Morning Heel: UNC Tar Heels Daily News Links

Welcome to another edition of the Morning Heel, a daily feature here at Keeping It Heel.  Along with The Hub we want to bring you not only our original content but a collection of all the best UNC news.

Tar Heel Field Hockey Falls In Title Game
The North Carolina field hockey team reached the NCAA Championship game for the fourth year in a row but came away with the same result for the third year in a row, falling 3-2 to Princeton on Sunday afternoon at Old Dominion’s Powhatan Sports Complex. Top-ranked UNC finished 23-2 as the national runner-up while No. 2 Princeton (21-1) claimed its first national title. (GoHeels.com)

Fifth Quarter: ACC record book gets an extreme offensive makeover
Five Positives: A week after surrendering 68 points in a home loss to Georgia Tech, North Carolina went to Virginia – a place that hasn’t been kind to it in the past – and won impressively, 37-13. Not only did the Tar Heels’ defense rally to give up 55 points fewer on Thursday, it also scored a TD on Tre Boston’s 36-yard interception return. (Wilmington Star News)

Lucas: Maui Notebook
Nine Tar Heels played double-figure minutes in Friday night’s win at Long Beach State. However, Roy Williams expects that one of the consequences of the three-games-in-three-days format of the Maui Invitational will be a juggled rotation. “The younger players are going to play more minutes,” he said. “You can’t just play the starting five for 35 minutes.” (GoHeels.com)

Rob Ryan: Bruce Carter is a special player, better than he envisioned
As the Cowboys head into Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, the doom and gloom has been replaced by the bright shining light of emerging star Bruce Carter at inside linebacker. He has taken over for Lee as the signal caller and leading tackler while becoming a standout playmaker that no one envisioned, not even defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Harrison Barnes gaining confidence, aggressiveness
Harrison Barnes seems to have developed a comfort level on the court. No longer the hesitant rookie, he is attacking with confidence and producing numbers that figure to put him in the Rookie of the Year conversation. Over his last two games, Barnes has scored 37 points on 14-of-26 shooting. He’s also grabbed 22 rebounds, including five offensive. (San Jose Mercury News)

Rasheed Wallace is back and calmer than ever
Rasheed Wallace says he isn’t thinking about his future. He shrugs off the idea of coaching. “Just playing,” he insists. But he’s clearly not “just playing.” He’s helping younger players develop their games, which is something that comes naturally for him whether in the NBA or during summer pick-up games. (Yahoo! Sports)

Dodd: Is Jim Delany’s ultimate goal to draw UNC to the Big Ten?
Unless there is that larger strategy at work here. Unless the age of superconferences really is upon us and the Big Ten is going to lead the way. Why stop at 14, when it can go 16 when it gets a foothold on the East Coast? Does this move eventually pry North Carolina loose? Suddenly, we’re talking some serious BTN dollars with the conference in states with at least 35 percent of the U.S. population. (CBS Sports)

Phil Ford chose me
Phil Ford ran the point guard position the way God intended. At least that’s the way I saw it back in the winter of 1977 when, as an 11-year-old girl, I became a Carolina basketball fan. I had happened upon a game one night that winter and had totally fallen for the boys in Carolina Blue. (Chapel Hill News)

UNC Basketball Recruiting: Time to Shift Focus to Andrew Wiggins and 2014 Class
Just one offer in the 2013 class remains for the North Carolina Tar Heels and that is top prospect Andrew Wiggins. (KIH)