Larry Drew Transferring?

[ivydevil]

Is Barnes officially signed on with UNC, or can he retract his commitment like Miles did from Stanford? Wouldn't that be the same?

[chrisheery]

He signed a lette of intent. That ship has sailed.

[roywhite]

He signed a letter of intent. That ship has sailed.

It's really remarkable how circumstances have changed since that time. It was mid-November and the defending National Champion Tarheels were just starting another season. Although they had lost several key members of the 2009 team, they were ranked as high as #4 nationally and tied for the #1 spot in the ACC with Duke in preseason voting.

The Heels got a commitment from Barnes, ranked by many as the #1 prospect in the high class of 2010, after a lengthy recruiting battle with Duke and others.

3 1/2 months later...
The Heels are 14-14, 3-10 in the conference and likely to miss the NCAA tournament.
Coach Roy Williams has been all over the news for his poor coaching and poor reaction to the downturn.
There are rumors of players being unhappy and leaving the program.
Home attendance and fan support have dropped
Fans are wondering aloud if Barnes has other options...

In the mean time, their rivals 8 miles away have put together a terrific season, lead the ACC, and are in contention for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

What a story. Who woulda thunk it...

[David]

Although fun to read as a Duke fan, hard to know what to make of the LDII story given that it is basically a blog post based on unnamed sources. I can believe there are disgruntled players on UNC (losing always breeds discontent), but I am not holding my breath on a LDII transfer.

[HateCarolina]

I hope this isn't true. I enjoy his on-court performance very much.

Awesome!! I missed this comment the first time around. Bravo!!!

[-bdbd]

Interesting. Duke is probably the best-known school in D-1 at attracting the kids of NBA players and coaches and other pro athletes and coaches. Think Danny Ferry, Grant Hill, Gerald Henderson, Mike Dunleavy, Chris Collins, Bobby Hurley, etc. (David Rivers??) I've long felt that that speaks volumes about Coach K and Duke, when those with the greatest knowledge and investment in the sport very frequently choose Duke. Many of those parents have been known to watch K and study/talk/learn strategy, techniques, and so on. Interesting then that UNC gets the son of a pro Coach and what happens? He's apparently pushing his son to leave, and apparently the NC@CH spin-meisters are already portraying him as an "unhealthy activity..." Hmmm.

I think UNC could have as many as three frosh starting by some point next year, and if this sory is true, will probably START the year with two freshman starters at least. It does damage their chances next year b/c: (A) There's no time (or mentor) for Marshall to study at all, (B) No depth...so foul trouble (not unexpected for a kid starting as a frosh and who is reportedly a bit foot-slow "a la Paulus") or injury to Marshall and they are in deep tarheel. Even Paul Hewitt will figure out a startegy of driving on Marshall and getting him into quick foul trouble.

UK has shown that you can win with freshman studs, but it is certainly fighting the odds (and even UK was pretty shaky the first 2 months).

If you're one of these top-5 HS recruits coming to UNC, what does this do to to your thinking about escaping, ur, going pro early??? Not fun times in hell...

[Carlos]

The rumors about Drew (and some other players) being unhappy have been around for a few weeks so the news from BusterSports doesn't surprise me all that much.

The thing is, UNCbi is in somewhat of a no-win position here. If Drew leaves then the Heels are back to a roster with just one point guard who, despite being a pretty good player, may not be the right guy to handle the UNC system. Marshall is very much similar to Drew in that neither guy is someone who is a scorer. The biggest difference is that Drew, while not being quick in the Ty Lawson sense of the word, is certainly quicker than Marshall. Conversely, Marshall is supposedly a much better passer. I confess to having never seen him play, but he sounds a lot like Ed Cota.

So if Drew is gone and Marshall struggles then the Heels are left with a lot of talent at the other spots but questions at point. Zeller and Henson are going to be a nice pair in the frontcourt. Zeller isn't the best defender in the world but in the limited time he's been able to play he's shown that he has the size and some nice moves to score in the halfcourt and his biggest strength has always been his ability to run the floor. Same with Henson who is and outstanding run and jump guy but lacks any offensive polish. But he is a force on defense so he really complements Zeller. So take thsoe two and add in Barnes who like it or not is much more likely to have a Loul Deng type of impact than he is to struggle. Throw in Reggie Bullock who gives them the outside shooting they desperately lack this year and you have four really good players.

So the big question is at the point and if you look at Roy's best teams, they typically have point guards who can rush the ball up the court - Lawson, Felton, Hinrich, and Vaughn were all guys who were exceptionally fast. You don't have that with Marshall.

But... if Drew does stay then you have the potential for some real fireworks. The BusterSports report certainly indicates that team Drew has been somewhat disruptive and that's during a season when he's playing 28 minutes a game. What happens when he's suddenly cut back to 15 - 20 minutes?

[DukeBlood]

I just don't see LD 2 as being a "great PG in the ACC". He's a sophomore who saw some time last year and has started every game this year. His numbers include:

8.8 pts/game
1.8 asst/turnover
65% FT
less than 1 steal per game

Opposing players tend to score very well against him. He seems to have some quickness and speed, but opposing teams play him for the pass when he drives as he does not get to the rim very well.

Perhaps he would be better with some other talent around him, but at this point he looks like an ordinary point guard on a second-division ACC team...not a guy who will take them to any title, even with more talent.

Not surprising to hear of some turmoil in the locker room.

Compare those numbers to Nolan Smith's of last year? Granted Nolan averaged 7 less MPG but still very comparable to Smiths numbers as a Sophmore. Although he would never make the jump that Nolan has had this year.

I have said it before, Larry Drew II is not the problem of this team. At times he is one of the brighter spots(I shouldn't say bright, but non dull spots). Their problem has been lack of consistency out of the 2/3 and lately the 5(Deon). Drew II was never going to be a superstar but he would of been a very solid PG for them. This would be a bad deal for the TarHeels, Unless they believe Marshall is the answer.

[JasonEvans]

UK has shown that you can win with freshman studs, but it is certainly fighting the odds (and even UK was pretty shaky the first 2 months).

If you're one of these top-5 HS recruits coming to UNC, what does this do to to your thinking about escaping, ur, going pro early??? Not fun times in hell...

To be clear, Carolina's class next year is not anywhere close to the calliber of class that Kentucky has this season.

Maybe, because they are both #1 recruits, you can compare Wall and that other dude, but there is little comparison of the rest of the class.

Cousins was the #2 or #3 player in the class. Bullock is about top 10-15.

Bledsoe was considered by some to be the second or third best PG in the class -- a kid who ranking continued to shoot up all season -- Kendall Marshall has seen his ranking and reputation take non-stop hits with many folks now considering him a top 25-30 prospect at best.

Heck, Daniel Orton was a top 15ish recruit. UNC has no one coming in that compares to him. I might add that Kentucky had Patrick Patterson back. There is no one on Carolina next year who will have close to the experience or ability of Patterson, that's for sure.

It may be easy to make the comparison, but I don't see it. Especially because Carolina's two best recruits are both wings. Not to know the many kids who play on the wing, but the two most important positions in college basketball are the PG and the C. Kentucky brought in the #1 PG and the #1 C. Carolina is bringing in wings... and they are just a lot easier to find.

--Jason "I might also add that having a big year in the SEC is a whole lot easier than doing the same thing in the ACC" Evans

[airowe]

Compare those numbers to Nolan Smith's of last year? Granted Nolan averaged 7 less MPG but still very comparable to Smiths numbers as a Sophmore. Although he would never make the jump that Nolan has had this year.

I have said it before, Larry Drew II is not the problem of this team. At times he is one of the brighter spots(I shouldn't say bright, but non dull spots). Their problem has been lack of consistency out of the 2/3 and lately the 5(Deon). Drew II was never going to be a superstar but he would of been a very solid PG for them. This would be a bad deal for the TarHeels, Unless they believe Marshall is the answer.

You are judging that mainly on the play on the court though, not what happens off of it...

[DukeBlood]

You are judging that mainly on the play on the court though, not what happens off of it...

Well said, On the court he has been good. Off? Who knows.

[NashvilleDevil]

As Henry Hill would say "The sadder but wiser girl for me!"

Prof. Harold Hill said that. Henry Hill was busy walking through the bowels of the Copa to impress his new girl.

Sorry for the nitpick

[Faison1]

Come on, folks. We are having an amazing year and have a great recruiting class coming in. If we're being honest, absent the LOI, he has exactly what it takes to be a Blue Devil. The kid is strong academically, well spoken, has strong and positive family influences, and is an OUTSTANDING basketball player.

We can acknowledge all of that without diminishing our guys or our team. I hope he loses every game, but he seems like a great kid on and off the court.

s.i.

I completely agree with this. He would have made a fine addition to the Blue Devils, but now I hope he loses every single game going forward.

Going back to the OP, I find this season for UNC really interesting. Not only because I LOVE watching them lose, and hope it continues until they "can" Roy, but because of the drama taking place above and below surface.

No matter what everyone says, UNC still has some serious talent on the squad. So, that must mean they have either leadership or chemistry issues. Leadership issues is believable, because I just don't see much coming out of Ginyard or Thompson.

But chemistry is now obviously a culprit as well. All season, we keep reading quotes out of what seems like the entire team (and the coach), focusing on lack of dedication and missing sacrifice.

Which leads me to wonder, "well, if they are all saying this, who is the main offender?" Is it all Larry Drew? There must be more than one player causing problems.

But, if it is primarily Larry, all I can say is, I hope he stays through his post grad year. That guy is a turnover waiting to happen!

[uncwdevil]

The most interesting part of that article to me what that Drew is dating Eddie Murphy's daughter.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The most interesting part of that article to me what that Drew is dating Eddie Murphy's daughter.

Quote of the month. Agree - don't really care about LDII transferring one way or the other

[Faison1]

But what I really dont get is Leslie MCdonald trying to get Elliot to badmouth Duke in order to influence Barnes.
Does the kid not know that Bullock,Barnes and Strickland are ahead of him in the rotation?

Please tell me that's not true. I hate reading stuff like that. I've always said I should have lived in the '50's, where information was less readily available.

[BD80]

The most interesting part of that article to me what that Drew is dating Eddie Murphy's daughter.

Any chance she is a well-grounded calming influence on the situation? The voice of reason?

Didn't think so.

[duke74]

Aw shipoopi. A nit well picked.

Somewhere out there, Buddy Hackett is smiling down on us...

[Devilsfan]

Imagine if you were a backup point guard on Ol' Roys' team. Giving everything every practice then watching screw ups, turnovers and losses in game action while you are essentially a "male cheerleader". You can't even get in to show your wears. Speaking of wears, it's 78 and sunny today in Orange and L.A. counties. Good morning Chapel Hill.

[Kdogg]

We are all looking at the downside (for UNC) of a player transfering or going pro. There are still a lot of uncommitted kids for 2010 and a player leaving opens up a scholarship. I don't think it will happen but what if UNC picks up Brandon Knight or Josh Selby? Heck they might be desperate enough to offer CJ Leslie if Davis leaves. Things went south for them quickly but might turn around just as quickly.