The Carolina Basketball Museum will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday for free tours by fans attending NCHSAA cahmpionship games next door at the Dean E. Smith Center.

Today is National Signing Day, when high school athletes from fall sports make their official commitments to college teams.

While several high school seniors who play Olympic sports are signing as well, much of the emphasis for many schools is placed on football programs.

Locally, offensive lineman William Heine of East Chapel Hill has committed to Georgetown and Chapel Hill's R.J. Quick has signed on for Winston-Salem State.

Heine, a 6-5, 280-pound senior played at right tackle for East, helping to protect record-setting QB Drew Davis in coach  Bill Renner's "five-wide" offense. Heine will be joining his brother James at Georgetown, who's a pitcher for the Hoyas' baseball team.

Quick, not the biggest Tiger at  5-11, 180 pounds, was still one of the biggest guns as a top receiver for coach Issac Marsh as CHHS went 10-3 last season. He was also one of the quickest, no pun intended, with 4.5 speed.

The University of North Carolina is announcing its commitments — including Phil Williamson of Jordan — from the Class of 2012 this afternoon. See UNC Now (http://blogs.newsobserver.com/uncnow) for the latest on Carolina's recruits, and ACC Now (http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/home) for updates on Duke and N.C. State.

Thanks for entering my contest to win Carolina, Duke and N.C. State coffee mugs from Kangaroo Express.

We've got three winners -- one fan from each school.

If you love ACC basketball -- and who doesn't around here? -- you're going to love this giveaway.

I've got Carolina, Duke and N.C. State coffee cups from Kangaroo Express that I'm giving away to three fans.

Fans of college basketball AND fans of saving money.

The 16 oz. reusable cups, which are available at most Kangaroo Express locations across the state for $2.99, will entitle you to 99-cent refills of Bean Street Coffee and other hot beverages.

You can also score an occasional freebie or bargain with these cups by joining Kangaroo's "Roo Club" and signing up for text message deals. Among the text deals are free coffee refill days and Buy One, Get One Free offers. Sign up by texting ROOCLUB to 67777.

So which team is your favorite?

Leave me a comment at the bottom of this post for your chance to win your team's coffee cup. Keep it family friendly, folks!

If you'd like a second chance to win, become a fan of the Centsible Saver Facebook page here, then return to this post and leave a second comment letting me know you're now a fan. If you're already a Facebook fan of Centsible Saver, let me know that in a second comment.

(Be sure to ID your favorite team in both comments because I don't want to be responsible for sending a Carolina fan a Duke mug!)

I'll pick three winners (one for each team) at noon on Friday. Winners will be selected at random.

Chapel Hill Transit will provide shuttle service on its "Tar Heel Express" to and from  the North Carolina-Virginia football game this Saturday.

The University of North Carolina has cancelled its “Meet The Heels” football event, scheduled for Saturday (Aug. 27) evening in Kenan Stadium. The university cited the potential for inclement weather and dangerous winds from Hurricane Irene.

With the season starting the following week, the event will not be rescheduled.  Carolina opens its football season versus James Madison on Saturday, Sept. 3.

UNC will host the NCAA Chapel Hill Baseball Regional Games this weekend, June 3-5, and on Monday, June 6, if a game 7 is necessary. Ridge Road will be closed to thru traffic approximately four hours prior to game time each date and until the end of the egress each night. However, Chapel Hill Transit buses will be allowed entrance along this corridor to maintain their normal routes.

CHT routes traveling along Ridge Road and Stadium Drive may experience schedule delays because of the expected increased pedestrian traffic along this area. These possible schedule delays may affect the following routes during the event: A, CCX, NU, RU, PX and U. CHT will attempt to operate the normal printed schedule on these routes. While every attempt will be made to maintain schedules, CHT is advising customers to expect delays due to traffic congestion and to allow extra travel time.

For questions concerning any of the information, please contact a CHT at 969-4900.
 

A story last week about UNC researcher Bonnie Yankaskas prompted a lot of questions from readers related to the notion that the university has "scapegoated" her - which is how at least one of her colleagues has characterized the situation.

As you may recall: Yankaskas is a nationally prominent epidemiologist who for the last 15 years has run the Carolina Mammography Registry, a federally funded research study that analyzes mammograms submitted by radiologists across North Carolina.

The database containing much of the data was hacked in 2007, an infiltration not discovered until 2009. As the project's principal investigator, Yankaskas was held responsible for the breach and punished for it. She was demoted and her salary was cut nearly in half.

Yankaskas has appealed the punishment, saying she should not be held responsible for data security since that's not her field of expertise.

My story last week led some readers to wonder whether anyone besides Yankaskas was punished for the gaffe, which compromised 114,000 social security numbers. (UNC says there's no evidence those numbers were copied or removed)

Here's what UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp had to say on the issue. He addressed it late last fall at a meeting with faculty.

"Dr. Yankaskas has not been scapegoated. Other members of her staff were also disciplined in conjunction with the security breach, consistent with their roles and responsibilities. Dr. Yankaskas had more responsibility than they did for the deplorable state of computer security in her project, so her supervisors recommended that she be dismissed. At the end of the day I concluded that a case for dismissal had not been met, but I agreed with the Hearings Committee that her neglect of duty warranted demotion and a pay cut."

The matter is now going to mediation.

Chapel Hill Transit will provide "Tar Heel Express" shuttle service to and from the Dean E. Smith Center for Saturday's (Jan. 29) men’s basketball game between the Carolina men and N.C. State's Wolfpack. The game is scheduled to tip off a 2 p.m.

 Tar Heel Express shuttles will begin at 12:30 p.m. from the park and rides located at Friday Center, Southern Village, University Mall (next to Dillards) and Jones Ferry Road.  Shuttles will also be available from the Carolina Coffee Shop located at 138 East Franklin Street (no parking provided).
The shuttles will provide continuous and fully accessible service, running every 10 to 15 minutes between the park and rides and the Dean E. Smith Center.  The shuttles will operate for forty-five (45) minutes following the game. 
 
Shuttles drop off and pick up on Bowles Drive in front of the Dean E. Smith Center.  Shuttle rides are $5 for a round-trip or $3 for a one-way trip.  Rides from the Carolina Coffee Shop are $2 one-way or $4 round-trip.
 
For additional information on the Tar Heel Express Shuttle, please visit CHT's website at  www.chtransit.org or call a customer service representative at 919-969-4900.

Originally scheduled as a Blue-White intrasquad affair, the Carolina men's lacrosse scrimmage at Ravenscroft now will feature the Tar Heels playing Limestone College in a preseason game. They'll play at noon on Saturday, Jan. 29, at Stefanou Field in the Raleigh school's football stadium. Admission is free.

Prior to the scrimmage, UNC coaches and players will hold a free clinic from 10 a.m. to noon for boys in grades 1 through 8. No prior lacrosse experience is necessary and no pre-registration is required, but full lacrosse gear is requested.

Following the scrimmage, players will be available for autographs.

The Ravenscroft lacrosse team will also be collecting canned and dry goods for animals at the Wake County SPCA.

Questions regarding the clinic or scrimmage may be directed to Sandy Kapatos at 919-861-2110, ext. 2635. Ravenscroft is located at 7409 Falls of Neuse Rd. in Raleigh. Directions and a campus map are located at www.ravenscroft.org/directions.