone on the Tar Heels, talking about winning out and finishing 8-8 in the league and possibly winning the ACC tournament and bursting a team's bubble. The Eagles now stand at 4-8 in the ACC, 13-13 overall.

"Everybody knew that this could be the start of five wins in a row," said Tar Heels senior guard Marcus Ginyard. "We were excited. We felt like we had a great attitude, a great practice and it didn't equate to the type of play we needed to win. We've got to play with more pride. That's the bottom line."

Don't blame Williams for projecting a possible NCAA tournament bid. He hasn't missed the NCAA tournament since 1989 -- his first season at Kansas -- and that was because the Jayhawks were on probation after Larry Brown's 1988 national championship season.

This is new territory for this group of Tar Heels as well as Williams. And it's hard to fathom for all of those involved.

North Carolina beat Ohio State -- with Evan Turner -- in New York in November and took out a healthy Michigan State team in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge in Chapel Hill, N.C., in December. The Tar Heels also beat the ACC's second-place team, Virginia Tech, at home, even after losing at College of Charleston in a game in which they were missing Ginyard and Will Graves to injury. Tyler Zeller missed 10 games with a stress fracture in his foot. He returned Saturday to score nine points and grab seven boards in 16 minutes, but he missed seven shots. Travis Wear missed his fourth game with a sprained left ankle and David Wear nearly missed this game with a hip injury. And, of course, double-double threat Ed Davis missed his third straight game with a fractured left wrist.

But these aren’t excuses. The Tar Heels still have talent (just watch John Henson as he scooped up a loose ball and snapped in a jumper while getting fouled or as he picked up a steal and flushed a jam). UNC has seven McDonald's All-Americans on its roster.

The Tar Heels were just 1-of-8 on 3-pointers, missed 32 2-point shots and were outrebounded by four by the smaller Eagles. Their guard play has been inconsistent, to say the least. Larry Drew II, Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald were unable to find a smooth stroke. Graves was 1-of-5 on 3s.

"It's been the most frustrating time I've had in coaching," Williams said.

Williams said the Charleston and Clemson losses shook UNC's confidence. He said prior to that he thought "we were really going to be good."

Williams said there was one point during the BC game when Drew looked at him after a turnover and said "my fault."

That didn’t wash well with Williams. Overall, he said the Tar Heels need to "freakin' play," since their backs were against the wall.

"You’ve got to go out and fight until you frickin' die," said a heated Williams, who has been coaching with a sling for a few weeks after undergoing shoulder surgery this season and is now dealing with a bad head cold.

The mood in the Tar Heels' locker room was somber. Remaining games against Florida State, at Wake Forest, home against Miami and at Duke all seem difficult at this stage.

Said UNC senior forward Deon Thompson, "I guess I know how other teams feel now."

That emotion may not subside until the season ends.