
Updated 11 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL — Underneath the glare of cameras and seated comfortably in the public spotlight on Friday night, James Michael McAdoo, the North Carolina sophomore forward, thought back to a year ago. Then he was a timid freshman, uncertain of his abilities and his role on a team with no shortage of star power.
And now he had just led the No. 11 Tar Heels’ to a 76-59 season-opening victory against Gardner-Webb.
“I feel like it’s night and day,” McAdoo, who scored 26 points on Friday night, said of then and now. “I feel like now I know what I’m capable of doing, as opposed to last year [when] I was just going out there, just trying to find a loose ball here and there – just trying to fit in.”