Read more about the article Strange season has North Carolina and Duke in stranger position of needing a “Cinderella story”

Strange season has North Carolina and Duke in stranger position of needing a “Cinderella story”

By TOM SHANAHAN Everyone knows this college basketball season has been unlike others with neither North Carolina nor Duke ranked. Stranger than that is to think of North Carolina and Duke as Cinderella stories in the upcoming ACC and NCAA tournaments. Teams mounting a roll with upsets are Cinderella stories. North Carolina and Duke will need to defeat higher seeds to advance deep into the ACC tournament and probably will face higher seeds in their NCAA opener. This…

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Read more about the article North Carolina remains ‘up’ in NCAA projections, Duke takes a tumble

North Carolina remains ‘up’ in NCAA projections, Duke takes a tumble

PHOTO (UNC Athletics): Freshman Walker Kessler celebrates with teammates Saturday's upset of No. 11 Florida State. By TOM SHANAHAN The second to last weekend of the ACC basketball regular season opened with ESPN NCAA Tournament bracketologist Joe Lunardi projecting North Carolina in for March Madness and Duke in if it won. North Carolina won, although its 78-70 win over Florida State Saturday at the Smith Center was more about the Tar Heels (15-8, 9-5 ACC) strengthening their No.…

Continue ReadingNorth Carolina remains ‘up’ in NCAA projections, Duke takes a tumble
Read more about the article Coach K and Ol’ Roy are “coaching up” their teams

Coach K and Ol’ Roy are “coaching up” their teams

By TOM SHANAHAN Clemson’s Brad Brownell sounded like a coach fully aware bad timing awaited his basketball team in Durham. He was right. Duke’s 26-point victory was its largest margin of the year, defeating Clemson 79-53 on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last thing struggling Clemson needed was to encounter a young Blue Devils roster “coached up” by a Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K has a spring in his step – watch the 73-year-old enthusiastically slap hands with…

Continue ReadingCoach K and Ol’ Roy are “coaching up” their teams