2023-10-14 02:58:36
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Just when you thought you knew what to expect from Late Night-turned-Live Action, along came Rob Landry.
By now, you know the program for this event. There are player introductions for the women’s team. Player introductions for the men’s team. A whole lot of basketball.
The player intros include a song hand-selected by each women’s or men’s player. As you would expect (and as they should), they typically pick something popular with the college set—if you’re over the age of 40, it’s a safe bet you haven’t heard any of the tunes before.
And then came Landry through the smoke and flashing lights, as he entered to the strains of Phil Collins’ 1981 hit “In the Air Tonight,” complete with the 4.0 student and business/chemistry double major playing the air drums when the beat dropped.
It was a hard act for the rest of the night to follow. The evening was intentionally loaded with even more basketball than in past years, because both teams are significantly deeper into preseason practice than when the event is held earlier in the year. But there still were some off-court highlights.
Most notably, the new Smith Center lighting system made its debut, including lasers that outline the familiar state of North Carolina at midcourt during introductions and placed player signatures on the court during those same intros. Eric Montross addressed the crowd via video to update them on his progress (you can watch the video here). And there was a reminder at how beloved Marcus Paige remains, as his first-ever introduction as a member of the coaching staff was greeted with one of the biggest roars of the night. Also on hand were two of Paige’s former teammates, Theo Pinson and Justin Jackson, who briefly addressed the crowd.
Eventually, though, Live Action was regarding basketball.
Friday evening provided a good glimpse at what appears to be a very deep women’s team, as Courtney Banghart’s squad showed off an influx of portal talent who all contributed in the scrimmage. Indya Nivar hit multiple three-pointers, Carolina Insider podcast guest Maria Gakdeng was impressive inside, and Lexi Donarski gave the Tar Heels an added dimension on the wing.
Of course, the men’s team underwent an even more thorough makeover, bringing in five players through the portal and adding freshmen Elliot Cadeau and Zayden High. Hubert Davis wanted somewhat of a throwback to the old Blue-White game, which meant Smith Center fans got an extended look at an intrasquad scrimmage with Davis sitting at the scorer’s table watching his team perform in front of a crowd for the first time.
“I get to see this every day,” Davis told the crowd during a pre-scrimmage interview. “I’m excited for all of you to see the way this team plays together.”
And they do. Just as they have demonstrated in practice, the ball moves frequently with this group. There were enough moments to know there’s plenty to like regarding this team, and it’s also worth remembering that freshmen are typically going to have the motor revved a little higher than veterans for a scrimmage like this. With that caveat, Cadeau still made a couple big three-pointers late and High was persistent on the offensive glass, which is a good way to endear yourself to the coaching staff.
Past Blue-White games have given us the famous Terrence Newby game (he put up 30 points in the game before the 1998-99 season) and a series of highlight reel Orlando Melendez dunks. Friday night was a close contest (the White team led by RJ Davis, Cormac Ryan, Jalen Washington and Harrison Ingram took a two-point win).
But if someone’s going to join Newby in the Blue-White Hall of Fame, it very well might be Landry and his drumming.
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