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On Wednesday, senior writers Aaron Dodson and Grace Raynor headed to Charlotte for the ACC’s annual Operation Basketball event, where two players and the head coach from each conference team were available for interviews.

The North Carolina men’s basketball team sent juniors Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige, in addition to Roy Williams, who enters his 12th year at the helm of the program.

Johnson, held down the fort solo during the morning players’ session, while Paige stayed in Chapel Hill to complete an exam in State and Local Government, a class requirement for Journalism students.

Johnson finished his sophomore campaign leading UNC in field goal percentage and blocks despite averaging just 19.4 minutes per game.

With the departure of veteran forward James Michael McAdoo to the NBA Draft, Johnson will certainly see increased minutes and could shift into a starting role.

Johnson scored 10.3 points per game, and enters his junior year nearly 40 pounds heavier than he was when he first came to Chapel Hill as a freshman. He’s now hovering between 226 and 228 pounds at 6-foot-9, doing everything he can to become a healthier player in all aspects.

“Trying to do everything right and be in the weight room as much as I can. Do a lot of the little things and be as healthy as I can,” Johnson said.

Upon his arrival in Charlotte around 5:30 p.m., the point guard Paige was informed that his 17.5 points per game during his sophomore year had helped boost him to winning the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year honor.

“It feels pretty good, I guess,” Paige said. “I hope that means it can translate into some wins.”

But something else was on his mind.

“I see they picked us second in the conference,” he said. “We have goals of finishing higher than that, if you guys can read between the lines on that. We really want to win the conference this year.”

sports@dailytarheel.com

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