Via Tar Heel Blue:
“We are extremely disappointed that David and Travis are leaving the program,” says Williams. “I love both kids and they would have been very important parts of our team next season. It is a significant blow to our team as we had four post players and now we are down to two. They are quality kids and will be quality players.
“Their father called me last night and asked for their release, which came as a complete surprise. I met with both kids in mid-April for our typical end-of-year meetings and together we worked on their development plans for next season. Both David and Travis seemed to be excited about their futures at North Carolina.
“Our coaching staff will look at whatever options are available but it’s hard to replace two quality players at this time.”
According to Roy Williams, this came as a surprise. Based on everything I have seen this was probably the case, otherwise you would have seen more recruiting activity than just offering Austin Rivers.
Is there anything to be gleaned from the fact the Wears’ father called to ask for the release after his sons had returned home? Probably not. Since there were two of them it was simply easier to have the father call on behalf of both. It does seem odd both players met with Roy Williams about next season. Including that in the statement serves its own purpose from a PR standpoint. It basically says “hey we thought everything was just fine and they decided to just leave.” I would not discount family pressure, being homesick and whatever prognosis there might be for David Wear as factors in this.
As for finding a replacement. Rumor is UNC will call Kadeem Jack and there is a belief out there that this is a player who is still improving and will continue to do so.
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hey roy, stay away from cali.
what about Thornton who was committed to Clemson? He seems like pound it out down low guy that we could use. Any in-roads to him? Any news on JUCO possibilities?
Yeah, any updates on recruiting snippets would be great.
Seems kind of weird that this came about all of a sudden. Makes you wonder what else is going on, either inside the Wear household or within the program. Do the Wears feel like they won’t get enough PT down the road? They would have been major factors next year. Just don’t see either of them being superstars at the major D1 level–very good players, but not superstars.
Seems to me you make a run at the Jack kid, then save the other scholie for Rivers and others next year. They do need to find at least one body up front, though, for the coming season.
Williams being surprised is not a good sign.
Wow, what a blow. I was really looking forward to them next season.
At first I thought it was a joke. Then I realized it wasn’t St. Patricks or April Fool’s Day. I haven’t stopped crying since. I can’t believe this. I feel worse than I did when Ed left.
I still can’t figure out why their dad waited this long to spring the news on Roy. That is what irritates me the most. Oh well – what is they say in show business again? Hope they go out there and break a leg…
I don’t understand not liking them. They were FRESHMEN. What were people expecting, twin Harrison Barneses? They could shoot, they scrapped on the boards and the floors. And Roy said they were smart.
Is there a problem with having guys that fill in competently come their junior and senior year, even late sophomore year, making the hustle plays and stretching the D with their shot, including 3s? Shooting form that was sound, by the way.
Maybe I’ll be wrong, but I see this as a potentially significant loss, especially for this coming season.
So the Wears’ parents dislike of Roy Williams was the catalyst, perhaps? That’s about the only thing we have to go on at this point, but if what I’ve read about their dad is true, it seems plausible.
On one hand, it seems like they would have had a great deal of playing time, regardless of future recruits, because they were coachable and fundamentally sound.
On the other, if they had a much bigger expectation of their roles and the end-of-season leveling with Coach let some air out of that balloon, then bailing could have been more of their own initiative.
Still confusing as to the reason they left, it’s such a swing though that I can only imagine that in the come days we will find out what happened. It’s big of a swing and given that it’s out of the family there’s no way for UNC to control the information.
It is crazy, they had lots of playing time, they would have lots of playing time next year. I would think they could learn quite a bit from Roy and grow in this system. They aren’t going to be lottery picks at UNC or anywhere else so that doesn’t tie out. My only concern would be the injuries and the family thinking the kids or the treatment was mishandled in the season. That would do it for me as a parent. Time will tell.
The West Coast is pretty dramatically different, especially LA from Chapel Hill and the East Coast. I can imagine that it would be a different world for kids coming here but so is 20,000 people standing in their seats during the entire Duke game.
I can see the reason why they would want to leave. It’s not like they have a well to do father like LD2 who can pay for their air tickets. For kids their age, living so far from home can take its toll. The Wears would have been great role players, and Travis would have definitely seen a lot more playing time. Anyway good luck to them, hopefully we will be able to get a replacement soon.
I have had mixed emotions about the Wear twins for a long time. Living here in Asheville, I saw Mason Plumlee play at Christ School on multiple occasions and it was well known that Mason grew up a Tar Heel fan. Roy recruited him early and his Coach made it known that if UNC offered Mason would take it. Then I hear that Roy stopped recruiting Mason and signed the Wears. At that point I thought, wow, they must be really good because Plumlee is a player. I hate that he went to Dook because he has talent and is very athletic for a guy that size. He also plays with a mean streak. So, I have been disappointed with the Wears because I had these high expectations and the first time I saw them play it was plain that I had hoped for too much. I’ll just leave it at I’d rather had Mason Plumlee than both of the twins. By the way, the youngest Plumlee is the most talented of all the brothers. PS: I hate that Dook probably has the inside track on him now!
I haven’t posted in a while but I told ya’ll a couple of months ago that my husband heard the Wears were transferring to Texas. Well now we know he was atleast 1/2 right. So I don’t think ol Roy was that surprised if this had been stirring around for a couple of months.
I am cool with them leaving. I wish them nothing but the best.
Why did the Wears wait until now to declare they are transferring? Easy… They wanted to finish out the school year without being looked upon as pariahs.
The only time you’ll see me reading or citing the dreaded Los Angeles Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/05/wear-twins-leaving-north-carolina-interested-in-ucla.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LAT_Sports_Blog+(The+Fabulous+Forum)
I have mixed feelings about this; best of luck to David and Travis.
That’s all I’ll say.
@ Asheville Heel-totally agree the Plumlee’s looked better.
Considering “some” of the fans vocal abuse of the Wear’s though, can’t say I blame the Dad for it. Not sure even with good attitudes however they would have ever done much here, so mixed feelings here too. I will say one of Dean’s specialties was developing players like these into contributors. I don’t think it will be a major loss, but can’t say it’s a positive either. These things always seem to have a bit of a karmic vapor trail.
I was very sad when I saw this in the Washington Post, this morning. They both seemed to be very fine individuals that any school would be proud to have.
People always want to know the “real” reason when players transfer. It is not always just one thing.
I think there were a combination of factors here. The Wears probably underestimated the difficulty of playing so far away from home. They probably did not count on each being injured, and playing for the worst Roy Williams team ever, which probably increased stress on them. This certainly was not the season to be a struggling freshman, given UNC’s woes all over the court.
I wish them all the best and I hope they find a situation where they can really make an impact on a team’s success.
I will say this, however. If you look at transferees, as a general rule, they rarely seem to turn into big stars at their second institution. Perhaps an exception to this general rule is when guys transfer due to problems with academics or the law, or because of a coaching change, but I have kept an eye on many of the highly touted guys who have left Kansas and Duke, and I don’t remember any of them ever becoming stars.
I really hope the Wears find a situation where they can both be starters on the same team, because I think this is what they really want. I think there are plenty of schools in California where that is possible, but I hope they make sure to pick one where it is a very strong probability because I would enjoy seeing them out there on the court together in the future.
UNC has not had many transfers the last 40 years, but I do think that the Wears will probably end up being about the most popular guys to transfer out of the program and I am sure that most of us will continue to follow their progress with interest and hope for their future success.
Well said William…
this situation is another feather in the cap for all the ABCer’s, 2009-2010 just cant end. Where are all the people now who said that losing Ed wont be a huge deal.
2 post players going into next year, we had 5 last year. Zeller is very fragile, but John started to turn it around towards the end of the season, and with a shorter bench, players might get to play through their mistakes, instead of getting yanked after a TO.
Both State and Dook are expecting to pound the heels next year, but the heels are going to be a more complete team, just hope at the end they are a better team.
Interesting to see who Roy pencils in at the 2, since we are limited in the post, does he leave Bullock on the bench to sub in first to spell a big, and push Barnes to 4. Hopefully Reggie’s shot keeps him off the bench.
All and All, I am still really excited about next year, and thank you again Roy for getting Harrison, without him, next year would be a disaster.
I am really disappointed after reading what Ashville Heel said regarding the Wear twins and the Plumlees. The Wear twins end up bolting on UNC and the Heels lose out on having the Plumlees, too. I’m worried about Henson and Zeller being worn down next year because the Wears were going to be thier main backups.
Lots of good comments. Agree with Asheville and Makeitwayne.
“If you look at transferees, as a general rule, they rarely seem to turn into big stars at their second institution.”
True. The only “recent” players I can think of who transferred and then went on to become 1st round picks are Cliff Rozier (UNC/L’Ville) and Toney Douglas (Auburn/FSU). Wes Johnson (ISU/Cuse) and Ekpe Udoh (Michigan/Baylor) will join that list this year.
“Interesting to see who Roy pencils in at the 2, since we are limited in the post, does he leave Bullock on the bench to sub in first to spell a big, and push Barnes to 4.”
Not saying this will be the starting lineup, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the following lineup quite a bit next year, and is probably similar to what miW22 was getting at:
PG: Drew/Marshall
SG: Strickland
SF: Bullock
PF: Barnes
C: Zeller/Henson
Bullock is generally listed at 6’6″ or 6’7″ and Barnes is generally listed at 6’8 or 6’9″, so the Heels would still have plenty of height with this lineup, but they would also be about as agile/athletic as any team Roy has had at UNC…
PG: Drew/Marshall/Strickland
SG: Strickland/Bullock/McDonald/Watts
SF: Bullock/Graves/McDonald/Barnes/Watts
PF: Barnes/Henson/Graves
C: Zeller/Henson/Barnes
CM, you got me thinking about the various combinations. Although I despise mentioning Dook, we all must remember a 6-8 Battier controlling the middle for Dook in 2001 when Boozer was hurt. Battier at times was simply the best player on the court and to me Roy is simply going to have to just put the best players on the court this coming year. Size simply will not have to matter.
Where’s the frontcourt depth now? Where’s the muscle?
We had an injury-plagued season and there’s no guarantee next year will be any different. Zeller we know is injury-plagued if not injury-prone. Henson is so thin it always looks to me that he could get cut in half by an elbow thrown by the next Big Baby Davis.
I don’t see much of a silver lining here. The Wears were adequate as freshmen; indeed they performed as expected, which is more than can be said for the majority of the team. I thought they hustled. They had frames that made me think they were our best hope for some muscle inside, of which we now have exactly zero (unless you count Graves, which would be a mistake).
Going into the season just concluded, we had weaknesses we all, including me, preferred to whistle past. We knew we lacked outside shooting but thought it would be overcome. It wasn’t. We knew Deon was a role player but thought, or seriously hoped, he would step up. He didn’t. Ditto with Ginyard. So our expectations for the season crashed and burned.
We now enter next season with a glaring deficiency of strength underneath. Our leading rebounders last year were, who, Davis Thompson and Ginyard (when healthy)? All are gone. Our incoming freshmen are undeniably very good in terms of overall quality, but stength and inside play are not their calling cards. If you thought we got pushed around under the basket last year — and I sure did — just wait.
Next year, the Wears were going to be subs again, in all likelihood, but I think they had the potential to be solid contributors and perhaps starters as upper classmen. Now we don’t have a single big man to bring off the bench, not one, and our starting “big” men, Zeller and Hinson aren’t all that big, if width, butts and shoulders are what you’re talking about (or biceps for that matter). This is certain to be trouble.
And while I’m complaining, here’s one more. Why did Roy give in so quickly to what he says was a “surprise” phone call? Could he have said to the father, “Wow, we were really looking forward to your sons having increased roles next year. Could you hold off for a day, let me fly over there and talk to y’all, and see where we are. If after that they still want to transfer, that is their right, and I will wish them the best.”
He couldn’t have said that?
This doesn’t feel right. Alex Stephenson leaves, then Davis takes off early for the NBA after a decent but not great season, and now two other big men, for no very compelling reason that either is willing to state, also take off. This is from a program that won two NC’s in the last six years, and is historically one of the strongest and most honorable in the country. So why head for the door? And will this, on top of the season we just saw, give pause to potential recruits that something isn’t quite right in Chapel Hill?
AT least last year we were tall, if not strong. Now we won’t even be tall. We’ll be a team with one center, two forwards, and seven (or so) guards. To me, this spells trouble.
^rat, I certainly agree with the first few comments about inside muscle or lack thereof.
However, I do think the situations surrounding Stephenson, Davis and the Wears are unrelated. It was clear Stephenson had family problems and it was clear that his time was going to be limited with Davis coming to the team that included Tyler and Deon (Boy the Heels could have used him last season though).
We were lucky to have Ed last season at all in my opinion. He was always listed in the lottery.
The Wears, if I had to bet, were a combination of homesickness and family issues related to the 3000 miles between home and college. I just don’t think the father or the boys had an issue with the program or roles they would play at UNC since they were going to get heavy minutes IMO.. Maybe dad had some conversations with Howland at UCLA who promised more than Roy could promise……….who knows.
I think that, in general, there is less stigma associated with a player transferring than there was in the past. Some of this has to do with the one and done rule and early exits to the NBA in general.
Judging from the recent successes of GMU, Davidson, Northern Iowa and Bradley, we also see that players can play bigtime basketball at many more institutions than they could previously.
We also have to remember that this is much more of a “business” now than it used to be. Players are told for five years even before picking a college, how great they are. The conferences are expanding and changing members and seem to have little loyalty themselves, nor do many coaches.
I honestly don’t think the Stepheson and Wear transfers indicate any problem with the program. In terms of depth, yes, UNC will need to be healthy at key positions next year, but that is pretty much always true. The 1997 team had very little depth and would have been in big trouble had Zwikker gone down. 1982 and 1998 had little depth as well. I am sort of burned out right now on the constant rotations that UNC has been using the past few years, so I think it will be interesting to see a reduced core of guys out there.
I, for one, am worried about next season. We weren’t strong underneath last year and, unless Roy finds some new muscle, likely to be less so next year. This puts us in the position of having to have incoming freshman that play up to or beyond expectations. Even if our perimeter shooting improves with Barnes and company, we can’t afford to be pushed around underneath ala 09-10. Speaking of outside shooting, Barnes in particular will have to carry a heavy load when considering Henson’s, Strickland’s sketchy offense last year (need dramatic improvement). Even if Zeller stays healthy the whole year, he hasn’t shown a 7 footer’s dominance underneath at least to this point. So, not only will Zeller and Henson have to bulk up and develop their offense, but the Barnes, Bullock & Marshall will have to live up to or exceed their billing. AND Roy really needs to use the open spot to snatch a talented wide body. Hopefully, LDII will continue to improve to steady things while the new talent acclimates. I used to enjoy watching Dean take teams that everyone thought were down on their talent and surprise everyone. Even though we have some projected high talent coming in, I hope Roy has some of the Dean in him as well.
wow, going from a big team with too few guards, to a small team with too few bigs in one season. i think we need at least one big body, maybe a football player, to take up some fouls or we will struggle.
Regarding the loss of the Wears, even if they were not projected to get that many minutes (I basically thought Travis would see 10-12 MPG, and David less than that) they were important in case of injuries, and to spell the starters if they got in foul trouble.
The margin is very thin now in those areas….got to keep everyone healthy and minimize foul trouble in the frontcourt.
As far as losing inside strength (and not having that much to begin with) this is an area I’m not as concerned with. I know the post players probably got pushed around more than they should have this year, but a number of the stronger C/F’s in the ACC have moved on, and the returning UNC players will ideally be somewhat stronger and smarter themselves.
I think Zeller and Henson, along with Barnes doing inside/out duty, will improve in being able to create their own shots down low. As far as rebounding, I see no reason why the 2010-11 team shouldn’t be good in this area. I think this team will be quicker to the ball overall, when you consider Barnes and Bullock (both good rebounders), and that is what really counts in rebounding.
I know there is a general perception that the ’09-10 team was out-muscled alot in the post, but I think most of that was in the area of creating shots and finishing. Rebounding-wise, this was a pretty good team. They had a plus 6 RB margin (’08-’09 team was plus 7) and they were only outrebounded in 8 games. (The ’08-’09 team was outrebounded in 12 games). So from this point of view, I think next years’ team can be better than might be imagined.
I don’t think it’s likely that UNC will snag a top-quality post player for next year, considering that all the top players are committed.(Terrence Jones and Kadeem Jack are probably long shots) So it looks like they’re going to have to go with what they’ve got and make it work.
I rather like the shortened-rotations aspect of this scenario, and I think it’s a lot better than tying up a scholarship on a much lower-ranked bench player.
This story has brought the traffic back to THF
.
I really don’t think rebounding will be a problem this year. The reason there was a problem with rebounding last year was due to pairing of players. Henson is a good rebounder, shot blocker and is willing to take charges; Davis is a good rebounder (actually an excellent rebounder)and shot blocker; Zeller is a good rebounder and is willing to take charges; even Travis Wear is a decent rebounder; Deon Thompson, on the other hand, was an average rebounder for his size, a below average shot blocker and never took charges (to the best of my recollection). Yet if you look at the playing time of all players, seldom if ever did the any two of the first four players see court time together. Needless to say when one player does all the grunt work of rebounding, shot blocking and taking charges and the other is MIA, the front court will appear weak and lacking strength. This year we will have Zeller and Henson, both of whom play with maximum effort every time they are on the court. But like I said before, a lot will also depend on Roy’s ability to modify his system to rely predominantly on guard play.
Transfers, much like injuries, are not often a controllable factor. The Wear twins are gone for whatever reasons and no need for us to speculate as to why this happened. You play all seasons with the hand that you are dealt and make adjustments as needed. I wish the Wear’s well wherever they go and for whatever team they play for in the future. I remain optomistic that the coming season will be a good one for Carolina basketball. Go Heels!!
I think Dejuan Blair has proven that, when it comes to rebounding, being active is more important then being big. As active as Barnes, Zeller and Henson are, and Graves can be, I think we’ll be a decent rebounding team next year. Don’t forget, the Wears combined for only 6 points and 4 rebounds per game this year. Barnes will be able to add 6 points with his eyes closed…and as far as rebounding is concerned, I wasn’t counting on the Wears being a big factor anyways (heck, it wasn’t even certain that David would be able to play next year)
“I know there is a general perception that the ‘09-10 team was out-muscled a lot in the post, but I think most of that was in the area of creating shots and finishing. Rebounding-wise, this was a pretty good team.”
Spot on, Larry. UNC was #2 in the country in total rebounding this past season and #22 in rebounding margin. This team had its share of flaw, but rebounding was not one of them. Now, let’s look at what UNC will be losing, in terms of rebounds per 40 minutes:
Ed Davis: 13.6
Deon Thompson: 9.9
Marcus Ginyard: 6.3
D&T Wear: 7.6
The top returning rebounders will be:
Henson: 11.1 (13.0 after Davis was injured)
Zeller: 10.6
Graves: 7.7
Henson, Zeller and Graves should be able to match, or even surpass, the rebounding totals if the 2010 team’s top three (Davis/Thompson/Ginyard), Barnes appears to be a terrific rebounder, and Bullock should be a better rebounder at 6’6″-6’7″ than any of this year’s guards, so I don’t really see UNC being at that big of a disadvantage on the boards next year.
Losing the Wears will only be a large problem next year is either Henson or Zeller gets hurt, but what team can’t you say that about? The 2005 team had almost no depth at center, but May, Marvin and Jawad went the whole season w/o injury and everything turned out well. Had any of them gotten hurt, UNC probably doesn’t win the title.
This will open minutes up for Lesile, if he can put in the work over th summer, he could add a big lift off the bench.
C.Michael –
With all respect, you cannot (1) have zero big men coming off the bench, (2) lose your top rebounders off a team that had at best a disappointing season, (3) have no significant incoming rebounders, and (4) feature an injury-prone skinny center (although I like him alot and always have) and be optimisic about how we’ll do under the boards.
Your figures and Larry’s are interesting but can be misleading. In game after game last season, we saw Zeller and Henson get pushed around by opposing wide bodies. This shouldn’t happen as much next year assuming they spend time in the weight room, but the natural build of each is slender. They’re not going to turn into Sean May.
Almost all successful teams have someone with some combination of muscle, a wide rear end or a nasty streak. We have no one like that. Now, on top of that, we have zilch for depth.
This has TROUBLE written all over it in neon lettering.
After seeing the pic of Roy in Arizona I heard from one of his friends that Roy finally felt and looked better than at any time since last summer before his shoulder injury. So five days in AZ; come back home to CH and then “bam” the phone call from Mr. Wear that very night. Ol Roy’s telling the honest truth that he was “floored” by the request. Myself, I still think there may be a silver-lining in here somewhere. What I don’t like is that for Coach Williams the aftermath of the 09/10 season continues to be a nightmare!
Rath- I agree that, despite the stats, it sure looked like we were being pushed around underneath last year and that, if it isn’t remedied through bulking up or snatching an unexpected big, spells trouble especially considering the lack of depth.
Rath, interesting points, I’ll address them one-by-one:
(1) have zero big men coming off the bench
Agreed, it’s not optimal, but UNC will have a little more depth than that. With the Wears leaving, Will Graves will need to play a lot more PF, and quite honestly, I think this is good. At 6’6″ and 245, he has the size to play down there, and in limited minutes actually looked good there this past season. Additionally, Harrison Barnes is often cited to be a more-skilled verison of Marvin Williams or Shane Battier, and both were excellent PFs in college.
(2) lose your top rebounders off a team that had at best a disappointing season.
First, they are only losing one top rebounder. Henson and Zeller were better rebounders that Deon, and Graves is a better rebounder than Ginyard. Second, the success of the season has little to do (actually, it should have nothing to do) with how we view UNC’s rebounding this past season. They were a good rebounding team, that is all that is relevant to this particular discussion.
(3) have no significant incoming rebounders
Harrison Barnes is a terrific rebounder. He averaged 10 RPG during his senior season and 9 RPG in his three ASG. Reggie Bullock averaged more than 11 RPG during his senior season, and should be one UNC’s best rebounding guards in a long, long, time.
(4) feature an injury-prone skinny center
Nothing to add, here. This is definitely the thing that will make us all hold our breathe next year. If either Z or Henson miss significant time, UNC will be in trouble.