ST. LOUIS — You’ve heard Roy Williams at various points this season describe Stilman White as a guy who’s out there, who’s not of the normal, who’s a bit of a character. Williams, the Tar Heels coach, recently described White as a “wacko.” It was a term of endearment.

White started his first college game on Friday night in place of the injured Kendall Marshall, and when the Tar Heels play against Kansas here on Sunday in the NCAA tournament Midwest regional final, there’s a good chance – a great chance – White will be starting again.

So, naturally, the national media members who have gathered here want to know more about White. About why he’s this guy that Williams likes to rag on. Williams was happy to oblige earlier today.

In an attempt to capture the space-cadet nature of impromptu point guard Stilman White, North Carolina coach Roy Williams told a story from breakfast Saturday morning, when Kendall Marshall tried to figure out who had left some toast on the table.

"He looked at our table, no," Williams said. " Looked at the next table, no.  Looked at the next table, no. Who's toast is this? Toast, toast, anybody's toast? Twenty-one people in there looked at Stilman and Stilman says, Oh, that's my toast."

Williams and the four other North Carolina players on the podium all turned to look at White.

"I was kind of into my iPhone game and I was working on a high score, so I had to wait until I finished that round before I could pick my toast up," White said.

The game? Super Jetpack Dragon IV.

ST. LOUIS — North Carolina survived to play another day after prevailing in a 73-65 overtime victory against Ohio here at the Edward Jones Dome on Friday night. Here’s the game story.

And here’s the look back: 

Kendall Marshall will not play against Ohio tonight and Stilman White will start at point guard, North Carolina just announced.

White, the freshman from Wilmington, will share time at point guard with Justin Watts. White played a career-high 11 minutes against Nicholls in December and has averaged 5.0 minutes per game in the postseason.

Marshall broke a bone in his right wrist in Sunday's win over Creighton. His status for this game was uncertain until 5:30 p.m. local time and remains uncertain should North Carolina advance to face Kansas or N.C. State.

CHAPEL HILL — Three North Carolina-related things to consider on this Wednesday morning:

CHAPEL HILL — As expected, North Carolina coach Roy Williams spent a good portion of his weekly ACC teleconference answering questions about how the Tar Heels plan to compensate for the loss of junior guard Dexter Strickland, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in UNC’s victory at Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

Here’s a summary of what Williams said about filling the void left by Strickland, among other topics:

UNC confirmed today that it has received a commitment from an in-state point guard recruit.

Stilman White, a 6-1 point guard from Wilmington's Hoggard High, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for  the Tar Heels. White earned first-team Associated Press all-state honors and scored 1,078 points and had 231 assists in 76 career games.