CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina junior guard Dexter Strickland will miss the remainder of the season after he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee on Thursday night during the Tar Heels’ 82-68 victory at Virginia Tech.

UNC on Friday night announced that Strickland would miss the rest of the season after he underwent medical tests earlier in the day. Strickland had started all of the Tar Heels’ 19 games.

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- After North Carolina’s 82-68 victory here against Virginia Tech on Thursday night, Tar Heels junior guard Dexter Strickland walked on his own around the locker room. He did so with a slight limp, and he was hoping the right knee injury he suffered wouldn’t be as serious as he first thought it might be.

Strickland left the game with 16:44 remaining after attempting to drive to the basket. He fell to the court near the baseline, grabbed the back of his right knee and spent about 30 seconds wincing in obvious pain.

BLACKSBURG, Va. — No. 8 North Carolina defeated Virginia Tech 82-68 here at Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night.

A look back at the Tar Heels’ much-needed victory:

North Carolina junior guard Leslie McDonald, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a Durham summer-league game in July, will not return this season and will redshirt the year as he continues his rehabilitation.

McDonald recently returned to practice with the Tar Heels and is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation, UNC coach Roy Williams said today. However, Williams said that after meeting with McDonald and his family, it was decided that it would be in McDonald's best interest to take the whole season off to recover.

North Carolina’s Dexter Strickland won’t be at the NBA Draft on Thursday in body but will be in spirit.

It’s all about that ol’ Jersey bond and his Duke buddy Kyrie Irving.

“We’re good friends, so sure, I’m going to be watching and hoping he’s the No. 1 pick,” Strickland said Tuesday during UNC’s summer media interviews.

Strickland, a junior guard from Rahway, N.J., and Irving, from West Orange, N.J., spent much of the spring working out with each other.

Last season, UNC guards Reggie Bullock and Dexter Strickland both suffered severe knee injuries.
 
They are each progressing at different speeds, but it seems like both will be healthy when practice begins.
 
Bullock tore a lateral meniscus in his left knee, and had to undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage. He has since been rehabbing, and although he is not back to 100 percent, UNC coach Roy Williams expects for him to be recover soon.

CHARLOTTE -- North Carolina shooting guard Dexter Strickland’s right knee injury – revealed for the first time by coach Roy Williams at the end of a Wednesday news conference – is a slightly torn meniscus, the player said today.

“But it’s not swollen, it’s not hurting,”’ the sophomore said. And judging by his dunks during the Tar Heels’ open practice, it shouldn’t be a factor when his team plays Long Island on Friday.

Strickland said he’s not sure whether he hurt the knee during UNC’s Feb. 6 win over Florida State, when he collided with a photographer on the baseline, or during a later practice. He was given the option of having surgery, but that might have meant missing the rest of the season. And as long as he wouldn’t do any further damage, he opted to play with the pain.

CHAPEL HILL – Second-seeded North Carolina enters the NCAA tournament with only eight scholarship players.

And it could be seven – had starting shooting guard Dexter Strickland chosen to have right knee surgery last month.

UNC coach Roy Williams revealed today that Strickland, a sophomore, injured his knee when he ran into a photographer on the baseline during his team’s 89-69 victory over Florida State on Feb. 6. Doctors told the player they could operate and he could perhaps miss the rest of the season, or he could play through the pain without doing further damage.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A couple of months ago, most folks had Duke penciled in as the ACC regular-season champ. But after reeling off its sixth straight victory on Wednesday night at Florida State – thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer by Harrison Barnes – No. 13 North Carolina could take the title, and the top seed in the ACC tournament, with a win over the Blue Devils on Saturday.

Shooting guard Dexter Strickland, for one, seems certain it will happen.

“I’m glad it’s home; that will give us a little advantage,’’ the shooting guard said after Wednesday’s victory. “I feel like the last time we played them, we just made mental errors that can be mentally corrected. I think that on Saturday, we’re going to win. I know we’re going to win on Saturday. I have a lot of confidence in myself and in my teammates. And if everybody has the same attitude I do, I know we’re going to win.”