The Coaching Tree

The coaching tree at North Carolina begins with Dean Smith and has filtered down through a couple of generations now. Former Tarheel player Wes Miller, coached by Roy William, is in his fifth season at North Carolina-Greensboro and has a fairly impressive track record while in Greensboro. He won Coach of the Year honors in the Southern Conference while being the interim coach in his first season there.

North Carolina-Greensboro was North Carolina's final tune up before facing Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener. UNC-G was only 4-8 coming into the game but had previously lost to North Carolina State by only six points but it was a game the Tarheels should win fairly easily. I never feel good about these types of games because if the Tarheels don't win by 30 or 40 points I am left wondering what happened.

UNC-G cut the lead down to 11 points on a couple of different occasions in the second half but North Carolina won going away 96-63. Kennedy Meeks is still out for North Carolina and I was hoping to see Freshmen Luke Maye and Kenny Williams get some quality minutes and I like what I am seeing from Maye and this was probably Williams best game as a Tarheel. Maye played 15 minutes and had five points and four rebounds and he showed off some range by hitting a three pointer from the top of the key. Williams grabbed a long rebound and took it strong to the basket for a layup. It is a long season and I am sure these two Freshmen will be counted on down the stretch to contribute key minutes off the bench. Maye was seen as more of a project coming into the seasonand because of North Carolina's depth up front, was not expected to get much playing time. Williams had a reputation for being a three point shooter in high school and while he has not yet got untracked from the three point line, he has shown the ability to take it strong to the basket.