UNC Basketball: The annual Blue-White Scrimmage is on, but with a twist

Fans of the UNC basketball program have grown accustom to "Late Night with Roy" and "Live Action" events prior to the start of the upcoming college basketball season.

Now, it appears that those days are over.

The UNC basketball program will have its traditional Blue-White scrimmage game, but there are some notable changes to it.

For starters, the event won't be held in Chapel Hill, as it will be hosted at Harrah's Cherokee Resort Event Center in Cherokee, North Carolina. The reason for this is due to the fact that it will allow for opportunities in the NIL space for the student-athletes.

The other big change is that it won't be the typical type of hype up event that we've witnessed in recent memory. There's been plenty of speculation that the UNC basketball program was looking to get away from this concept, as the NIL opportunities make this type of concept one that the program is looking to test out.

A scrimmage will be played by the guys in Carolina Blue, but it will be much different this go-around (and won't be at the friendly confines of the Dean Smith Center).

This year's scrimmage will be held on October 13, just two days before Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program competes in the first annual St. Jude Tip-Off Classic exhibition game against the Memphis Tigers. The Blue-White scrimmage marks the first of three preseason events on the schedule, as the Tar Heels will also host Johnson C. Smith in an exhibition contest in Chapel Hill on October 27.

Sometimes change is good, as it felt like the recent concept of the event was getting a bit stale. Maybe this idea will be beneficial for the UNC basketball program as a whole, given it will provide a fresh take into providing the fans with an early opportunity to check out this year's squad in action.