CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams said the retirement of Tyler Hansbrough's No. 50 jersey would be "off the charts" if the 13-10 Tar Heels were playing better. But he knows the official ceremony, which will take place at halftime of Wednesday's game against Duke, will be "fantastic."

"One of these days, when I'm sitting back in my golf cart and waiting for my time to tee it up, I'm going to think about how special it was to coach Tyler Hansbrough,'' Williams said. "I'm going to think of how lucky I was to coach Tyler Hansbrough. I'm going to think of how effective he was for our team; because he set the standard. We had the national championship in 2005, so he didn't have to legitimize our program again or anything like that, but he set a standard for four years for everybody that stepped out on the court.

"And even some of his own teammates -- no, all of his teammates, at some time -- were in awe of what he did. And that's pretty neat."

The 5-feet-by-8-feet banner commemorating his jersey was already in the rafters for Tuesday's practice. It is only the eighth number to be retired.

After playing in the shadow of the Smith Center's retired jerseys and meeting the men who wore them, Tyler Hansbrough can't wait to join them tomorrow.

"I'm really excited just to come back," he said Tuesday from Indianapolis. "It's a big deal for me just to be there. Everybody who wore those jerseys, I watched them all and I have a great deal of respect for them. For me to be in that category is something I take pride in."

Deon Thompson doesn't leave his apartment unless it's absolutely necessary anymore.

North Carolina's recent struggles (seven losses in the last nine games) have been so traumatic Thompson spoke Tuesday of isolating himself.

"I don't even go out of the house," Thompson told reporters Tuesday during North Carolina's news conference to preview Wednesday night's home game against Duke.

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina reserve forward Tyler Zeller, who has been out four weeks with a stress fracture in his right foot, has been released to do some shooting and straight ahead running this week, coach Roy Williams said.

 "And I think that's all that he'll do this week; and then if no pain comes, then I think they would release him to do more next week,'' Williams said.

Zeller, a reserve 7-footer, averaged 9.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 16 games.  The Tar Heels play No. 8 Duke on Wednesday.

With the Washington, D.C. area bracing for as much as another 20 inches of snow on top of the blizzard they got last week, the ACC has postponed Wednesday's Maryland-Virginia basketball game in College Park, Md.

The tip-off time has not been determined, but the rescheduled game will be played on Monday, Feb. 15.

The University of Maryland has been closed since Friday.

"Due to the area's continuing unprecedented winter weather conditions and historic snow accumulations, the University of Maryland, University of Virginia and ACC have agreed that the rare postponement is in the best interest of all involved, after consultation with the campus chief of police and the University’s Associate Vice President for Facilities Management," ACC spokesman Brian Morrison wrote in a release issued today.   

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas admits that he’s baffled by the turn for the worse of North Carolina (13-10, 2-6 ACC) as the Tar Heels prepare to play host to No. 8-ranked Duke (19-4, 7-2) at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Bilas said there’s nothing wrong with the schemes, defenses or technical aspects of the game Roy Williams is coaching. For whatever reason, Bilas said, the Tar Heels seem to be suffering from a crisis of confidence and a lack of fight.

Linebackers coach Andy McCollum has been considering an opportunity to leave N.C. State and join Georgia Tech's staff.

N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler confirmed Tuesday morning that McCollum has interviewed for the job and said McCollum hadn't made up his mind as of Monday afternoon.

It's widely known -- love it or hate it -- that North Carolina coach Roy Williams prefers to let his team play through a run, rather than call a timeout and settle his players down, because he thinks it helps them in the long run to play through adversity.

So its another sign of how much the current Tar Heels -- now 2-6 in the ACC -- have faltered, that Williams called early timeouts in losses at Virginia Tech and Maryland.

DURHAM - There were few moments in Monday night’s nationally-televised game that the Duke women’s basketball team didn’t own against rival North Carolina.

DURHAM - Add Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to the voices questioning the ACC basketball schedule this season.

The imbalance in teams' schedules puzzles Krzyzewski. Duke played Clemson twice in its first six ACC games and will play Maryland twice in 18 days later on.

Georgia Tech and Florida State had met twice by Jan. 24.