A pair of former UNC basketball players in Japan contacted school officials that they are doing OK following today's earthquake.

Will Graves, who was dismissed from the team this fall and is now playing professionally in Japan, contacted UNC officials to let them know that while his home has lost power, he is doing fine.

Another former UNC player, Jackie Manuel, who also plays in Japan, contacted coaches and players soon after the earthquake with news that he is OK.

Graves would have been a senior forward and a contender for a starting position this season with the Tar Heels.

Fifth-year senior forward Will Graves has been dismissed from UNC’s basketball team for failure to comply with team rules, coach Roy Williams announced in a statement Thursday afternoon.

“This is 100 percent not related to any NCAA matters on campus,” Williams said in a prepared statement. “I hate this for Will. He worked extremely hard this summer to get himself physically in the best shape he’s been in years, but he did not do everything he needed to do to be a part of our basketball program. This is a huge blow to our team, but an even bigger blow for Will. Playing for the Tar Heels meant so much to him.”

Graves red-shirted in 2006-07 then played in 92 games over the past three seasons – although he suspended mid-way though the 2008-09 NCAA title season for breaking team rules. A team spokesman would not say whether his dismissal was for the same reasons as his previous suspension.

NEW YORK – If North Carolina beats Dayton for the National Invitation Tournament title tonight, the Tar Heels will become the first team to win an NCAA championship and NIT championship in back-to-back seasons.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Even after suffering a laceration above his left eye and a mild concussion on Saturday, North Carolina forward Tyler Zeller had no trouble putting his body on the floor and drawing an offensive charge roughly seven minutes into Tuesday’s 60-55 victory at UAB.

It was a play a few minutes later – when he got hit while trying to block a shot – that shook him up a bit.

CHAPEL HILL — In  a season that has seen eight different North Carolina players miss at least one game because of injury, it wasn’t all that surprising to learn that two Tar Heels – Deon Thompson (sore back) and Will Graves (who has been in a walking boot because of a sprained ankle) -- are hobbling entering Saturday’s game at No. 4 Duke.

Coach Roy Williams said he is hopeful that both will play, although it will be a game-time decision.

But Thompson – who has never missed a game, and missed the first practice of his career Thursday – said there’s no question about his status, even if he’s hurting: “I’ll play tomorrow.”

If he does, it will mark his 146th game as a Tar Heel, surpassing the mark set by Danny Green last season. Thompson is 3-0 for his career at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Remember when North Carolina's frontcourt was going to be the strength of its team? With sophomore Ed Davis out for six weeks — essentially, the rest of the season — with a broken bone on his left wrist, the Tar Heels are going to be scrambling for big bodies when they play N.C. State on Saturday.

Reserve 7-footer Tyler Zeller, who has already been sidelined five weeks with a broken bone in his right foot, isn't due to return until the end of next week at the earliest. Reserve freshman forward Travis Wear is still out with a severely sprained ankle and will not play against the Wolfpack.

That leaves normal starter Deon Thompson at one slot in the post, David Wear or John Henson (who has recently moved from small forward to power forward) starting in the other slot, and Will Graves (usually the starting small forward) to fill in.

North Carolina shooting guard Marcus Ginyard, who has missed three games with a sprained right ankle, will go through pre-game warm-ups and may play against Virginia Tech tonight after all, a team spokesman said. Coach Roy Williams had said Friday he did not expect the fifth-year senior to play. But he practiced Saturday.

Meanwhile, wings Will Graves and Leslie McDonald, who were questionable because of right ankle sprains, will play.

CHAPEL HILL — The Tar Heels played a closed scrimmage at Vanderbilt last Sunday; NCAA rules prohibit teams from revealing specific details about workouts against other Division I schools, but coach Roy Williams said "we just didn't play well at all."

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he fully expects wing Will Graves, who was suspended last February, to be on the court when the team opens practice in October.

He said Graves hasn’t been re-instated, per se, because the suspension was only for the remainder of last season.

“He’s got some conditions he’s got to take care of, and if he takes care of those conditions, he’ll be on our team Oct. 16 or 15th, whatever that Friday is,’’ Williams said.

CHAPEL HILL — Senior wing Marcus Ginyard will miss the rest of the season with an injured left foot, UNC announced after its 108-91 win over Maryland on Tuesday night.

The school also announced sophomore forward Will Graves has been suspended for the remainder of the season for an unspecified reason.