Williams ready for answers

Roy Williams has a good idea of who three of his starters might be Friday night for North Carolina’s exhibition game against Belmont Abbey.

He just doesn’t know much else about what’s going to happen — and he loves it.

“It’s the most exciting time of the year for me,” Williams said. “You have some questions and some apprehension. … Are we gonna be good enough?”

Williams has been quick to point out his team’s lack of a proven point guard — sophomore Larry Drew averaged just 9.6 minutes per game — and an established outside shooting threat.

The Tar Heels’ primary shooter, Will Graves, has a career scoring average of 2.9 points per game.

Williams said forwards Deon Thompson and Ed Davis will probably start Friday, along with Marcus Ginyard.

“Deon, Marcus, Ed, they’re pretty good basketball players,” Williams said.

“But they’ve never been the focus. And again, that’s a huge difference.”

Never mind that UNC is No. 6 in the AP preseason poll, and the Tar Heels have one of the most talented freshman classes in the nation.

So regardless of the looming questions, UNC retains high expectations — and the players are comfortable with them.

“I don’t know if anyone on the team is as worried as everybody else is,” Ginyard said. “I feel very good about our point guard position. I’m very excited for Larry to have that chance to get out there.”

Heading into the exhibition against Belmont Abbey, North Carolina looks to be in good health. Williams said Davis missed two days of practice with a shoulder injury, and Graves has struggled with back pain. But both should play Friday.

Book was ‘Hard Work’

Williams also discussed his autobiography, “Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court.” The book was released Tuesday and Williams is scattering eight book signings through off-periods before and during the season.

“I’m pleased with the way things turned out,” Williams said. “It was a lot easier on me than it possibly could have been, but it was a huge undertaking. I shared some things I never thought I’d share with anybody.”

Williams originally agreed to 12 to 15 hours of interview time to work on the book, but ended up spending more than 60 hours with co-author Tim Crothers. Williams took additional time to edit the book.

“I wanted to spend the time and make sure there’s nothing in the book that anybody can disagree with,” Williams said. “Because it’s all the truth. It’s all what happened.”

But Williams was still apprehensive about the process and what he had to give up during the summer.

“I put a lot more work into it than I thought, a lot more time,” Williams said.

“I hurt my golf game a great deal. To decide whether it was worth it or not, I’d have to think about those bets that I lost.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.