University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Spring Practice Delayed To Account For Hoops PG Curry.
February 13, 2001 | Extra Points
Feb. 13, 2001
SQUIB KICKS --Spring practice will be held for four weeks, beginning March 26 and ending with the Blue-White Game at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 21. John Bunting wants to give quarterback/point guard Ronald Curry as much time as possible to learn the system of coordinator Gary Tranquill following basketball season. "We want Ronald to get to the national championship game and win it," Bunting says. "After that, we'll get him out here as soon as possible. We want to give him the best chance we can to have a great senior year." The basketball Final Four will be March 31-April 2 in Minneapolis.
*** From the small-world department: Jon Tenuta and Corey Holliday were on the same plane on Jan. 11 coming from Columbus, Ohio, for their first days of work on the new staff, Holliday as an administrator and Tenuta as defensive coordinator. They started talking and found that Holliday's wife, Angela, had helped deliver Tenuta's son, Luke, just 16 months before. Angela is in her fourth year as an OBGYN resident in Columbus and will move to Chapel Hill to join Corey next year. "It was an interesting way to get to know someone," Holliday says.
*** Twelve percent of all scholarship signees never enroll with their intended schools because they fail to make minimum scores on the SAT or ACT college board scores. The Carolina staff expects all 21 signees to be in good shape come August. *** Schools also lose players to injury. Rising seniors Rufus Brown (TB) and Anthony Anderson (CB) can no longer play football because of injuries. Brown has had recurring shoulder problems and Anderson chronic back problems during their careers at Carolina. In addition, safety Nathan Sutton will graduate in May and not return for a fifth season.
*** Daniel Davis was considered one of the jewels of the 1999 signing class and he certainly justified from a physical standpoint such accolades as Parade All-America. What the recruiting rankings don't measure, however, are a player's heart, guts and brains. Davis simply didn't want to go to class. He left Carolina and wound up at Garden City Community College in Kansas, where coaches hoped he'd mature enough off-the-field for a potential return to Division I football. Members of the Tar Heel staff continued to monitor his progress. But Davis has been kicked out at Garden City for failing to pass 12 semester hours last fall. Coach Bob Larson, who, like Carl Torbush, saw some good qualities in the young man from Virginia, is trying to help him find an opening in the CFL, Arena football or XFL.
*** Catching up with the former staff: Torbush says he thinks he'll enjoy life in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the Crimson Tide's new defensive coordinator, "as long as we win them all," he says. Torbush's college coach at Carson-Newman, Dal Shealy, sat beside new Tide head coach Dennis Franchione at an FCA banquet in December and told Franchione he ought to jump on Torbush. One thing led to another and now Torbush is sporting Alabama crimson. *** Linebackers coach Ken Rucker originally moved to Alabama as well but decided just last week to return to Texas A&M, the school where he coached running backs for four years before coming to Carolina in 1998. A&M has lost three offensive coaches since season's end to the pros. *** Secondary coach Ron Case planned to temporarily move to Mississippi, live in his RV and coach the secondary at Gulf Coast Community College to help old friend Steve Wright. But Alabama had an unexpected opening and Torbush opened the door for Case to join the Tide staff. *** Ex-tight ends coach Terry Lewis is looking for a job in the NFL. *** Running backs coach Darrell Moody hasn't yet landed a position but has several possibilities. Defensive ends coach Donnie Thompson is now on the staff at Illinois, and Mike O'Cain is QBs coach at Clemson, his alma mater.
