Incoming freshmen Harrison Barnes, Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall and their UNC teammates will get an early jump on the 2010-11 season with an August trip to the Bahamas for a preseason basketball tournament.
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams announced his team's travel plans this morning at his annual summer news conference. The trip is scheduled for the second week of August. According to NCAA rules, UNC's freshmen can play in the tournament so long as they have taken college courses this summer at UNC.
The summer tournament will give UNC's young team extra practice time to gel and incorporate the three freshmen into a lineup that can't afford a long learning curve. Williams said this morning that he has high expectations for Barnes, Bullock and Marshall, adding that they will need to step in and contribute right away.
Assistant sports editor Lorenzo Perez has bounced back-and-forth between The News & Observer's news and sports department several times since joining the newspaper in 1999. His latest assignment has him working with The N&O's ACC writers and online news. E-mail
Comments
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Sun, 06/27/2010 - 10:13 — gvillegatrwho is playing in this tournament? just the Heels? what's the deal?
Exhibitions
Sun, 06/27/2010 - 12:20 — Heels20They'll be playing against a few local teams in the Bahamas. In all honesty, I think the biggest benefit of this will be that we will be granted 10 much-needed summer practices to help these guys learn how to play together. Drew II and McDonald are the only two players that went back home, and Henson, Barnes and Bullock were the three current players who really stood out in the current vs. pro scrimmage. Hopefully these exhibitions will get everyone some valuable experience.