College Hoops Video

North Carolina Tar Heel Coach, Roy Williams, followed up his 2009 NCAA Men’s basketball championship with a top 5 2009 NCAA recruiting class. Although North Carolina will miss Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and senior Tyler Hansbrough who will all be playing professionally next season, Coach Williams returns a talented crop of players from last season to go with John Henson, Travis and David Wear, Leslie McDonald, and Dexter Strickland who comprise the 2009 recruiting class.

Many pre-season rankings hold the Tar Heels a bit lower than their usual pre-season nr 1-3, however, most agree that Coach Williams has more than enough talent returning next year to achieve 30 wins, compete for the ACC title, and just maybe make a deep run in the 2010 NCAA tournament.

Projected 2009-10 Starting Lineup for the North Carolina Tar Heels

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Point Guard – Larry Drew II

Larry Drew averaged just under 10 minutes a game last season with his most minutes coming with star point guard, Ty Lawson, was out with a toe injury. Drew played in all of North Carolina’s games last season. Drew didn’t really get enough FT and 3PT attempts for fans to see what he is capable of, so you shouldn’t really look hard at the 41% free throw or 35% field goal clips he achieved over the course of the season. Dexter Strickland also looks to see some minutes behind Larry Drew as he picks up the offense and adjusts to the college game. Look for Drew’s playing time to increase as the season progresses.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Power Forward –Deon Thompson

Deon Thompson comes off a season where he averaged 10.6 points a game to go with 5.7 rpg. He’ll be expected to up his production a bit with the loss of Hansbrough for his senior year and gives the Tar Heels an experienced front court presence heading into the 2009-10 season. Star recruit, David Wear will compete for playing time with Thompson and will likely see increased minutes as the season proceeds and the Tar Heels get deeper into ACC play when Coach Williams will need added depth in the front court.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Center – Ed Davis

A huge win for Tar Heels fans was Ed Davis choosing to return for the 2009-10 NCAA season vice declaring for the NBA. He finished the second half of the 2008-09 season extremely strong. Davis led the Tar Heels with 65 blocked shots and pulled down 6.6 rebounds per game. Look for Davis to be the defensive lead of the Tar Heels next season with a bit more offensive production than we saw out of him last season. He’s not likely to pull down 20 points a game, but 13-15 a game is not out of the question.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Small Forward – William Graves

William Graves heads into the summer time as the leading candidate for starting at the SF role for Coach Roy Williams next season. Star recruit, John Henson, will be battling for playing time and could see time behind either Graves or Deon Thompson. John Henson looks like he can play naturally in either the 3 or 4 position in Coach Williams’ offense next season, so his minutes may very likely will just depend on how quickly his defensive came gets up to ACC level competition.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Shooting Guard – Marcus Ginyard

Marcus Ginyard received a medical redshirt for last season after only playing three games. He’s started 55 times in his career as a Tar Heel and was also voted the team’s top defender his sophomore and junior years. He’ll bring experience to the backcourt which should help North Carolina jell more quickly as a team as the Tar Heels get into the 2009-10 NCAA basketball season. As the season moves along, expect to see recruit Leslie McDonald start to see an increase number of minutes as Coach Williams gets his team ready for another post-season run in 2010.

Projected 2009-10 North Carolina Tar Heels Starting Line-Up:

PG: Larry Drew, II

SG: Marcus Ginyard

SF: William Graves

PF: Deon Thompson

C: Ed Davis

Refs:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/81568, http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/2009/05/2009/05/top-5-2009-ncaa-basketball-recruiting-classes/, http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/60116, http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=27016, http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/2009/04/did-i-mention-i-really-like-this-ed-davis-kid/, http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/2009/04/john-henson-is-awesome, http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/2009/06/four-heels-get-drafted/, http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/2009/06/2009-north-carolina-basketball-recruiting-john-henson/,

So what do you do for an encore after winning a national title? Simple, if you are Coach Roy Williams you go out and sign a 2009 recruiting class that many experts have said is one of the top five in the country. The 2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Men’s Basketball recruiting class will most likely set up Coach Williams to make another serious title run in the upcoming season. With the signing of John Henson, the Tar Heels bring in a player that already has the NBA scouts smiling. The question I’m sure many will be asking is if Henson will become another “one year wonder” and seek the fame and fortunes of the NBA after his freshman season. Although it’s just speculation at this point, don’t be surprised if that turns out to be the case. With as much talent as Henson possesses, at least the Tar Heel fans get to enjoy this show in the upcoming 2009-2010 campaign.    

2009 North Carolina Basketball Recruiting – John Henson’s Background

Originally from the small town of Round Rock, Texas, Henson’s family moved to Tampa before his senior year where John ended up playing for Coach Renaldo Garcia of Sickles High School. As the #3 ranked player in the country, it didn’t take long for Coach Garcia to appreciate the talents of Henson. What many don’t know about Henson, is that during a 16 month span starting in the 10^th grade, Henson grew a phenomenal 6 inches! Talk about a growth spurt! And also talk about a player that now is almost 6ft 10in. tall with the tools of a guard. Can anyone say “match-up nightmare?” After leading his high school team to a 24-5 record, Henson was voted to the McDonalds All American Team and chosen to be a participant on the Nike Hoop Summit Team to compete against foreign competition.

2009 North Carolina Basketball Recruiting – John Henson’s Skill Set

At 6ft. 10 inches tall, many experts feel that John Henson’s upside is off the charts. He can score, he can pass and he can create his own offense when needed. It’s no secret that he will have to add a bit of bulk to his wiry frame in order to withstand the physical play of the ACC, but look for Henson to get plenty of floor time for the Tar Heels in the upcoming 2009-2010 campaign. Just think about this for a second, with returning forward Ed Davis, who was the leading shot blocker for the team as freshman, the Tar Heels could have a dominating defensive presence with both these young men on the floor at the same time. Now let’s not forget that Henson also brings to the table the ability to score from both the low post and the perimeter and has the range to extend the opponents defense. The only problem that Coach Williams will face with this young man will be trying to convince him to stay past his freshman year as NBA scouts will be watching him throughout the season. Yes, Henson is that good.

Refs:

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/john-henson

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=53362&season=2009&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fplayer%3frecruitId%3d53362%26season%3d2009

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/nav

http://northcarolina.scout.com/a.z?c=1&p=8&nid=3164671&s=78

http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/2009/05/2009-north-carolina-tar-heels-basketball-recruiting-class/

#1 2009 NCAA Basketball Prospect John Wall

With Kentucky’s signing of John Wall, all of the top 5 2009 NCAA basketball recruits have now committed to Major college programs. Kentucky is the only program to have more than one of the top 5 recruits signed with Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Texas having signed the remainder of the prospects in the top 5. Joining Wall at Kentucky will be inside-prospect, Demarcus Cousins, while the third ranked prospect, Derrick Favors will be heading to Georgia Tech next season. Although Tar Heel coach Roy Williams did not land John Wall, he does have big-man John Henson heading to North Carolina next season to help the defending champion Tar Heels re-load for the 2009-10 NCAA basketball season.

#1 2009 NCAA Basketball Recruit – PG – John Wall
High School: Raleigh (North Carolina) Word of God Christian Academy
College – Kentucky
Ht: 6’4″
Wt: 185 lbs
Summary:
John Wall is fast and has outstanding ball handling skills. He has demonstrated in both High School and AAU play that he can beat defending players off of the dribble and either finish or find the open team-mate. Wall is also about to finish above the rim. On the down-side, his outside shot is only considered average at this point so he will have some work to do at Kentucky next season, but he should excel in Coach Calipari’s dribble-drive offense.

#2 2009 NCAA Basketball Recruit – PF – Demarcus Cousins
High School: LeFlore, Mobile (Alabama)
College – Kentucky
Ht: 6’9″
Wt: 250 lbs
Summary:
Demarcus Cousins chose to follow Coach Cal to Lexington after Kentucky hired the former Memphis Tiger coach. Cousins has an above average jump shot and is able to handle the ball much better than other big men in the 2009 NCAA basketball recruiting class. He’s already assessed as being a potentialn 2010 NBA Draft Lottery pick. Look for Coach Cal to push the Kentucy strength training program on Cousins to help him get stronger and be able to bang with the larger centers in the NCAA and downstream – the NBA.

#3 2009 NCAA Basketball Recruit – C – Derrick Favors
High School: South Atlanta
College – Georgia Tech
Ht: 6’9″
Wt: 220 lbs
Summary:
Derrick Favors is one of the most skilled post players in the 2009 NCAA recruiting class. He has a great touch with the basketball from the lane. He’s a bit thin for a big-time center at 220lbs, but he’ll bulk up as he gets into the Yellow Jacket basketball program.
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