Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.
All kinds of surprises in the NCAA tournament pairings.
First and foremost, Carolina was in the “First Four Out” when CBS released the brackets Sunday night. That has to make the Tar Heels really mad that they were so close . . . as close as winning one of the seven games in which they blew second-half leads, all to NCAA Tournament teams.
Finishing games has to be No. 1 on next season’s playlist.
Normally, a team that close would take the NIT bid, but Hubert Davis has to get on with rebuilding his 2023-24 roster as soon as possible to change the off-season narrative from “bad year” to “next year.” And with the fluidity of college basketball these days, like the transfer portal, that is more important than playing meaningless NIT games with a team fans are tired of by now.
On that note, hopefully Armando Bacot is strongly encouraged by UNC and his thousands of followers to return for his fifth COVID year, when he could become more of a Carolina legend than he is now and also set every ACC rebounding record. And it may be a better financial move with his NIL success.
Among other bracket surprises was Clemson getting royally screwed in favor of N.C. State getting in. The Tigers skunked the Wolfpack three times – by 14 in Death Valley, by 25 in Raleigh and by 26 in Greensboro. Clemson is No. 60 in the latest NET rankings, largely due to a two-point loss at 11-21 South Carolina in which its best player, P.J. Hall, sat out with an injury.
State is 45 in this week’s NET, one higher than Carolina’s 46. That second-half loss in Raleigh to miss a sweep of the Wolfpack is just another the Heels should regret, along with the 4 OT defeat to Alabama, the overall No. 1 seed in the Dance. Yes, Clemson played one of the weakest non-conference schedules, but still placed 3rd in the ACC and blew out the Pack in the tourney quarterfinal.
Finally, the Greensboro mafia, which twice expanded the Coliseum to keep the ACC tournament in its regular rotation (not to mention remain one of Springsteen’s favorite venues) and is again host to first- and second round games, must be royally toasted that ACC champion Duke got shipped to Orlando and will not get the home-state advantage the best team in the ACC deserves. ESPN’s Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas talked about the winner of the ACC championship game being back in the Gate City as a reward.
It’s a good reason for new Duke athletic director Nina King to shed her anonymity and make it known to the committee that her championship team that won its last nine games and would have sold out the Coliseum got hosed.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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The NIT would have given UNC the opportunity for some level of redemption. Instead UNC runs home and crawls under its bed. This decision gives credence to those who have said UNC is soft and lacks competetive heart. Is this the same Coach Davis who said in 2021 “North Carolina is going to show up every game, every day, every second, every possession. North Carolina will be there.” who now says “we quit”? Is this the same Hubert Davis who played under DEAN SMITH and coached under ROY WILLIAMS? Embarrassing. Disappointing Unbelievable.
My Two Cents
Hubert did the right thing…
1. First, and most importantly, let the players decide.
2. The player’s (especially the “FOUR”) morale is completely devastated now. Read the recent comments from Leaky, Davis and Bacot ( paraphrasing Bacot’s quotes lending insight of his mental state: we were not that good, I had rather not play in the NIT unless coach “tells” us to play.
I can not imagine the pressure that “every member” of the team had to manage through out the entire season …. especially the last 5-6 games (ALL must win games). The players (as well as coaches) are absolutely drained from the disappointment: failure to meet their (and everyone’s) high expectations but more cruelly having to listen to fans and media high expectations, relentless criticism and never ending expert and amateur analysis.
3. If they did play, can one imagine them winning… NO!
4. If they do win, they were expected to win… AND the fan and media conversations are “why did UNC not win in NCAA regular season”.
5. If they do NOT win the NIT, then more fan and media conversation about the “same old, same old”… except the added wrinkle: why did they accept the NIT bid?!?!
6. Accepting the bid and NOT winning the NIT tournament would have done more harm to the current players and prospective UNC recruits than the act of going through the “motions of playing”.
7. Lastly, can you even remotely imagine the pressure placed on themselves and by the fans and media… to win the NIT because they were the pre-season NCAA # 1.
8. This UNC team (Big FOUR) placed themselves in the “no win, no win” scenario when they decided to come back.
9. This is what Hubert is all about and preaches: he is all about the players… family.. for better or worst. The family decides together.
The right process was used to make the decision… players decision!
I , for one, applaud Hubert’s courage to stand by his principles.. right or wrong… the principles for which UNC hired him as a coach.
Regarding the articles by Tom Penders in USA TODAY ( “Turn Around Tom” is a poor excuse for a Hall of Famer) and Andy Nesbits (SI) of the world have no clue what it means to be a “player’s coach”.
One has to find USA TODAY quoting Tom Penders (Turn Around Tom) suspect. Ole Turn Around is quoted in USA TODAY as saying “They’re not helping themselves by turning down an NIT bid. That, in itself tells me that the players were running this team.”
Well, from “TurnAround’s” quote, he does not value player’s input. Given his well documented NCAA Tournament track record (12-11 record, 0 Final Fours, 0 Championships) as well as “Turnaround’s” interesting player relationship track record (Axtell/Texas; Crosby & Brown/ George Washington) is documented in Burned Orange by Kyle Dalton as well Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Penders).
Hubert Davis, as his mentor and coaches: Smith and Williams, is a player’s coach.
Just my two cents worth 😉
I think they should have took the NIT and played all the young guys wouldn’t start them Five Guys
Hubert with Bacot hurt angle and the team not working together you did the right thing. Thank you RJ for working so hard to win. Always a Tarheel fan
Wes Miller!
The program is in terrible shape but it ain’t gonna change. We have really nice folks in the Athletic Department, so our coaches’ jobs are safe. We could go to Notre Dame and grab a few of their players and maybe go to Cincinnati and grab a coach or two. Or we could continue on the same path, which is the option I predict we will do.
Sorry, but I have to disagree. As I have posted elsewhere, I completely disagree with this decision on so many levels, including that it smacks of elitism and a willingness to simply give up on our players. What would happen if UNC accepted the bid and focused on primarily using the tournament to develop our bench…players 6-15? How about demonstrating you trust them to carry the load and represent UNC well…for possibly the first time (to any outside observer) all season? Roy considered no other option but to play the NIT…following a national title season! What’s the culture in the building now? What happened to Coach Davis’ promise that Carolina would always show up, as P.A. noted in their comments. This is the first time I’ve found myself unable to support Coach Davis’ and UNC’s decision for the team. At the least, incredibly bad and inconsistent messaging about the program and trusting ALL of your players…at worst, you’ve now undermined any claims of trust and player development for recruiting. I know I wasn’t there during practices and will never say winning was more important to me than the players putting in the time, risks, and grind inherent in college athletics. However, after over 25 years of training and designing training programs for our airmen and soldiers with much greater concerns and heavier outcomes, I know a surrender (complete resignation) when I see it..at least until the leaders of the program step forward and offer their own explanation rather than all of us speculating on why the decision happened and where we’re going. Regardless, I am now and forever a Tar Heel!
Let’s give Coach Davis the benefit of the doubt. He has my full support! Don’t worry fans we will be. back!
I really look forward to watching Tyler Nickel have a breakout year next year. He’s the State of Virginia’s all-time leading scorer, and I know he’ll have a great career and score a ton of buckets. I have a gut feeling that he’ll average 15 a game at least. He was one of Hubert’s first commitments, so I know he can play and will get a ton of playing time next year. He’s a BAD DUDE!!!
Hoping Caleb Love transfers. He’s the worst 3 point shooting starter in UNC history. I’m trusting that coaches will find a shooting guard that can actually shoot. No more point guards under 6′ 4, with all due respect to RJ Davis. Even if they can shoot they are a major defensive liability