ATLANTA — After watching freshman forward Tyler Zeller score four points and pull down three rebounds in four minutes against Virginia Tech on Friday, North Carolina coach Roy Williams said “I should play him more if he’s going to be that productive.”

Not that Zeller’s lobbying.

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina forward Tyler Zeller scored two points and had four fouls Wednesday night in his first game back after a 13-week absence.

After third-ranked UNC’s 89-80 victory over N.C. State, the freshman 7-footer talked about why he gave up a redshirt season to return, how his healed left wrist is feeling, and what it was like to check in to a standing ovation:

Q: Were you concerned about giving away a season for the opportunity to play five regular-season games, plus the postseason?

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina freshman forward Tyler Zeller, who has missed about 13 weeks with a fractured left wrist, will likely play against N.C. State on Wednesday night.

Coach Roy Williams said the 7-footer made the decision Monday to return, rather than take a redshirt season, “and I told him that was the decision we would go with unless he went home and slept on it and came back today and changed his mind."

A team spokesman said later that Zeller arrived at the Smith Center today and indicated he was comfortable with his decision.

Third-ranked North Carolina might be a little deeper for Wednesday’s game at N.C. State — and its postseason run.

Coach Roy Williams said during his Monday radio show that he met with freshman Tyler Zeller earlier in the day and "right now, I would not be surprised if Tyler did play Wednesday night against North Carolina State," according to insidecarolina.com.

Zeller, a 7-footer who scored a total of 20 points during the first two games of the season, had been sidelined since breaking his left wrist on Nov. 18 against Kentucky, and appeared ready to redshirt the season.

UNC freshman Tyler Zeller's future will be determined this week, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said Monday.

Zeller has been out since breaking his left wrist on Nov. 18. The 7-foot forward returned to practice last week and could return to help the Heels, who have five regular-season games left. If he does, he would lose the opportunity to redshirt.

"Is he willing to sacrifice a whole year for five or six games?" Williams said, "We'll make a decision this week."

 CHAPEL HILL — UNC coach Roy Williams said recently it would be “awfully stupid” for forward Tyler Zeller, who broke his wrist during the second game of the season, to return this season. If he doesn’t, the freshman could apply for a medical redshirt, and have four years of eligibility remaining.

But it will be interesting to see if Williams and Zeller re-consider, considering the news that Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves are now gone for the rest of the year.

"Tyler Zeller goes to the doctor tomorrow,'' Williams said Tuesday night, "and whatever happens with him is absolutely an individual decision. It has nothing to do with Will [Graves], it has nothing to do with Marcus [Ginyard], it has nothing to do with Yogi Berra or Richard Petty or anybody. Tyler Zeller will be what's best with Tyler Zeller."

North Carolina forward Marcus Ginyard still has not returned to practice, and no decision has been made about when -- or if -- the senior defensive stopper will return this season.

"Marcus and I talked yesterday, he still did not practice yesterday, and we're going to look at him and talk to the doctors more a little more this week, so there hasn't been any decision made on him,'' coach Roy Williams said.

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Before All-American Tyler Hansbrough hurt his right shin and had to sit out more than three weeks, tonight's Maui Invitational championship was projected to be the game when the senior would break Phil Ford's career UNC scoring record.

With Hansbrough still several games away from that feat, the showdown against No. 8 Notre Dame at 10 p.m. EST is important for one key reason: the competition.

Stuff happens.

That’s the only way to look at the injured left wrist that North Carolina basketball player Tyler Zeller suffered late in Tuesday’s 77-58 win over Kentucky in Chapel Hill.

There’s no one to blame.

You certainly can’t point a finger at Kentucky’s Ramon Harris, the defender on the play with less than 90 seconds to go. Zeller, a freshman, was going for a dunk. Harris was attempting to prevent an easy field goal, but he hardly made a malicious move to stop the score.

North Carolina forward Tyler Zeller’s left wrist is broken in two places, his brother Luke told reporters covering Notre Dame on
Wednesday. Luke Zeller, a forward for the Irish, said his brother is having surgery this afternoon.

The school announced this evening that the recovery time for this kind of injury is 12-16 weeks, which likely makes it a season-ending injury.