Lucas: Back To Practice

By Adam Lucas

The world has changed.

For the last 17 seasons, Roy Williams has gathered his team around him at midcourt of the Dean Smith Center on the first day of practice. The Tar Heels go through the practice plan, and individuals are picked to recite the offensive and defensive emphasis of the day, plus the thought for the day.

Sean May did it. Tyler Hansbrough did it. Justin Jackson did it.

And Day'Ron Sharpe and Caleb Love did it, too. They just did it a little differently.

Wednesday afternoon marked the first day of practice for the 2020-21 Carolina basketball season. It began just a little differently, as the pre-practice discussion was held not at midcourt, but behind the baseline at the Smith Center (the first dozen rows of seats are pulled back for every practice, giving the Tar Heels eight baskets to use instead of just two). Players were seated in individual chairs that had been carefully spaced by athletic trainer Doug Halverson, who has been a stalwart over the last seven months as the Tar Heels navigate the virus world.

The setup was another reminder that although there will be many similarities—the season's first Thought for the Day, as always, was, "It's amazing how much can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit."—this season will be different. Carolina opened practice without a game schedule in place. Multiple cleansing breaks were taken during practice for players and coaches to sanitize. All coaches and managers and non-player team personnel were wearing masks.

But there was basketball, which seems like a victory at this point. Imagine that you were Carolina freshman Caleb Love. Who, in his very first day as a Tar Heel point guard, looked across the court and saw, as the starting point guard for the blue team…Coby White. The NBA All-Rookie selection practiced with the Tar Heels on Wednesday while he was in town, and he received no special treatment. When he missed a layup during a fast break drill, White immediately did the required ten push-ups, much to the delight of Williams and assistant coach Brad Frederick.

As always, White's enthusiasm and intensity was infectious throughout the afternoon. His energy propelled his Blue team to a narrow victory in the final drill of the day, and here's a scary thought: in a different world, White would be a college junior right now.

In addition to Love, it was the first official Carolina practice for six other UNC freshmen. Luckily for Walker Kessler, Kerwin Walton, Puff Johnson, RJ Davis, Creighton Lebo and Sharpe (you can already read introductory stories about Davis and Kessler, with a new freshman feature coming each Friday), they weren't around to experience last season's disappointing campaign.

But they're likely to hear about it often, as they did today when Williams referenced close last-second losses to Virginia, Notre Dame and Duke. The head coach identified all three of those defeats as being caused by a missed box-out, a skill the Tar Heels practiced on Wednesday.

As usual, the youngsters had their ups and downs. The loudest roar of the day came when Sharpe fed Kessler with a savvy touch pass for a dunk on a teammate. Sharpe likewise drew praise twice from Williams for his aggressive work around the basket.

But it's always nice to have veterans around, as when Garrison Brooks physically moved Puff Johnson—who shot the ball well—into the correct defensive position when Johnson looked a little confused by a Williams instruction. In a few weeks, that will eventually become second nature; until then, it's nice to have Brooks and his fellow seniors around.

Williams picked two players—Davis and Johnson—to shoot practice-closing free throws for the usual stakes of decreased running for their teams. That's not a small amount of pressure on your first official day of college basketball, with tired legs and your team watching from the baseline.

Both freshmen drained the shots.

After practice, White stood around holding court while Love—who contacted White this summer to get advice on playing point guard for Williams—listened intently. Sharpe, who is never at a loss for words, watched video of a practice miscue and explained his rationale while his teammates guffawed. Ten different Tar Heels stayed late to take extra shots.

The differences had been obvious. The details were just slightly unusual. But at that moment, without a doubt, it felt exactly like Carolina basketball season.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Puff Johnson

Walker Kessler

Creighton Lebo

Caleb Love

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

Coby White

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