WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina

Ol' Roy happy to have 'old man' as Heels' leader

By Adam Harris

Oct 27, 2009

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Marcus Ginyard enters his fifth season with the North Carolina basketball team.  At 22 years old, the red-shirt senior will be the clear leader on a young Tar Heels squad.

While he was disappointed that Ginyard couldn't play during the Heels' 2009 title run, UNC head coach Roy Williams is thrilled to have his defensive minded guard/forward back on the team this season.

"I call him the old man," Williams told 99.9 FM The Fan ESPN Radio. 

"It's so strange, because I desperately wanted him to be involved in the championship team last year ...  And yet, now I'm so glad he wasn't. You know, the selfish part of me comes out.  But, he's a wonderful kid, as you know, he's a wonderful leader."

Carolina will likely need Ginyard's mentoring skills this season.  The Tar Heels are without 2008-09 seniors Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Bobby Frasor and Mike Copeland.  UNC will certainly miss the production of the ACC's all-time leading scorer, but also the intangibles of having so many upperclassmen on the court.

Williams brings in five highly recruited freshmen to this year's team.  At least a couple of them will see significant minutes.  Add to that a couple of first-time starters in point guard Larry Drew II and forward Ed Davis, and the importance of Ginyard's on-court leadership is elevated even higher.

"When he says something, our guys say 'okay',"  Williams explained to The Insiders on 99.9 FM The Fan.  "There's no questioning, there's no debate, there's no second guessing.

"Not only that, he's playing very well right now."