A new chapter about to begin for Walnut Cove’s super slugger
Ken Griffey, Jr. Dustin Ackley. It won’t be long. The Seattle Mariners have until Aug. 17 to sign Ackley, a Walnut Cove native, who was selected No. 2 overall in this year’s Major League Baseball Draft. After signing, Ackley will likely land on one of the Mariners’ minor league affiliate teams.
(The Stokes News)
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A shooter's touch: Patient inspired Montross to support hospital
On Friday and Saturday, UNC basketball players were joined on the Smith Center court by pint-sized Tar Heels and their fathers. The event was the 15th year of the Eric Montross Father’s Day Basketball Camp. Montross started the camp in 1995 with the family of an N.C. Children’s Hospital patient. While a member of the men’s basketball team in 1993, Montross often made visits to patients at the Children’s Hospital.
(Daily Tar Heel)
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From Carolina To The Cape
The green baseball diamonds on Cape Cod are full of green talent this season. Levi Michael and Garrett Davis - both Harwich Mariners and college teammates, are just two of the hundreds of players that are here to sharpen their skills. The UNC Tar Heels are fresh-faced and ready to play.
(Tar Heel Blue)
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Business lawsuits vex ex-hoops stars
For college basketball fans, Christian Laettner and Brian Davis are glorified chapters in Duke University sports history -- teammates who won back-to-back championships in a record four consecutive trips to the Final Four. When Laettner sank his famous 17-foot buzzer-beater, propelling the Blue Devils over Kentucky on their way to the 1992 championship, Davis was cheering on the sidelines.
(Raleigh News & Observer)
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Carolina's Thompson goes for gold
UNC basketball player Deon Thompson has a national championship ring on the way from the Tar Heels' successful run in the NCAA Tournament, and now he is trying to add a gold medal to collection. Thompson is a member of the U.S. World University Games basketball team that will compete in Belgrade, Serbia, July 2-12. The United States will play its opening game in pool play this Friday against Finland.
(Chapel Hill News)
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Tyler Hansbrough has first Pacers workout
Rookie Tyler Hansbrough made his Indiana Pacers debut today during the team’s first summer league practice. Hansbrough, the team's top pick in last month's NBA draft and No. 13 overall, was right at home providing energy in practice and playing alongside Brandon Rush, Josh McRoberts and Roy Hibbert, all of whom he faced while at North Carolina.
(Indianapolis Star)
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UNC Needs Marvin Austin To Blossom
Now is the time for Marvin Austin to finally turn in the great season that has escaped him so far. He anchors a deep North Carolina defensive line loaded with talent and potential, but one that hasn’t tapped into that ability enough over the last two seasons. Each Tar Heels lineman has performed well in stretches, but consistency has been an issue, and they are still waiting for one of them to emerge a star.
(Buster Sports)
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Sean May fighting for his NBA life
What's an undersized forward with a history of knee problems and weight issues worth? May is about to find out because the Bobcats cut him loose and now he is an unrestricted free agent with very few positives on his resume. A one- or two-year deal may the best offer he can attract to establish himself as a legitimate NBA player.
(AOL Fanhouse)
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New Deal a Slow Process for Marvin Williams
A new contract for Marvin Williams isn’t likely to be wrapped up any time soon. Williams is a restricted free agent this summer, and it tends to take some time for those situations to work themselves out. A restricted free agent has the right to negotiate with other teams, but his team, in this case the Atlanta Hawks, has the right to match any contract offer. Williams doesn’t have any meetings set up with any other teams.
(Kitsap Sun)
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Red-hot rivalries burn down the house
4. North Carolina-Duke: Why It's Hot Now: This is college basketball's eternal flame, but in 2009-10 it cannot hold a candle to the above smoldering matchups. The Tobacco Road rivalry has been too lopsided of late, and both teams figure to take a couple of steps back from last season's stature. Upper Hand Today: It's all Heels right now.
(ESPN.com)
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Ranking ACC Units: Defensive Backs
3) North Carolina Tar Heels: The Tar Heels Kendric Burney is one of the top returning corner backs in the ACC. Safety Denuta Williams suffered a wrist injury in the offseason, and missed spring practice, but he's one of the top safeties in the league. The Heels must find a replacement for Trimane Goddard who had seven interceptions last year. Da'Norris Searcy looks like the top candidate to take the strong safety spot.
(Bleacher Report)
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Darian Durant comes from a football family
Darian and Justin Durant have two leagues covered when it comes to professional football. Darian is the starting quarterback with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who open their 2009 CFL regular season Friday (7 p.m.) against the B.C. Lions at Mosaic Stadium. Justin is a third-year linebacker with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. Justin, 23, started 12 games in 2008 and eight in 2007 and has recorded 119 tackles as an outside linebacker.
(Regina Leader-Post)
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Source: Boston Celtics make offer to Rasheed Wallace
The Boston Celtics offered free-agent forward Rasheed Wallace a 2-year contract, an NBA source told the Boston Globe. Wallace, who had played for Detroit since midway through the 2003-04 season, met with Celtics ownership, coach Doc Rivers, and All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen yesterday in Detroit, the source said. A former Simon Gratz star, Wallace reportedly didn't make a decision during the meeting.
(Philadelphia Daily News)
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Wayne Ellington, Gerald Henderson to be summer league teammates
In a strange twist of fate, former high school teammates Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington will play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA summer league. Ellington was drafted by the T'wolves but Henderson was selected by Charlotte. The Bobcats will not have a team in the summer league so they found Henderson another team...Minnesota.
(WRAL Sports Fan)
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The Evolution of an Offense
The first practice of the 2009 football season will arrive in nearly five weeks and with it comes the opportunity for UNC’s offense to continue to build on the principles that Butch Davis demands. After all, the finished product may still be several years away. “What you see with our football team in ’07 and ’08 isn’t really what I would like everybody to see in 2012,” the third-year UNC head coach told Inside Carolina earlier this summer.
(Inside Carolina)
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Brian Moran Arrives in Pulaski
What was it like for you to find out that you were drafted by the Seattle Mariners after they drafted fellow teammates Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager? "I was actually at practice and a lot of the guys shouted down to the bullpen to let me know. Then all the sudden my phone started to get a lot of calls from people saying congratulations. It was pretty cool."
(Inside Carolina)
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Nuggets Targeted Lawson From The Start
Last season the Denver Nuggets took a liking to University of North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson. However, after seeing his draft stock drop, Lawson opted to return to school. A year later, the Nuggets were finally able to get their man. And make no mistake about it, the Nuggets were on a quest to land Lawson by any means necessary in Thursday's NBA Draft.
(Hoops World)
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A true student-athlete finds the right school
Refuting stereotypes can be quite entertaining. For example, just because someone plays athletics does not mean that person is of lesser intelligence. Incoming freshman Brennan Williams of Massachusetts is one example of how a kid who is good at football does not mean he is a "dumb jock."
(Chapel Hill News)
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The NBA Draft, Viewed Through Local Lenses
Granted, gushing by TV talkers gets old, but that wasn't Hansbrough's fault. He's an unassuming kid in the best Midwestern tradition -- polite, hard-working, respectful. A product of small-town Missouri, Hansbrough should fit well in Indianapolis, a walkable, friendly capital city in a state that venerates basketball.
(Tar Heel Daily)
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Draft night busts tired myths
The 2009 NBA draft might be most memorable for Hasheem Thabeet's shimmering suit and the Minnesota Timberwolves' scrambling to corner the market on point guards, but it also served to destroy many of the draft myths repeated each spring.
(SportingNews.com)
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Drew must get the point
What concerns Williams is not the skill of Lawson's replacement, Larry Drew of Los Angeles, but the lack of depth along the perimeter in general. Fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard will have to play some at the point in addition to his duties as an off-guard and possible small forward.
(Carolina Blue)
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Pacers rebuilding with 'winners'
Bird said Hansbrough was the player he wanted all along with his first-round pick. "Yep, that's the guy," he said. "We had some point guards we wanted, but we felt if Ty was there, we had to take him." Bird said four teams contacted him about Hansbrough after the pick, and none of them stood a chance. "They didn't come close," Bird said. "A lot of teams wanted him. There were some good offers."
(Associated Press)
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Hansbrough will prove himself in pros
One could argue no Carolina basketball player has given more in the 99 years that the school has played the sport than Tyler Hansbrough did. Now he is about to claim his reward. The Indianapolis Pacers made Hansbrough the 13th overall selection in the 2009 National Basketball Association draft on Thursday.
(Tar Heel Daily)
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Raymond Felton a priority for Charlotte Bobcats
Certainly, there has to be some concern about the contract negotiations with Raymond Felton. But if the comments of part-owner Michael Jordan are any indication, Felton's return is a matter of when not if. "I definitely want to keep him," Jordan said of retaining Felton, whose rights were retained last week when Charlotte offered him a $5.5 million qualifying offer. "I don't see any situation that he will not be with this team."
(Gaston Gazette)
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Danny Green to play in Cleveland Cavalier's summer league
First-round pick Christian Eyenga and second-round pick Danny Green are expected to play for the Cavs' summer-league team in Las Vegas, a source said. Eyenga might not sign a two-year guaranteed contract, but he could get insurance in case he was injured. Green, the starting small forward on national champion North Carolina last year, could sign a multiyear deal.
(The Morning Journal)
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