Le Journal

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The Tar Heels are in Florida this week for the Ft. Myers Tip-Off, where they will face off against St. Bonaventure and Michigan State. First up on that last is the Bonnies, who currently match UNC’s 5-0 record and hope to upset their lone Power Four opponent this regular season. Meanwhile, the Heels are seeking a convincing win after only beating Navy by 12 points last week. For anybody that is looking at this game and see it as an easy victory, it would be wise to recalibrate your expectations. While UNC is the overwhelming favorite to win this game, St. Bonaventure has some firepower on their squad that could make this really interesting. With that in mind, let’s discuss three keys to tomorrow night’s game. The Bonnies are dangerous from deep One thing that makes St. Bonaventure an interesting matchup for the Tar Heels is their ability to shoot from three-point range. So far this season they have made 37.5% from deep, and they have four players that are shooting 35% or better. The leader of this pack is junior guard Darryl Simmons, who leads the team in points (18.6 ppg) and is also knocking down 40.6% of his three-point tries. Considering the fact that the Bonnies have a few capable shooters — though it is worth noting that Simmons has attempted more than 20 three-pointers so far this season — this is going to be a tough task for the Tar Heels, and it could be where Seth Trimble’s absence could be a problem. It is worth pointing out that the competition that the Bonnies have faced so far this season is not nearly as talented as UNC, but not taking teams seriously in tournaments like these can be dangerous. Which leads us to our next key to the game. The Heels will likely use this game to make a statement While it sounds strange to want to make an example out of team in the A-10 conference, UNC wasn’t a happy team after their win against the Navy. Following the game, a players-only meeting was called before Hubert Davis even took the podium for the post-game press conference. All we know about the meeting is that the team overall felt like they should’ve performed much better, and essentially felt like they shouldn’t only beat teams like Navy by 12 points. The mentality of this team is so different from what we’ve witnessed from previous teams that it’s almost jarring. This team doesn’t just want to win games, they want to destroy teams. While it’s unlikely that they will be able to do that every night, it is a breath of fresh air to know that they want to do everything they can to make it happen. St. Bonaventure may be walking into a buzzsaw tomorrow night. Caleb Wilson specifically was not happy about his 23-point double-double performance, which is a wild thing to say out loud. Henri Veesaar is another guy that I could see taking his frustration out on the Bonnies, so I hope this team is ready to take some bumps and bruises in the paint. They aren’t a very big team, so things could turn into a violent dunk fest very quickly. Can Kyan Evans step up? While Caleb Wilson wasn’t happy with an individual performance against Navy that most college players would love to have, Kyan Evans had an objectively bad game that he probably wants to forget. He finished that game only making one of his nine shots, and turned the ball over three times. He was able to dish out six assists, which made it feel like the ghost of Elliot Cadeau took him over for the night. Evans has been absent in the scoring department for a few games now — since the Kansas game, he’s only made four buckets that weren’t free throws. While his scoring production may not be the most important factor to beating St. Bonaventure, it is going to be important for him to get things going before the Michigan State game on Thursday. Luka Bogavac has been picking up what Evans has been leaving behind, but Hubert Davis will need both guards to be sharp if the Heels aspire to go into the weekend 7-0. Hopefully he is up for the task and we get to see him do some fun things…

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Two times this season there was real hope and excitement inside Kenan Stadium. Two times those hopes were dashed in such a fashion that creates wounds that’ll fester and be tough to heal. On Saturday, Kenan Stadium was hyped up as the Tar Heels actually put together a couple of good second half drives and seemed to finally have momentum against a quality opponent, only to see it fade away into the Chapel Hill darkness. Carolina is now 0-2 against the Big Four, Bill Belichick is 0-1 against the team he apparently grew up hating (sarcasm doesn’t translate over text sometimes), and the Tar Heels go into a place that’s been a house of horrors for them to finish up a completely disappointing 2025 football season. So now that we’ve gone over that sunshine, let’s talk about the winners, losers, and honorable mentions for Saturday’s loss to Duke. Winners Gio Lopez: Look, let’s get this part out of the way. It’s clear that Lopez isn’t the answer at quarterback, and if this staff were truly interesting in building a program he would have been benched and one of the promising freshmen recruits would have had a start by now. That said, you can’t have anything but respect for the game he put up on Saturday. He was 21-27 passing, gained 20 yards on the ground, ran and passed for a touchdown, and took so much punishment you’d understand if he would have just laid down and given up. He kept taking hit after hit, especially during that second half when Carolina took the lead, and only got the benefit of one roughing the passer call. It’s tough to blame him for the failure of the last two drives when Duke just sent the house and the offensive play calling seemed to regress once they had the lead. He deserves all the kudos for not giving up, and you wonder—for good reason—if he’ll have the same resolve next week. Jordan Shipp: The leading pass catcher for the Tar Heels with eight for 83 yards and the touchdown that gave the team the lead. Shipp has shown a maturity beyond his years—which says something considering the immaturity shown Saturday—and the staff needs to prioritize keeping him in the fold. It’s clear he has some skills and better play by the quarterback position would have had his stats pop more. He’ll be a prime target for other schools to pilfer in the transfer portal, and he would be a huge loss for the offense. Andrew Simpson: Second on the defense with six total tackles, but led the team with four solos and had an amazing three quarterback hurries on the day. The Boise State transfer played his last home game Saturday, and he had his most solo tackles since the loss to TCU. He’s been a great addition for the team, and you just hate the effort came in a loss, not to mention players around him on defense couldn’t keep their cool which hurt the Tar Heels overall. Losers Freddie Kitchens: Behind the scenes the blame game is already landing on the offensive coordinator who got the job because he…just kept coming to work. Saturday’s game really did shine a light on just how much Gio Lopez’s issues are laid at the feet at the OC. When the Tar Heels were behind and had to change things up on offense Lopez was given a chance to succeed with options, runs, and the calls built off his confidence. As soon as Carolina had the lead, though, Kitchens didn’t adjust to the Duke pressure and Lopez was hung out to dry on two drives to end the game. Any change this offseason has to start at that position, though the question is if anyone will actually take the job considering the absolute cluster of a situation that exists in Chapel Hill. Bill Belichick: This is about the macro of the program. He clearly didn’t understand the huge target painted on his chest when he came into college, and Luke DeCock did a great job of pointing this out on Sunday. Coaches are getting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to out-coach a legend, and considering the criticism Manny Diaz has taken at Duke and Miami before that, you knew he would want any chance for his ego…

The draft comprehensive plan reimagines futures for land beneath or adjacent to petroleum tanks. (Courtesy of Catherine Bart) " data-medium-file="https://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/11/Tank-farms.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/11/Tank-farms.jpg?w=300" />The Comprehensive Plan Committee approved a draft that will soon become public.