It was a glorious Homecoming weekend in so many ways.

Old grads and young grads must have had a marvelous time on a sun-splashed Homecoming weekend that began with an informative basketball exhibition Friday night and continued with a pleasing football blowout of Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon.

My biggest takeaway from the hoops warm-up was Luke Maye’s retooled body and outstanding play in the one-sided practice game against UNC-Pembroke; and how his father, Mark Maye, was in the news Saturday after Mitch Trubisky equaled or broke some of his 30-year-old passing records at Kenan Stadium, as the Heels beat the Jackets a third straight in their best game thus far.

Luke Maye was a most pleasant surprise for Roy Williams’ Tar Heels. He will be in the post rotation, giving Carolina a quicker four man than Isaiah Hicks when he’s in the game, someone tougher to guard and box out than the bigger, banger Hicks. Maye can shoot it better than he did as a freshman and could well turn into a star before he graduates.

The romp also debuted freshmen Tony Bradley and Seventh Woods to the delight of the sparse crowd at the Smith Center that certainly caught Ol’ Roy’s eye. Mine, too. With a 12:30 kickoff Saturday, many more fans would have arrived in Chapel Hill Friday night than if the football game had a later start. And surely more of them would have wandered over to check out the basketball team and what it plans to do without Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson.

Bradley is skinny, but he moves his feet on defense and does some things that Johnson never really bothered with because he could always get back and block or bother the shot. Woods looks to be rounding back into shape from a summer of nagging injuries and will help Williams plug the holes created by the injury to Theo Pinson. Woods can play either guard position and should help Joel Berry get open for his shot, which appears more confident for his junior year as he inherits the vacated leadership role and ascends to superstar status.

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