Church mission over, Wilmington’s White back on court at UNC

CHAPEL HILL, NC (WWAY) — He’s back! In fact it’s been 2 and a half years since Stilman White played a college basketball game. He’ll be the first to admit that he’s still not in the best basketball shape. “There is still some rust,” White told WWAY’s John Rendleman. “I’ve been in Chapel Hill about six months now. I was here for the summer. I’m improving. There is still work to do. I’ve been working hard. I’ve been coming along, not as quick as I’d like to. I’m a pretty impatient person.”

UNC head coach Roy Williams welcomed White back with open arms. “He hasn’t had the retention of what we did a couple years ago nearly as well as I thought he would and yet he’s bounced back quicker as a player than I ever thought he would, Williams said on Wednesday. “He’s doing just fine even though you couldn’t tell it yesterday when he was hanging over a trash can.(laugh,laugh)”

Stilman White was a seldom used point guard during his freshman season in Chapel Hill, but he ended up playing a leading role for the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. In fact he started in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.

On Wednesday in Chapel Hill on media day Stilman White reflected on his time spent out west in northern Utah and southern Idaho for his Mormon mission. “What did you learn the most from your Mormon mission? Not be so selfish. This world is not about me. It’s about helping other people and what I can do to help others. How much college basketball did you watch during your Mormon mission? Zero? None. How much basketball did you play during your mission? Hardly any. I touched the basketball twice. Some of these guys that were juniors, they’re younger than you. How did that happen? The blessings of a mission is I didn’t lose any eligibilty. I’m now a 22 year old sophomore.”

Stilman White is no longer wears #11. #45 is his new number. “Coming back, Bryce took my old number 11. I’ve worn that number since my middle school days at Noble. I also wore that at Hoggard. I looked at the list of available numbers, there weren’t many available due to all the retired numbers. I thought it would be fun since I was making my return to wear 45, like another Wilmington native did, Michael Jordan.”

Click the icon above to see our story on Stilman White from Chapel Hill.

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WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Follow our sports on Twitter at @WWAYSports

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CHAPEL HILL, NC (GOHEELS.COM & ADAM LUCAS) — It’s always a good sign when entirely unreasonable expectations rule the preseason, because that means normalcy has returned to Chapel Hill. Top five in the country? Sure. A Wooden Award candidate on the roster? Why not. It’s October and anything is possible, which is how it’s supposed to be in Chapel Hill.

Media day was Wednesday afternoon at the Smith Center. There were no questions about discipline issues, no queries about anyone’s eligibility and no off-court discussion, in fact, at all (pause here to knock feverishly on whatever wood is nearby).

There was just basketball. Really good basketball. Carolina has a signature player in Marcus Paige, an experienced core of talent and a heralded freshman class.

Paige was a second-team All-America pick last year, and will certainly be a consensus first-team preseason pick this year. That’s good news, because Williams has had six seasons that featured a first-team All-America since he came back to Carolina, and only once did that team fail to advance to at least the regional final.

The Tar Heels are expected to reappear in the Associated Press top 10 when the preseason poll is released later this month; early polls suggest they might be in the top five (Dick Vitale has UNC fifth, with Yahoo! Sports picking Carolina sixth).

That should mark the end of an uncharacteristic two-year stretch of being outside the top ten in the preseason poll, with the media slotting Carolina 11th before the 2012-13 campaign and 12th last season. Fairly incredibly, that was only the second time in the last 48 seasons the Tar Heels had spent two straight years outside the AP preseason top ten (the other occurrence was prior to the 2002 and 2003 seasons). Think about that–for half a century almost without fail, the common expectation has been that North Carolina will field one of the top 10 teams in the country.

Sure, expectations can be heavy. In seasons like this one, it won’t be enough for Carolina to just win games; they’ll have to win attractively, and by a big enough margin (hint: it’s never enough), and with enough dunks to please everyone. But that’s why you come to North Carolina.

It’s fun to walk into a gym and surprise everyone, like the Tar Heels did last year at Michigan State. The jubilation that accompanied that win, and even the raucous welcome home the team received from night owl fans, is something that only comes with a stunning upset.

There won’t be many chances for upsets this year, and that’s exactly where the Tar Heels want to be. Roy Williams has assembled a formidable schedule that might mark the toughest slate of his tenure in Chapel Hill. The Battle 4 Atlantis could be the most loaded Thanksgiving event in which Carolina has ever played, a trip to Kentucky on Dec. 13 is a national television showcase, and the trip to Chicago to face Ohio State could give the Tar Heels four top-25 battles before Christmas. That would be just the second time in Williams’ 12 seasons at Carolina that the Tar Heels have faced four top-25 opponents before Christmas.

Those games, though, will be easy for the players to create motivation. What the upperclassmen will also have to convey is that for a team with big expectations, it’s not just the showcase games that will be a challenge. That’s what the 2012 club learned in a loss at UNLV, and what the 2007 team discovered in the Preseason NIT against Gonzaga. Beating North Carolina means something. Beating a highly ranked North Carolina team, well, that can end up on the cover of next year’s media guide.

“No matter what, when you’re UNC, other teams want to beat you and fans get excited about it,” said senior Luke Davis, who sat out as a transfer during the 2011-12 season when that team began the year as the top team in the nation. “But when you come in top five, there’s a little more of a buzz.”

That’s the buzz that makes stealing someone’s brownies, as Williams likes to say about road wins, so much fun.

“The last two years,” the head coach said, “there’s been more junk than I wanted to deal with. It made the job not as fun, no question. It’s confirmed that what I truly love is being on the court with the kids. The last two years, that’s been my salvation.”

This year, that salvation will include some of the biggest games on the biggest stages in the country. At least, that’s the expectation.

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WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Follow our sports on Twitter at @WWAYSports

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Wednesday High School Scoreboard

GIRLS TENNIS
LANEY 5 – CAPE FEAR ACADEMY 4

BOYS SOCCER
SW ONSLOW 4 – NORTH BRUNSWICK 1
WHITEVILLE 2 – RED SPRINGS 0
EAST BLADEN 1 – PENDER 0
CROATAN 1- DIXON 0
TRASK 4 – WEST BLADEN 2, BEN GROSSNICKLE HAD 3 GOALS FOR THE TITANS

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WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Follow our sports on Twitter at @WWAYSports

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