In 2001-2002, the best of the nation's best rivalry between Duke and North Carolina did not come on the basketball court, but rather on the recruiting trail. But as has often been the case in the recent past, the Blue Devils won--Duke's freshmen were rated No. 1, followed by the Tar Heels' at No. 2. The battle along Tobacco Road provided one recruiting coup for coach Matt Doherty's squad, as freshman point guard Raymond Felton has been everyone's ACC preseason freshman of the year. The much ballyhooed talent from Latta, S.C., is an extremely gifted player, as evidenced by the numbers he put up his senior year of high school. En route to being named the Naismith Player of the Year, he averaged over 30 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and three steals per game. His most conspicuous attributes are his speed, his strength, his vision, and proficient passing.
According to the best point guard in North Carolina history Phil Ford Felton is under more pressure to perform in Chapel Hill than any other player in the school's history. Called the "messiah" for the Tar Heels by Athlon Sports Magazine, Felton will certainly have a full plate come late November.
"We realize he's a freshman," Doherty said. "Playing for the state championship in high school is different than playing in the ACC championship and national championship. There are a lot of expectations on Raymond, but it is a team game. Raymond's not surrounded by experienced talent like Phil Ford or Kenny Smith were, or like some other freshman point guards in our program or in the league."
So is Raymond the individual who can turn around North Carolina's basketball program? According to comments he made this summer, he certainly believes that he and his fellow freshmen are up to the task.
"I am not going to say we will win the ACC," Felton said before he arrived. "We aren't going to win the NCAA championship. But we are not going to have as bad a year as last year. I don't think we are going to have a team like that."
Joining Felton in the backcourt will be Rashad McCants, a shooting guard with a quick first step. He's an exciting player, too, and has already drawn comparisons to former Tar Heel great Vince Carter. Though he is small for a wing guard at 6-foot-4, he is strong enough to post up more imposing players and is skilled enough to score from outside.
"Offensively, he's very gifted, defensively he's still seeing trying to understand being in a defensive stance, seeing man and ball and every position on the defensive end," Doherty said. "Offensively he has a great feel. He can pass, he can shoot, he can post up."
The other UNC freshman expected to start is 6-8, 270-pound power forward Sean May, last year's Mr. Basketball in talent-laden Indiana. He is a bruiser, comparable to Lonnie Baxter, but has been hampered recently by poor knees. One knee is injured, and the other is developing tendonitis. He was unable to participate in practice Monday.
"It's certainly set him back and it's setting us back," Doherty said. "We can have, as smart of a player as Sean is, but still you have to have the reps, the conditioning, the experience. He can sit on the sideline and say 'this is where I'm supposed to go,' but it's different when you're actually out there on the floor. He's a very smart player, but he still needs to be on the floor doing it."
But perhaps the most surprising freshman--according to North Carolina seniors Jonathan Holmes and Will Johnson--will be David Noel. A 6-5 guard/forward out of Southern Durham High School, the freshman poured in a game-high 23 points in the Tar Heels' intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday.
He's an impressive athlete whose football abilities often overshadowed his potential on the hardcourt. In fact, he was prepared to sign a scholarship to play wide receiver for John Bunting, but Doherty convinced him to focus on basketball. A phenomenal athlete, teammates cite Noel's explosiveness and knack for scoring as his most significant attributes.
Rounding out UNC's recruiting class are a pair of big men, Jamaican Damian Grant and Byron Sanders of Mississippi. The two are projects for Doherty, but improved significantly over the summer and are expected to contribute immediately for the undersized Tar Heels.
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