Tar Heels host basketball media day

North Carolina freshman defensive tackle Aaron Crawford will have season-ending surgery on Thursday to fix a left foot fracture he suffered last week in practice. “I try to do everything I can that Coach tells me to do”, Johnson said. The UNC football staff believes that Crawford was and would have been a key defensive contributor this season. The Tar Heels captured the second and third sets 25-20 and 25-19, respectively, to deal Virginia its 45th loss in 59 meetings between the programs. Samuel played in all five games and scored on a two-point conversion against N.C. A&T. Wake Forest, who comes into Saturday’s game ranked No. 15 nationally in total defense, presents a different challenge to North Carolina.

“We understand that we haven’t accomplished anything yet”, linebacker Jeff Schoettmer said. Coach Dennis Hohenshelt’s team now sits two games back of Florida State and Louisville and a single game behind the Tar Heels in the ACC standings. “I think this year we are one of the best and I think if we play the best down the stretch then we could be the best”. It feels good to walk around knowing that you just beat one of the powerhouse teams in the ACC, just to keep building off of that.

Fedora expects to see as much grit from Wake Forest as it showed in stopping Boston College in its 3-0 win Saturday, but likes his teams chances because he knows it knows what it can do, and because the players like their team and their chances too. “I just wasn’t playing well”, Paige said. “They like the chemistry of this team, they like the makeup of this team, there’s a bond amongst all of them that they’re really enjoying”.

Senior guard Marcus Paige is a big reason North Carolina is the No. 1 team in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one) rankings. That’s also the last time UNC stood at 2-0 in the ACC, coming in Mack Brown’s final season before taking over at Texas. “It would be big for us”.