2013–14 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 2013–14 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Roy Williams, who is in his 11th season as UNC's head men's basketball coach. They played their home games at the Dean E. Smith Center as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 13–5 in ACC play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament to Pittsburgh. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Providence in the second round before losing in the third round to Iowa State.

2013–14 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
Hall of Fame Tip Off champions
NCAA tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 19
Record	24–10 (13–5 ACC)
Head coach	Roy Williams (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Steve Robinson (11th season) C. B. McGrath (11th season) Hubert Davis (2nd season)
Home arena	Dean E. Smith Center

2013–14 ACC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Virginia †	16	–	2		.889			30	–	7		.811
No. 14 Syracuse	14	–	4		.778			28	–	6		.824
No. 8 Duke	13	–	5		.722			26	–	9		.743
No. 19 North Carolina	13	–	5		.722			24	–	10		.706
Pittsburgh	11	–	7		.611			26	–	10		.722
Clemson	10	–	8		.556			23	–	13		.639
NC State	9	–	9		.500			22	–	14		.611
Maryland	9	–	9		.500			17	–	15		.531
Florida State	9	–	9		.500			22	–	14		.611
Miami (FL)	7	–	11		.389			17	–	16		.515
Wake Forest	6	–	12		.333			17	–	16		.515
Georgia Tech	6	–	12		.333			16	–	17		.485
Notre Dame	6	–	12		.333			15	–	17		.469
Boston College	4	–	14		.222			8	–	24		.250
Virginia Tech	2	–	16		.111			9	–	22		.290
† 2014 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Pre-season

The Tar Heels entered the 2013–14 season lost two starters from the previous season as Dexter Strickland graduated and second team All-ACC shooting guard Reggie Bullock declared for the 2013 NBA draft. However, rising juniors and potential draft picks James Michael McAdoo and P. J. Hairston decided to return to Chapel Hill and UNC brought in a strong recruiting class including McDonald's All-Americans Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks.

Another offseason change involved the coaching staff as long-time Roy Williams assistant Joe Holladay retired. UNC alum Brad Frederick joined the staff as Director of Basketball Operations in June. Frederick came from the coaching staff at Vanderbilt, where he had been for 14 seasons. He is the son of former Kansas Athletic Director Bob Frederick.

However, the optimism of the Spring turned to uncertainty in the Summer as both Hairston and fifth year senior Leslie McDonald were both suspended from the team due to eligibility concerns, leaving only two scholarship guards (sophomore Marcus Paige and freshman Nate Britt) on the roster entering the season. McDonald would be reinstated in the non-conference season, but Hairston's suspension would hold for the entire season.

Even with this uncertainty, North Carolina was voted #13 in the AP preseason poll and #11 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. The ACC media tabbed the Tar Heels third in the conference preseason poll.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Reggie Bullock	35	F/G	6'7"	205	Junior	Kinston, NC	Declared for the NBA draft
Dexter Strickland	1	G	6'3"	180	Senior	Rahway, NJ	Graduated

Recruits

North Carolina recruits at the 2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game

Isaiah Hicks

Kennedy Meeks

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Nate Britt PG	Washington, DC	Oak Hill Academy	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Nov 29, 2011
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 86
Isaiah Hicks F	Oxford, NC	J.F. Webb High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Aug 8, 2011
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 91
Kennedy Meeks C	Charlotte, NC	West Charlotte	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	275 lb (125 kg)	Nov 16, 2012
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 86
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

The top-rated recruit in the class scheduled to start college in Fall 2013 is Isaiah Hicks, the eighth ranked power forward and the 18th ranked player in the ESPN 100. Shortly behind him in that ranking is Kennedy Meeks at #59. He is the #6 ranked center in the 2013 high school class. Britt is the 52nd ranked player in the current high school class and 11th point guard. He tore his meniscus in December 2012.

• Isaiah Hicks: 18th ranked player in ESPN 100, eight-ranked power forward, named to the 2013 McDonald's All-America game In his last high school basketball game he had 34 points, 30 rebounds and seven blocks in a win in his division's state championship game.
• Kennedy Meeks: 59th ranked player in ESPN 100, #6 ranked center, and named to the 2013 McDonald's All-America game
• Nate Britt: 52nd ranked player, 11th-ranked point guard

Roster

2013–14 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Nate Britt 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Oak Hill (VA) Upper Marlboro, Maryland G 2 Leslie McDonald 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Briarcrest Christian School Memphis, Tennessee C 3 Kennedy Meeks 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 290 lb (132 kg) Fr West Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina G 4 Luke Davis 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Ravenscroft School Raleigh, North Carolina G 5 Marcus Paige 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Linn-Mar Marion, Iowa F 11 Brice Johnson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Edisto Orangeburg, South Carolina F 13 J. P. Tokoto 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Menomonee Falls Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin F 14 Desmond Hubert 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr New Egypt Cream Ridge, New Jersey G 15 P. J. Hairston (I) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Hargrave Military Academy Greensboro, North Carolina F 21 Jackson Simmons 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Smoky Mountain Webster, North Carolina F 22 Isaiah Hicks 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr J.F. Webb Oxford, North Carolina F 30 James Manor (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Chapel Hill Carrboro, North Carolina F 34 Denzel Robinson (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina F 42 Joel James 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 280 lb (127 kg) So Dwyer West Palm Beach, Florida F 43 James Michael McAdoo 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Norfolk Christian Norfolk, Virginia G 55 Wade Moody (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Mount Airy Mount Airy, North Carolina	Head coach Roy Williams (North Carolina) Assistant coach(es) Steve Robinson (Radford) C. B. McGrath (Kansas) Hubert Davis (North Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 12/08/13

• Note that the roster is subject to change.

Season

Non-conference play

The Tar Heels started the season with uncertainty as Hairston's and McDonald's eligibility cases remained in limbo for the first nine games of the season. After uneventful victories over Oakland and Holy Cross, the Heels were stunned 83–80 at home by Belmont, in part because of a 22–48 performance at the free throw line. However, the team would redeem themselves by beating #3 Louisville in the Hall of Fame Tip Off championship. Marcus Paige led the team with 32 points while post players Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks controlled the paint and the Heels won 93–84. Paige was named ACC Player of the Week for his performance against the Cardinals and the Richmond Spiders in the previous game (26 points).

North Carolina's inconsistency would show itself again as the Heels lost their next game - an 83–86 contest at UAB, coached by former Roy Williams assistant Jerod Haase. But true to form, the Heels bounced back and beat #1 Michigan State on the road in a game they never trailed. Kennedy Meeks led the team in scoring with 15 and was named ACC Rookie of the Week. After an easy home win over UNC Greensboro (coached by Wes Miller, another Williams disciple), the Tar Heels completed a sweep of the top three teams in the preseason polls by upending #11 Kentucky at the Dean Smith Center. Paige and James Michael McAdoo were the stars, scoring 23 and 20 points respectively.

On December 18, the team received the news that Leslie McDonald would be reinstated in time for the Texas game at the Smith Center. However, the Tar Heels lost to the young Longhorns. North Carolina finished their non-conference season with wins over Davidson, Northern Kentucky and UNC Wilmington.

Conference play

The Tar Heels started 1–4 in conference play, but then, they won twelve straight, including a win over #5 Duke on February 20. With the Duke win, North Carolina became the first team to defeat each of the AP Poll preseason top 4 in the same season in the 53 years that the poll has released preseason rankings. The streak was broken with a loss at Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 1* 7:30 pm, GoHeels TV	No. 12	UNC Pembroke	W 82–63	–	19 – McAdoo	10 – Tied	3 – Tied	Dean E. Smith Center (N/A) Chapel Hill, NC
Non-conference regular season
Nov 8* 9:00 pm, RSN	No. 12	Oakland	W 84–61	1–0	21 – McAdoo	9 – McAdoo	5 – Tied	Dean E. Smith Center (15,102) Chapel Hill, NC
Nov 15* 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 12	Holy Cross 2013 Hall of Fame Tip Off	W 62–54	2–0	23 – Paige	8 – Meeks	5 – Tokoto	Dean E. Smith Center (15,833) Chapel Hill, NC
Nov 17* 4:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 12	Belmont 2013 Hall of Fame Tip Off	L 80–83	2–1	27 – McAdoo	13 – McAdoo	5 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (15,205) Chapel Hill, NC
Nov 23* 12:00 pm, ESPN3	No. 24	vs. Richmond 2013 Hall of Fame Tip Off semifinals	W 82–72	3–1	26 – Paige	12 – Johnson	3 – Paige	Mohegan Sun Arena (8,113) Uncasville, CT
Nov 24* 1:00 pm, ESPN	No. 24	vs. No. 3 Louisville 2013 Hall of Fame Tip Off championship	W 93–84	4–1	32 – Paige	12 – Meeks	7 – Meeks	Mohegan Sun Arena (N/A) Uncasville, CT
Dec 1* 6:00 pm, FS1	No. 16	at UAB	L 59–63	4–2	16 – Tokoto	7 – Johnson	5 – Paige	Bartow Arena (8,313) Birmingham, AL
Dec 4* 9:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 1 Michigan State ACC–Big Ten Challenge	W 79–65	5–2	15 – Meeks	10 – Tokoto	5 – Paige	Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI
Dec 7* 7:00 pm, ESPNU		UNC Greensboro	W 81–50	6–2	14 – Johnson	8 – Meeks	8 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (15,676) Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 14* 5:15 pm, ESPN	No. 18	No. 11 Kentucky Rivalry	W 82–77	7–2	23 – Paige	7 – Johnson	4 – McAdoo	Dean E. Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 18* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 14	Texas	L 83–86	7–3	23 – Paige	9 – Johnson	7 – Britt	Dean E. Smith Center (17,143) Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 21* 5:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 14	Davidson	W 97–85 OT	8–3	22 – Tokoto	11 – Tokoto	5 – Tied	Dean E. Smith Center (18,195) Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 27* 7:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 19	Northern Kentucky	W 75–60	9–3	14 – McAdoo	9 – Paige	4 – Tokoto	Dean E. Smith Center (18,842) Chapel Hill, NC
Dec 31* 5:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 19	UNC Wilmington	W 84–51	10–3	23 – McAdoo	10 – McAdoo	6 – Britt	Dean E. Smith Center (16,923) Chapel Hill, NC
ACC regular season
Jan 5 8:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 19	at Wake Forest	L 67–73	10–4 (0–1)	13 – McAdoo	9 – 3 tied	6 – Paige	LJVM Coliseum (12,462) Winston-Salem, NC
Jan 8 9:00 pm, ESPN2		Miami (FL)	L 57–63	10–5 (0–2)	12 – McAdoo	12 – McAdoo	8 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (17,569) Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 11 12:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 2 Syracuse	L 45–57	10–6 (0–3)	15 – McAdoo	9 – McAdoo	3 – Tokoto	Carrier Dome (32,121) Syracuse, NY
Jan 18 12:00 pm, ESPN		Boston College	W 82–71	11–6 (1–3)	21 – Paige	6 – Tied	6 – Tokoto	Dean E. Smith Center (18,115) Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 20 7:00 pm, ESPN		at Virginia Big Monday	L 61–76	11–7 (1–4)	15 – Meeks	9 – Meeks	3 – Tied	John Paul Jones Arena (13,045) Charlottesville, VA
Jan 26 6:00 pm, ESPNU		Clemson	W 80–61	12–7 (2–4)	22 – McAdoo	8 – Meeks	5 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (18,616) Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 29 7:00 pm, ESPN2		at Georgia Tech	W 78–65	13–7 (3–4)	19 – Paige	10 – Meeks	7 – Paige	McCamish Pavilion (5,124) Atlanta, GA
Feb 1 1:00 pm, ESPN		NC State	W 80–74	14–7 (4–4)	20 – McDonald	13 – McAdoo	5 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 4 8:00 pm, ACCN		Maryland	W 75–63	15–7 (5–4)	25 – Paige	9 – Tokoto	7 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (17,225) Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 8 12:00 pm, ACCN		at Notre Dame	W 73–62	16–7 (6–4)	18 – McAdoo	8 – McAdoo	9 – Paige	Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN
Feb 15 1:00 pm, CBS		No. 25 Pittsburgh	W 75–71	17–7 (7–4)	24 – McAdoo	12 – McAdoo	4 – Tied	Dean E. Smith Center (20,341) Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 17 7:00 pm, ESPN		at Florida State Big Monday	W 81–75	18–7 (8–4)	23 – Meeks	11 – Johnson	7 – Paige	Donald L. Tucker Center (7,814) Tallahassee, FL
Feb 20 9:00 pm, ESPN/ACCN		No. 5 Duke Rivalry/Postponed from 2/12	W 74–66	19–7 (9–4)	21 – McDonald	10 – McAdoo	4 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 22 12:00 pm, ACCN		Wake Forest	W 105–72	20–7 (10–4)	19 – McDonald	5 – Johnson	5 – Tokoto	Dean E. Smith Center (19,248) Chapel Hill, NC
Feb 26 8:00 pm, ACCN	No. 19	at NC State	W 85–84 OT	21–7 (11–4)	35 – Paige	10 – Tied	5 – Tied	PNC Arena (19,500) Raleigh, NC
Mar 1 2:30 pm, ACCN	No. 19	at Virginia Tech	W 60–56	22–7 (12–4)	15 – McAdoo	7 – Tied	3 – Tied	Cassell Coliseum (6,546) Blacksburg, VA
Mar 3 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 14	Notre Dame Big Monday	W 63–61	23–7 (13–4)	14 – McAdoo	9 – McAdoo	6 – Paige	Dean E. Smith Center (15,175) Chapel Hill, NC
Mar 8 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 14	at No. 4 Duke ESPN College GameDay	L 81–93	23–8 (13–5)	24 – Paige	5 – Tokoto	4 – Britt	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
ACC Tournament
Mar 14 2:00 pm, ESPN2/ACCN	No. 15	vs. Pittsburgh Quarterfinals	L 75–80	23–9	27 – Paige	7 – Tied	5 – Britt	Greensboro Coliseum (21,533) Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
Mar 21* 7:20 pm, TNT	No. 19 (6 E)	vs. (11 E) Providence Second round	W 79–77	24–9	19 – Paige	10 – McAdoo	6 – Tokoto	AT&T Center (11,690) San Antonio, TX
Mar 23* 5:15 pm, CBS	No. 19 (6 E)	vs. No. 9 (3 E) Iowa State Third round	L 83–85	24–10	19 – Paige	13 – Meeks	3 – Britt	AT&T Center (13,431) San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll, (#) denotes seed within region E=East. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA club
2015	2	58	J. P. Tokoto	Philadelphia 76ers
2016	1	25	Brice Johnson	Los Angeles Clippers
2016	2	55	Marcus Paige	Brooklyn Nets