Tar Heels coach sees benefits of new rule with young roster

CHAPEL HILL ? Roy Williams thinks Marcus Paige will be a productive piece of the puzzle for the North Carolina men?s basketball team and he knows much will be asked of the incoming freshman point guard.

But to truly get a feel for how the McDonald?s All-American will fit with the Tar Heels, Williams looks forward to the day when Paige operates on the court alongside proven players such as James Michael McAdoo and Reggie Bullock.

That day is coming soon.

Like next week.

Williams said Thursday he sees nothing but benefits connected to new NCAA rules that allow coaching staffs more access to players in the summer.

Under the new legislation, North Carolina has held four of the two-hour, basketball-related workouts for its returnees during the last four weeks.

Now, Paige and the rest of the Tar Heels? freshman class ? Brice Johnson, Joel James and J.P. Tokoto ? are set to join the activities for four more weeks when they arrive for the second session of summer school classes.

?I think it?s a great rule. I think it?s something that we?ve needed for a long time,? Williams said. ?I think it?s been helpful. I think it?s good. I think it?s healthy for our game. And I think that when those guys get here next week, the fact that they can be involved is even more positive.?

Especially considering the roster transition North Carolina must navigate in preparing for next season.

Four stars from last season?s team ? senior Tyler Zeller, junior John Henson and sophomores Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall ? are weeks shy of becoming first-round picks in the NBA Draft.

?To lose those three (underclassmen) and ?Z? changes our team drastically to say the least,? Williams said. ?And it makes the four freshmen a lot more important. They?re going to have to be able to play quicker. Those guys are going to have to step up and be an important part of our team.?

Which only heightens the meaning attached to this summer?s instructional work and supervised scrimmages, as the new-look Tar Heels mesh their veterans and rookies.

Williams relishes the sneak peek, the chance to acclimatize and integrate with the official start of practice still four months away.

?It is a good situation,? he said. ?I think it?s silly to not have that.?

Paige had surgery in April to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. The 6-foot-1 lefty should be healthy enough to participate in North Carolina?s summer workouts and pickup games, Williams said.

Also on the injury front, guard Dexter Strickland, coming off a torn knee ligament in January, has been cleared for light running, jumping and shooting. Williams said he expects Strickland to be full-go for everything by August.

Leslie McDonald is all the way back from the torn knee ligament that sidelined him for the entirety of last season. Williams said he has no qualms about the guard competing in the upcoming Greater NC Pro-Am, the summer league where he was hurt last July.

?Guys can get hurt walking across the street,? Williams said. ?The only way to become a better basketball player is to play. If he had some reason that he didn?t want to play, I?d go along with it. But he told me about it and I said I?ve got no problems with it.?

Williams held court on a variety of other topics Thursday during his annual summer news conference. Here?s a sampling:

n He chuckled when recounting a story of pulling two drive-bys while preparing to pitch an assistant coaching job to Hubert Davis, the former North Carolina standout, NBA player and ESPN analyst.

?I drove by his house one night and started to go knock on his door and I said, ?I can?t do that,? ? Williams said. ?And so then I drove by another night and said, ?Nah, I can?t just spring I on him like this.? ?

So Williams finally called asked Davis and his wife to stop by his office for a meeting. Williams told them he had a favor to ask.

?He didn?t realize my favor was going to be the biggest favor anybody?d ever asked him in his entire life,? Williams said.

Davis officially came onboard May 2 to fill the vacancy created by Jerod Haase?s departure. Haase is the new head coach at Alabama-Birmingham.

n Williams said Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan never contacted him about the team?s coaching search, which appears to be coming to a conclusion.

Williams said 11 different NBA teams ? including the Washington Wizards when Jordan first took charge there ? have reached out to him in the past about coaching positions. None of those situations, though, has occurred in the last two to three years.

n Of on-the-rise rival North Carolina State potentially being tabbed as the Atlantic Coast Conference favorite next season, Williams said: ?It would not surprise me. ? I would think that could very easily happen and maybe should happen.?

n Williams, who turns 62 on the first day of August, said his goal is to coach ?six to 10 more years if I?m healthy enough.?

project runway all stars elin nordegren tangled ever after kansas state last house on the left last house on the left rich forever mixtape