Tar Heels in the Pros: April 13-19

With so many Tar Heels excelling after their time in Chapel Hill is over, sometimes its hard to keep track of it. Every Saturday, I’ll try to give you a run down over the past week in former Carolina athletes. This isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a quick look at some of the highlights.

Apr 8, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey (33) delivers to the plate during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Baseball

Matt Harvey: Matt Harvey started the week off impressively throwing eight innings and surrendering only one run in his win this past Monday. Harvey’s garnering some heavy praise from media sources, and deservedly so. Last night, Harvey outpitched Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg. Harvey threw seven innings surrendering only four hits and one run. Through his first four starts, Harvey is 4-0 with a 0.93 ERA, a 0.66 WHIP, and 32 strikeouts. Wow.

Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager: The Seattle Tar Heels are both off to very slow starts this season, but maybe this week is a sign of better times. Ackley went 5/19 this week, raising his average 46 points to .154. Seager also hit well this week going 6/18 driving his average up 39 points to .217. It isn’t where either wants to be, but it’s a start.

Basketball

Neat fact: Out of the eight NBA playoff series, former UNC players will be featured in seven. The one exception is the Western Conference match up between the Rockets and Lakers, though the GM of the Lakers is Mitch Kupchak is a former Heel. Miss seeing the Heels play? Watch just about any NBA playoff game and you’ll be sure to see some of your favorites.

With so many Tar Heels doing big things, it’d be a lot to capture them all. Let’s take a look at a few players who had a solid week.

John Henson: Milwaukee fans, Carolina fans and NBA Fantasy players should all be excited with what Henson showed in the final week of the NBA season. Henson’s stat line in the final three games: 8 points/11 rebounds, 14 points/15 rebounds, and 28 points/16 rebounds. The Bucks face a Hensonly tall task vs. Miami in the playoffs, but the development of the rookie forward is promising.

Ty Lawson: The Nuggets ended the season with three wins this past week, and Lawson looked impressive in each victory including 26 points in a one point win over the Miluakee Bucks on Monday. He ended the season with 14 points and seven assists in the regular season finale.

Kendall Marshall: Saw a little more playing time in the final three games, ending the season on a high note recording a statline that might have some people thinking of his college days. Marshall had two points, 14 assists, and an arguably even more impressive zero turnovers in a loss to Denver.

Football

In addition to the killer new uniforms, most of the latest draft projections across the web seem to agree that both Jonathan Cooper and Sylvester Williams will be drafted in the first round of next week’s NFL draft. Even in the offseason, Tar Heel football is making noise.

Soccer

MLS sophomore and 2011 National Champion, Ben Speas is making the most of his time with the Columbus Crew, in their draw on Sunday vs. the Montreal Impact, Speas recorded a shot on goal and played some solid defense. Speas has cracked the starting line up, and the midfielder seems poised for big things.

Retirement

Finally, NBA fans say farewell to one of the NBA’s best personalities in Rasheed Wallace. The former Tar Heel is known as much for his antics as his play. He became a favorite of this writer for one of his go to phrases, “Ball don’t lie.“