Lucas: Oct. 18 Practice Notebook

By Adam Lucas

It hasn't been an easy preseason for Jalen Washington. The sophomore has spent more time close to the basket than he did as a freshman, which means he's spending virtually every practice banging with some combination of Armando Bacot, James Okonkwo and occasionally Jae'Lyn Withers and Zayden High.

Those have frequently been some of the most competitive parts of practice on a very competitive team, as Bacot and Okonkwo would be part of any discussion of the most physical players in the country.

"The competitiveness is the best thing for this team," Washington said. "When we focus all our energy and competitiveness towards the right things every single day, we'll be a good team."

At 6-foot-10, Washington is the second tallest player on the roster. As a freshman, he occasionally was content to drift away from the basket, but he made zero of his seven three-point attempts. Conversely, he shot 16-for-28 from two-point range.

He's still learning his way around the low block, which is why this has been such an educational preseason. On some days, to increase Carolina's paint presence, former ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller has stopped by to work out with the team. On Tuesday, Zeller spent additional time after practice talking with Washington about some post play details.

"It really gives me a higher learning of the game," Washington said. "I'm just trying to understand the little nuances of playing as a big here, which can enable me to make jumps as an individual every week."

Notes: The most competitive part of Tuesday's practice came at the end, when Hubert Davis put his team through a stop-score-stop competition in which one side had to win two out of three repetitions. RJ Davis stopped Elliot Cadeau on a possibly dubious no-call to earn the victory in the first matchup. As Cadeau has been told at prior practices, "You're a freshman. You don't get calls." But then Cadeau's team won the second game; as Hubert Davis probably hoped, that forced a winner-take-all third game. That's when the more veteran team—featuring both Armando Bacot and RJ Davis—prevailed…Just a reminder that Jae'Lyn Withers is playing for his fourth head coach in four years and is coming off a 4-28 season with Louisville. That makes the flashes he's shown during the preseason even more tantalizing, as the hope is that some consistency will make him an even more productive player than he was last year for the Cards, when he had ten double-digit scoring games in ACC play. It hasn't been unusual for him to make the kind of athletic play he had on Tuesday afternoon, when he drove by Harrison Ingram and Washington and finished with a big two-handed dunk. He's also likely among the preseason shot blocking leaders, as he is willing to challenge almost anything and has the athleticism to contest both his man and in help defense…One of the most memorable plays of this week was a bit unexpected, as Bacot threw a beautiful bounce pass to Davis, who had worked free under the basket for a layup…

Last week's visit from Bryce Cabe continues to resonate with the Tar Heels. Hubert Davis reminded his team of Bryce's situation after practice on Tuesday when emphasizing the importance of showing up every day ready to compete and maximize every opportunity…Bryce was a part of a $25,000 Tar Heel donation to UNC Children's Hospital on Friday night at Live Action. Also part of that segment: a video from Eric Montross updating his progress and confirming he will not be part of the Tar Heel Sports Network radio crew this season...It may take more than one game to fully appreciate what Harrison Ingram brings to the Tar Heels. Even when he isn't among a particular practice's leading scorers, he makes plays that help his team win. On one occasion this week, he realized he couldn't fully get to a loose ball himself, so he reached in and tipped it to teammate Cormac Ryan instead of making a futile attempt at securing it alone…The Tar Heels will be out of town for the University's fall break this weekend, and then have a busy week next week—including ACC Media Day on Wednesday and the lone public exhibition game on Friday against St. Augustine's…Single-game tickets went on sale this week.

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Elliot Cadeau

RJ Davis

Zayden High

Harrison Ingram

James Okonkwo

Cormac Ryan

Jalen Washington

Jae'Lyn Withers

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