The Tennessee Head Coach Has Indefinitely Shaked To Due…
Onis Konanbanny has been high on Tennessee since getting his first SEC scholarship offer more than 10 months ago from the Vols. They joined the race for him during his first trip to Knoxville in March, and he has continued to hear plenty from them since then.
Tennessee is still one of the schools recruiting him hardest. The four-star Class of 2025 cornerback from Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, S.C., said the Vols and North Carolina have been the two teams recruiting him hardest in recent months, and he released a list of his top 10 college choices earlier this month that included Tennessee. Inside Carolina analyst Sherrell McMillan joined host Tommy Ashley on The Postgame show and offered his thoughts on North Carolina’s 86-70 win over Louisville. Here are his five key takeaways after the Tar Heels improved to 6-0 in ACC play.
INITIAL TAKEAWAYS FROM THE WIN OVER LOUISVILLE “There was some slippage in the second half, especially defensively. That was some mid-November defense in the second half. But the good thing about this team is that they always respond. I never felt like UNC was in jeopardy of losing the game. Hubert Davis got the best of both worlds with this game. He got a comfortable 16-point win. But he can go to them and say, ‘Look how much you gave up in the second half.’ He’s got some stuff where he can go back and tell them, ‘You might be 6-0 in conference, but you’re by no means perfect.’ They were never in jeopardy of losing the game.”
“Tremendous first half. That’s a huge thing for UNC. It’s been hard for them to get all four of their big scorers to score in the same game. As Ingram is fading a little bit offensively, and I’m sure he’ll get back, you’ve seen Ryan starting to get a little bit better offensively. It’s good that they have those interchangeable parts. It opens up driving lanes for RJ Davis and Elliot Cadeau. It gives Armando Bacot space to operate. Ryan making shots can definitely take this team to the next level. He doesn’t have to go 4-of-7 from three, but making a couple every night really helps.”
“Over the last few years, Carolina has struggled at finishing around the rim. When you have someone like Elliot Cadeau and someone like Withers, it makes it a lot easier to finish. Good for him. I’m glad he had a good game. I’m sure it will do wonders for his confidence moving forward. But he needs to make sure that he stays within his role. That was my only worry. I know that’s weird to think about after such a great performance, but you want to make sure that he still understands what this team needs him to do for it to be successful.”
“What’s different about this team is that they might not win a game, but they’re not going to lose games. What I mean is they’re not going to go up there and have 22 turnovers and shoot 5-of-26 from three. They’re going to fight, they’re going to compete and they’re going to be in it. Too often, over the last 4-5 years for UNC, they’ve lost games. That is one thing about this team that is different. Louisville was an example. Saturday against Syracuse was an example. The three road games were examples. They found ways to win. They weren’t going to lose the game. They were going to make the opponent beat them.”
“(BC) is a Harrison Ingram game for me. It’s a bring your own energy game. The stadium is going to be half empty. It’s a weird place to play. It’s a sleepy environment. Harrison and Cormac are the guys who have to make sure that the team is up to it. Boston College is not a bad team. They’re not great. Quinten Post is an All-ACC caliber player. It’ll be a good challenge for UNC. The difficult part is flying to Boston on Friday morning, having the game on Saturday, flying back to UNC that night and then having Wake Forest coming in on Monday. It’s a quick turnaround. Curious to see how they respond. It’s basically three games in 5.5 days.”
