2009-2010 UNC TEAM SIGNED BASKETBALL

Description

2009-2010 UNC TEAM SIGNED BASKETBALL.
The Tar Heels lost four starters from their 2008–09 Championship team and top backcourt reserve Bobby Frasor. Tyler Hansbrough, the Atlantic Coast Conference all-time leading scorer, was selected in the lottery of the 2009 NBA Draft, going #13 to the Indiana Pacers. ACC Player of the Year Ty Lawson and 2009 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Wayne Ellington also were drafted in the first round, by the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves respectively. Senior swingman Danny Green would also get drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round.
Top returnees are senior center Deon Thompson, who spent the Summer helping lead Team USA to a bronze at the World University Games[1] and sophomore Ed Davis, who had got projected as a first-round draft pick. Reserve sophomores Larry Drew II and Tyler Zeller also return, and junior swingman Will Graves was reinstated over the Summer after a mid-season suspension by coach Roy Williams. Also returning is defensive stopper Marcus Ginyard, who took a medical redshirt for the 2008–09 campaign after starting as a junior for the 2007–08 Tar Heel team, who advanced to the Final Four. Joining the returnees is a recruiting class containing four McDonald's All-Americans and ranked as one of the top 5 in the Nation.[2]
Despite the heavy losses for the defending champions, the Tar Heels were ranked in the top ten of both preseason polls when they got released on October 29,[3] Even garnering a single vote for #1 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. UNC was ranked #6 in the AP and #4 in the Coaches poll. The Tar Heels were also picked as the ACC pre-season favorite (with rival Duke) by the conference media, while Davis was chosen a member of the preseason All-ACC Team.[4]
Other preseason honors for Tar Heel players included the inclusion of Davis and Thompson on the 50-man Wooden Award preseason candidate list, while Davis was also one of the 50 players named to the Naismith watch list.[5] Marcus Ginyard was named a preseason candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, one of only two ACC players named to the 30-man list (with Duke's Jon Scheyer).[6]
100th anniversary celebration Edit
UNC kicked off their 100th season with an alumni game on September 4, featuring such NBA players as Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison and Marvin Williams. At halftime of the event, the 2009 National Championship banner got unveiled, and UNC legend Michael Jordan got honored for his election to the Basketball Hall of Fame.[7] The event also proved to be an excellent recruiting tool for UNC, as 2011 forward prospect James McAdoo committed to North Carolina at the event and Harrison Barnes, the 2010 #1 recruit in the ESPNU and Scout.com rankings, would later commit to UNC after attending the event. Members of the 2009 championship team received their championship rings at halftime of the UNC-Citadel football game on September 5.
In their season opener against Florida International, the Tar Heels donned throwback uniforms in the style of the 1957 undefeated national championship team – with distinctive red trim.[8] The Tar Heels wore the 1957 throwback uniforms again when they played Rutgers on December 28.
Recruiting Edit
Coach Roy Williams signed a five-person class for 2009, including two-time Tennessee Division II-AA Mr. Basketball Leslie McDonald from Memphis, identical twins David and Travis Wear from California, and athletic combo guard Dexter Strickland from New Jersey. But the crown jewel of the class was 6'10 forward John Henson of Tampa, Florida, rated the #1 PF by Scout.com. Henson, Strickland and the Wear twins were all named to the McDonald's game in Miami. Henson and Strickland were also named first-team Parade All-Americans, while McDonald and the Wears were called to the fourth team by the magazine.[9]