William Graves from Dudley is looking great at North Carolina

special to GREENSBOROSports.com from Milton Jenkins……

Andy:
I recently had the opportunity to go watch this year’s North Carolina Mens basketball team put on a nice show for its fan base. It was very fun-filled with ESPN host and former UNC graduate Stewart Scott as the MC. He told a lot of stories about the tradition of UNC and what it stood for nation wide. Also in attendance was former UNC great Charlie Scott along with future UNC prospects. The Dean Dome was packed and all one could see was a sea of light blue; Dark Blue attire was considered a spy!(Duke) The lady Tarheels came on first and got the crowd going with their acts and then followed it up with about a ten minute scrimmage. One of the new comers that stood out was the point guard from Las Vegas. She really pushed the ball up the court and made some fantastic passes. The lady Tarheels seem to have a great time.

Since the program was labeled as a “Night out with Roy”(Coach Roy Williams) it highlghted many things that has transpired over the years. Coach Roy and his staff even danced to the music. One of the assistants might want to work a little more on his rythm. Now it was time for the men to take center stage after all of their theatrics. The game ended in a deadlock 37-37. William Graves (Dudley) whom was redshirted last year was clearly in my opinion the best player on the floor that night. He went 5 for 8 from the field, stole a pass and went coast to coast and converted. He knocked down a 20 ft jumper and went baseline and converted with both his left and right hand. He dunked one ball that bounced high off the rim. But the play of the night was when he went baseline and went under the basket and then in mid-air did a 360 and converted the basket off of the back board. The crowd was left breathless after that conversion. Roy might not be saying it but I will. I believe that William Graves is going to be more than a pleasant surprise to many who really understand the game. I thought that one on UNC major weaknesses last year was that they did not have a closer and it eventually caught up with them. It would not even surprise me that UNC may even go further this year even with the loss of Brandon Wright to the pros.

I have always contended that when an athlete has dominated on many levels very seldom do they all of a sudden stop, unless a major injury or some social conflict has occured. William Graves dominated in this game with the likes of Tyler Hansborough, Ty Lawson, Danny Green, Wayne Ellington, Marcus Ginyard all playing pretty hard. Something tells me that this may have been happening all along despite being redshirted and now the basketball world may be stratching their heads and saying “If only we had him last year”. A major controversy could be developing in Chapel Hill but for all the right reasons.