Williams: Zeller may return this week

North Carolina

Williams: Zeller may return this week

UNC men's basketball vs. Penn on Nov. 15

Tyler Zeller blocks a shot attempt in the second half.

By Greg Barnes, InsideCarolina

Feb 16, 2009

comments

POST VIEW

Chapel Hill, N.C. — North Carolina head coach Roy Williams talked to reporters about a timetable for a decision on whether or not freshman Tyler Zeller will return this season during his weekly ACC teleconference on Monday.

Opening remarks:
“It was a very, very good week for us. Two wins in the ACC is always very good, and both of them came on the road. We played very well the first 10 minutes at Duke and the last 15 minutes, so in those 25 we were really good and the other 15 we were really bad. Yesterday we had some great spurts, and had a real bad stretch from 12 minutes down to four minutes, but Ty, particularly, made some big plays down the stretch and we were lucky enough to get out of town with a win.”

When UNC and N.C. State tip off on Wednesday, there won’t be a N.C. native in either starting lineup? What’s your approach to recruiting instate?
“I would love to have North Carolina kids, there’s no question about that, whose parents went to North Carolina, they’ve always cheered for us and they have that Carolina blue blood. But I think we have to recruit the best players and try to convince them to come here.

“This year in high school, for example, there’s three great players in the state, and unfortunately, none of them are going to come here to North Carolina. We recruited at different stages all three of them at some point, but we ended up making decisions and other kids made decisions earlier, and we accepted those decisions. We always want the best players in the state, and then we try to find the best players that fit in with what we want to do with the program.”

On Tyler Zeller:
“There’s five or six games left in the regular season, and hopefully a couple more later on. Is this going to help his development next year? Is it going to help him as a player, and he is seven-feet tall, so do all seven-footers stay all four years in college all the time? Are you willing to sacrifice a whole year for five or six games? He and I are going to talk this week and a decision will be made this week. That’s the only part that I can give you. But we are going to sit down and see where he is, because one thing we had to do was bring him back and I think he’s had five or six practices – you can put a pencil to it and guess yourself – but he hasn’t played basketball in 12 weeks.

“So to get him back… And now, can he come back and be effective? Can he come back and gain something now that will help him next year? So there’s a lot of decisions in there, but the toughest thing is that I’m making him make the decision himself. He and his parents and I even had a conference call on Saturday morning and talked about some things. The decision will be made this week.”

Most Recent Comments

RE: Williams: Zeller may return this week

Tyler Zeller is amazing and the fact of his presence will help carolina through the rest of the season

RE: Williams: Zeller may return this week

I think it's a waste to bring him back now. The team is on a roll and they already have quality depth down low with a group of guys that are used to playing and rotating together. Honestly, save him for next year when this year's group is in the NBA so he can stand out alone and begin to build his own pro hype.

RE: Williams: Zeller may return this week

I completely agree with Easy. I'd love to see him come back.

RE: Williams: Zeller may return this week

Glad to hear it......can't imagine him staying for four years. Let's go for it now.

RE: Williams: Zeller may return this week

I think it will help the chemistry of the team. We saw how they played before Zellers injury. It won't be an instant fix, but it will help in the coming weeks.

WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina