University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: Carolina Basketball Notebook
September 14, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Updates on Kenny Williams, tough summer matchups and more.
By Adam Lucas
It's a little surprising Kenny Williams is even willing to discuss his current health status.
The last time he did so, he was optimistically looking forward to being back to full strength in a matter of weeks. A few days later, he suffered another setback and underwent another surgery.
Now he's right back to where he was when we last heard from him. "The next goal for me is playing," Williams says. "We've done everything up to playing. In the next couple of weeks, I'll probably be playing a little 3-on-3 and working my way up to 5-on-5. I've done all the defensive slides and individual stuff that goes with game activity, I just haven't done the actual playing because they don't want any unnecessary bumping on the knee."
Williams has participated in fall team conditioning and reports feeling no ill effects the next day. He's also been in the gym doing some individual sessions, starting with some basics and planning to work his way up to more complex workouts.
Cam can: As the Tar Heels break in a team with seven new faces—five freshmen, transfer KJ Smith and graduate transfer Cam Johnson—not all the newcomers have been equal. The NCAA-allowed small number of team practices showed the difference in being completely new to the college game as compared to being new to Carolina's version of the college game.
"The biggest difference you can see between Cam and the freshmen is that while Cam doesn't know our plays or our offense or our secondary break, he knows how to play," says assistant coach Brad Frederick. "He knows the speed of the game and the intensity required."
Older and wiser: It's not always the biggest names who present the biggest challenges in the offseason pickup games featuring the current team and Tar Heel alumni. Theo Pinson reports that a fellow national champion is consistently his toughest matchup.
"For me personally, Jawad Williams is always tough," Pinson says. "Every time he's here, which is a lot, I know it's going to be a long day for me. He's a little taller than me and he has a post game, an outside game, and he can do it all. But at the same time, that's why I came to Carolina, for that kind of competition. I'm not going to shy away from it."
Williams, a member of the 2005 national champions, is playing in Japan this season. He had some recent thoughts on his summer in Chapel Hill in his blog.
Reminder: The Carolina Basketball Museum is only a couple of weeks away from reopening to the public after extensive summer renovations. Given the museum's important place among the must-sees for Tar Heel fans visiting Chapel Hill, closing it for a couple of months is never taken lightly.
In this case, however, it's the price that's paid for winning national championships, which requires a significant update throughout the museum. When it reopens in late September, fans will find a refreshed video system, new video elements, and of course—lots of reminders of the 2017 national championship.
It's a little surprising Kenny Williams is even willing to discuss his current health status.
The last time he did so, he was optimistically looking forward to being back to full strength in a matter of weeks. A few days later, he suffered another setback and underwent another surgery.
Now he's right back to where he was when we last heard from him. "The next goal for me is playing," Williams says. "We've done everything up to playing. In the next couple of weeks, I'll probably be playing a little 3-on-3 and working my way up to 5-on-5. I've done all the defensive slides and individual stuff that goes with game activity, I just haven't done the actual playing because they don't want any unnecessary bumping on the knee."
Williams has participated in fall team conditioning and reports feeling no ill effects the next day. He's also been in the gym doing some individual sessions, starting with some basics and planning to work his way up to more complex workouts.
Cam can: As the Tar Heels break in a team with seven new faces—five freshmen, transfer KJ Smith and graduate transfer Cam Johnson—not all the newcomers have been equal. The NCAA-allowed small number of team practices showed the difference in being completely new to the college game as compared to being new to Carolina's version of the college game.
"The biggest difference you can see between Cam and the freshmen is that while Cam doesn't know our plays or our offense or our secondary break, he knows how to play," says assistant coach Brad Frederick. "He knows the speed of the game and the intensity required."
Older and wiser: It's not always the biggest names who present the biggest challenges in the offseason pickup games featuring the current team and Tar Heel alumni. Theo Pinson reports that a fellow national champion is consistently his toughest matchup.
"For me personally, Jawad Williams is always tough," Pinson says. "Every time he's here, which is a lot, I know it's going to be a long day for me. He's a little taller than me and he has a post game, an outside game, and he can do it all. But at the same time, that's why I came to Carolina, for that kind of competition. I'm not going to shy away from it."
Williams, a member of the 2005 national champions, is playing in Japan this season. He had some recent thoughts on his summer in Chapel Hill in his blog.
Reminder: The Carolina Basketball Museum is only a couple of weeks away from reopening to the public after extensive summer renovations. Given the museum's important place among the must-sees for Tar Heel fans visiting Chapel Hill, closing it for a couple of months is never taken lightly.
In this case, however, it's the price that's paid for winning national championships, which requires a significant update throughout the museum. When it reopens in late September, fans will find a refreshed video system, new video elements, and of course—lots of reminders of the 2017 national championship.
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