UNC basketball: Tar Heels to host disaster relief event

The University of North Carolina is set to host an exhibition round robin of sorts in order to raise money for the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund. The fundraiser, which is scheduled for November 5th, will feature four teams: UNC, East Carolina, UNC-Wilmington, and UNC-Greensboro. Naturally, the event will be held at the Dean E. Smith Center.

The way it works is the teams will each play for 40 minutes, spending around 13 minutes with each individual matchup. Thus, every team will get a chance to play the other three.

This function will be a great way of welcoming home former Tar Heels, as every head coach of the three visiting teams either played or coached at UNC previously.

Jeff Lebo, the head coach at ECU, was a shooting guard for the Heels from 1985-1989. He started all four years and was an Academic All-American under Dean Smith. Lebo began his coaching career as an assistant at East Tennessee State in 1990 shortly after his college playing career ended. He has now been the head coach at East Carolina since 2010.

C.B. McGrath, the head coach at UNCW, was an assistant under Roy Williams. He joined Williams’ staff back when he was at Kansas in 1999 and followed him to UNC in 2003. McGrath helped the Tar Heels win three national championships, including its most recent one this past April. This will be his first season coaching the Seahawks.

Wes Miller, the head coach at UNCG, played for UNC under Roy Williams from 2004-2007. Miller arrived to Chapel Hill as a walk-on, but was able to carve out a starting role as a junior during the 2005-2006 season. He shot a stellar 44% from three that year. Miller has been on the UNCG staff since 2010, and the head coach since 2011.

Given that Joel Berry II is out four weeks with a hand injury, these games present another valuable opportunity for the Tar Heels to figure out how to play without their leader and best player, especially for Seventh Woods and Jalek Felton. These potential future anchors of the backcourt will be thrust into larger roles to start the season, so any extra practice they can get against Division I competition will be extremely beneficial by the time the regular season rolls around on November 10th.

Regardless, it should be a fun gathering for Tar Heel fans, coaches, and players. Most importantly, it’s expected to raise lots of money for disaster relief in order help out those who have been affected by the recent hurricanes.

For tickets and more information about this event, go to GoHeels.com.