And Ed Davis also said that Tar Heel Fan guy can kiss his...um...assets?
Okay, Davis didn't say that and while Drew was not that straightforward with his thorough denial of the story being pushed by Buster Sports last night, he did cover all the bases.
"Some of the stuff that the guy put in there was so ridiculously false, it's crazy," Drew said. "Like my parents were involved in an unhealthy way? Not true at all. Or they were saying my girlfriend was involved. I don't even have a girlfriend. Why do they put that up there?"
Last night, after I posted the story, I was trying remember if Drew had even mentioned a girlfriend on Twitter. I thought he did but I could be wrong given how many Twitter messages I read in a day(including Kendall Marshall's and let me tell you, he sounds like a great kid.) Anyway, there are various kinds of denials people issue for stuff of this nature. You can have the vague, admit nothing but imply everything denial or you can do what Drew did and take every part of the story and address them as they come. In this day and age of instant soundbites not to mention anything you say being today being tomorrow's wild fire, such specifics could be trouble. Yet, that is exactly where Drew goes.
I supposed a basic denial would have sufficed except the story itself was not your basic "Drew is thinking about transferring." It delved into specifics such as Drew having a girlfriend and his parents meddling. Given those cards were tossed out on the table it sort of compels someone to respond to it so Drew did, obviously after consultation with UNC's media folks.
Now, the editor of Buster Sports responded to my post with a comment Saturday morning. He stands by his source as reliable and understands the skepticism. As I said last night, a bad season breeds these kinds of rumors. Couple that with the fact it is easy to see that Drew is not the happiest camper at the bonfire right now. Some of that is play on the court, fan response and undoubtedly Roy being unhappy with him more often than not. There are questions about his attitude and chemistry with his teammates with the latter illustrated by Drew opting to be in California last summer instead of remaining in Chapel Hill to workout with the rest of the team. What will be interesting to see is whether that happens again. Doing it in the summer of 2010 cedes important ground to Kendall Marshall who we all know will be on campus as soon as humanly possible.