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Guard prospect Woods says he will attend North Carolina

But with a victory over Miami and a Pittsburgh loss to Duke on Saturday, North Carolina will clinch a spot beside Clemson in the ACC title game. And a roughly four-week recovery would have him close to returning for the December 1 matchup with No. 3 Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It also means that Paige likely won’t play on November 21 at Northern Iowa in a game that UNC scheduled to give Paige, an Iowa native, a homecoming.

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The good news is Paige will be back and that a fractured hand should linger less than his injuries did a season ago. Does it affect his shot at all?

Paige’s education on the topic has stretched beyond the classroom – and he’s been more than just an interested observer as UNC’s recent scandal has unfolded. It won’t be a chronic condition. Check here for the ESPN power rankings coming into the season.

Previous year we saw that the rankings for the final week of the season weren’t particularly predictive of the final slate with major movement going on.

At the end of the day, it’s recruiting and teenagers and there’s never an accurate barometer on just what a kid will do when it’s his moment. He has been an assistant at the high school, college and pro levels.

The Tar Heels are a strong team with a lot of options, but it does lack depth. Stacy Coley has been the go-to receiver since missing most of three games early in the season, totaling 31 receptions for 475 yards over the past five contests.

He was tested for mono, for strep throat, for the flu. Meeks admits now that he allowed his eating regimen to slip during the season leading to weight gain. Many believe the Tar Heels have the most talent of any team in the country, but it’s worth noting that point guard Marcus Paige won’t play in this one because of a broken bone in his hand. The question now is if he can do it for an entire season.

More often than not, however, Hood meets Williams’ expectations.

A few players are more intense than others. At the same time, Johnson most certainly knows Isaiah Hicks is ready and waiting to fill the void. Paige and Johnson lived together with a couple of non-basketball players previous year.

At the center of that, of course, is Paige who should easily hit 40% or better from three once he returns. We are in time of need right now for our leader. UNC was and still is an inside-out type of team with the focal point of the offense being on the interior.

Now the Tar Heels are juggling their backcourt rotation entering Friday’s opener against Temple, aiming to make up for the multi-week loss of the ACC preseason co-player of the year. And against Wisconsin in an NCAA tournament regional semifinal.

Woods told UNC coach Roy Williams on Monday night to let him know of his decision.

-Shaka Smart, Texas: Smart (pictured above) had tremendous success at Virginia Commonwealth with his use of ferocious, nonstop, full-court defensive pressure. “And everybody else is a little bit better too”. “They’re hopeful that the timeline they’ve talked about is for me to be 100 percent”. Paige, of course, played injured much of the season and even he didn’t hit threes at as high a percentage as expected. Finding his role and settling into being a starter will be an adjustment, though. Brissett has a 64% completion percentage with 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions this season. That’s a significant improvement. The Heels are back in acquainted territory, ranked preseason No. 1 within the AP poll for a record ninth time.

“The kid’s playing his butt off”, Fedora said.

Woods can play point or shooting guard and averaged 16.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.6 steals in helping the Skyhawks to the SCISA 3A state championship last season.

If any player seems on the verge of a breakout season, it’s Hicks, the 6-foot-8 junior forward.

Two big games to look out for this next weekend are Duke at North Carolina and Florida State at Clemson.

In a battle of the Tar Heel State, Duke makes the eight-mile trip to Chapel Hill to take on UNC in Kenan Memorial Stadium this Saturday. I have a great relationship with them and they made this the hardest decision I’ve had.

The natural answer here would be Pinson, who is stepping into the starting lineup. But there are other candidates: Hicks.

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G Joel Berry 6-0 So.

UNCs Brice Johnson dunks over Guilfords Justen Best as UNCs Joel James looks on during the second half of an NCAA college exhibition basketball game Friday Nov. 6 2015