North Carolina
This Duke team has Coach K sounding giddy
Tom Shanahan Feb 14 2020By Tom Shanahan | Special to the TimesDURHAM — Mike Krzyzewksi, Duke’s hall-of-fame basketball coach, sounded positively giddy Monday night, just three days before his 73rd birthday. And that’s a good thing not to be confused with a chuckling over a grandfatherly moment.Coach K...
Duke steals one on charitable missed FTs
Tom Shanahan Feb 8 2020CHAPEL HILL – The next time unranked North Carolina faces a Duke team rated in the Top 10, bank on the Tar Heels pulling off an upset. If they can make free throws, that is.Struggling North Carolina was on the verge of shocking its historic Tobacco Road rival, but sub-.50-percent...
North Carolina has attention of Duke players
Tom Shanahan Feb 7 2020DURHAM – Are you listening this Saturday, Blue Devils?Pay attention to the opponent was Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s complaint with his team last Saturday when the Blue Devils took Boston College lightly. Duke trailed most of the game until pulling out a 63-55 victory against a...
Carolina and Duke lack only national intrigue
Tom Shanahan Feb 7 2020By Tom Shanahan Special to the TimesDURHAM — If only it was this easy to compare scores and pick college basketball results.A week after struggling North Carolina lost at home to middling ACC foe Boston College, Duke completed a sweep of the those same Eagles with an eight-point...
Cole Anthony close to making return to court
Tom Shanahan Jan 31 2020North Carolina and point guard Cole Anthony can finally put to rest he’s not playing the remainder of the season to protect his NBA draft stock. Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said Friday Anthony has resumed practicing. That doesn’t mean the projected lottery pick will play...
Miami win matters more than passing Dean
Tom Shanahan Jan 25 2020CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina’s injury-riddled basketball team finally secured the victory coach Roy Williams never really wanted to claim if he had his wishes.When the Tar Heels beat Yale on Dec. 30, Williams moved into a tie for fourth with Dean Smith on the NCAA...
Williams has one disagreement with Smith
Tom Shanahan Jan 24 2020CHAPEL HILL – Roy Williams lives by unwritten philosophies he began learning from Dean Smith upon arrival in Chapel Hill 51 years ago to play on North Carolina’s freshman team. He never disagrees with his mentor. Until now. “I am mad at Coach Smith right now, to be honest with...
Duke notebook on football and basketball
Tom Shanahan Jan 24 2020By Tom Shanahan Special to the Wilson TimesDaniel Jones proved he was a better quarterback than NFL fans judged him at Duke upon taking over the New York Giants’ starting role as the sixth pick of the NFL draft.Quentin Harris, a fifth-year senior who succeeded Jones, showed...
Roy Williams is poised to pass Dean Smith
Tom Shanahan Jan 3 2020CHAPEL HILL – Winning college athletic programs are often taken for granted. One assumption not to make, though, is that’s an easy transition for an assistant coach to pick up where his mentor left off. Sometimes there are hiccups before a blue blood re-establishes itself. At...
Duke wins with Goldwire filling in for Jones
Tom Shanahan Dec 19 2019DURHAM – Imagine Duke basketball this year without point guard Tre Jones. Well, the No. 4-ranked Blue Devils faced finding out the hard way when Duke announced prior to its home game against Wofford that Jones would sit out with a “minor injury.” Nevertheless, the Blue Devils...