What is weird about Leslie Mcdonald is that he kind of sealed his own fate.
He recruited HB to come to UNC with Reggie Bullock already committed...
Imo, not to bright of a kid. He turned down atleast 3 years of good PT at Duke to sit on the bench and possibly transfer for UNC
Leaving or staying won't solve their basic problem: the Wears may have been Mickey D's, but the so-called experts didn't rank them very high (they were 58/59 on Rivals and 55/56 on Scout). Even with the kind of team Carolina had this year, they only played about 10 minutes each, with Travis at 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds and David at 2.9 and 1.7, so the experts had a point.
More importantly for us, the Wears may have done Duke a favor since ole Roy doesn't have any big men coming in next year, presumably because he expected a lot from Henson (who will be gone next year if history repeats itself) and the Wares.
Ironically, a lot of people expected huge things from UNC's freshman class, yet the "Big 5" only scored about 21 PPG as a group, or 12 points less than Wall and Cousins at Kentucky.
Worse yet, a lot of people seemed to think that this group of recruits was final proof that ole Roy had overtaken Coach K as a recruiter and coach. What a difference a season makes.
I was under the impression that Justin Watts was more likely to move on than McDonald.
As for the Wear twins, I find it amazing how people can downplay what they offer to the heels after just one season. Exactly what did Lance and Brian bring to the table their Freshman year? It seems way to often that if a kid doesn't light it up their 1st year they are ruled a bust.
Well, honestly all you need to know about the Wears' "game" can be summed in this picture:
intimidating aren't they?
Last edited by JasonEvans; 05-01-2010 at 10:43 PM. Reason: Added picture instead of link to picture
Nobody called these 2 kids a bust. We just have to look at these two for what they are...Role players that probably won't ever put up big numbers but could be solid their jr and sr years as role players. Pretty much similar to Lance and Zoubek. We would just rather them taking up roster spots for the next 4 years rather than a couple of 5* bigs that UNC would undoubtedly target in the near future.
I recall the Wears BOTH shooting a few three pointers last year. One of them is definitely better than the other but they both bring hustle to the court. A year of strength training and learning some new teammates with bigger roles and we could see some very productive games out of the Wear twins.
But airowe is right in the sense that neither one of them have "superstar" written all over them. I seriously doubt they've reached their ceiling but I'd much rather UNC keep those roster spots full.
Last edited by SupaDave; 05-01-2010 at 08:07 PM.
Remember too that one of them has a torn labrum that will require surgery this Summer (maybe it already has been done, I don't really know.)
There was recently some talk that the recovery would at least push into the late Summer, possibly early Fall, with some murmurs of the injury being career-threatening.
The other one battled injuries off and on as well last year...
Well, your are correct -- they both shot "a few" 3-pointers last season.
Travis took 104 shots in 330 minutes of playing time -- six of them were 3-pointers (he hit two).
David took 71 shots in 280 minutes of playing time -- 16 of them were 3s ... and he hit 8.
It's true that UNC currently has 13 scholarships committed for the 2011-12 season: Zeller, Drew and Watts will be seniors that year; Henson, Strickland, McDonald, T. Wear and D. Wear will be juniors; Barnes, Bullock and Marshall will be sophomores; McAdoo and Hairston will be freshmen.
But, realistically, several of those guys won't be there -- decent chance Barnes is one-and-done and that Henson goes pro after next year. Very likely they will have a transfer or two -- Watts and McDonald are candidates, along with the Wears. I doubt all four of them leaves, but at least one and maybe two will (especially by the end of next year).
My point is, there may be other reasons UNC doesn't land Rivers (or Cook), but I don't think the scholarship limit will be a problem for them.
The transfer stuff is interesting. All the hoopla about Larry Drew leaving was not made-up stuff. He seriously considered it. Roy Williams was ready to pull the trigger on an offer from Ray McCallum (he would have gotten him too) so he would have another PG on the roster. That deal only fell through at the last minute when Drew decided to return.
Question of the day: Would you rather see junior Larry Drew or freshman Ray McCallum on the UNC roster next season?
BTW -- transfers rarely announce anything until after their exams are over and they head back home. Too tough to announce you're leaving then to face your friends and teammates for the days, weeks before the end of the semester. It happens occassionly, but usually later in May or June (I know Elliot Williams bailed after classes were over)
June 24 is when the announcement came out to the public that Elliot was transferring. I still remember because it was announced on my birthday. That one kind of hurt. However, a National Title takes away all pain!!
I know you didn't probably mean it in that way, but "bailing" is a tough way to discuss Elliot's departure.
The kid's mom had been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. He and his mom are very close. He made a life-altering very hard decision to try to spend as much time with his mom as possible. U of Memphis granted him a waiver of their rule that players live in on-campus dorms. Elliot has been living at home with his folks so he can help during her illness.
He's declared for the draft to help with the bills. He and his agent are trying like heck to figure out how to get Memphis to accquire his draft rights...otherwise the family will move with him when he goes.
Bailing is just not the right descriptor.
Hey, thanks for this post. This is the first time that I have seen this level of detail in the Eliot transfer story. I agree "bailed" is not a good word for that situation but I doubt Olympic meant anything negative there.
I wish Eliot well and really hope they find a way to get him to the Grizzlies.