North Carolina
UNC Basketball: Rutgers transfer Cliff Omoruyi commits to Alabama over North Carolina
Portal season, besides the commitment of Cade Tyson and return of RJ Davis, has been an underwhelming one for Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels thus far. News didn’t get any better on Sunday afternoon as top target Cliff Omoruyi chose Alabama over North Carolina and others.
The 6-foot-11 Rutgers big man was one of multiple centers that the Tar Heel staff recently pushed for to fill the departure of Armando Bacot, but Coach Davis has had zero luck and will still be searching heading into mid-May for a replacement center. After a near silent recruitment, Omoruyi was in Chapel Hill for a visit earlier this week, but it ended up not being enough to get him in Carolina blue.
This miss is extremely concerning for North Carolina, as the transfer portal window has closed and Omoruyi was presumed as the last elite center in this years cycle. For reference, Omoruyi was ranked 12th in On3’s transfer portal rankings, and the next uncommitted center is ranked 210th. As Hubert Davis has shown us in the past, it is all about fit and system more so than ranking, but there have been one too many swings and misses to be content with where the Tar Heels currently are.
Jalen Washington, Zayden High, and James Brown are the front court right now for North Carolina. Although Washington and High have shown flashes, that is a very inexperienced position group that is typically the centerpiece of Tar Heel teams. There’s reason to believe Jalen Washington will have a significantly increased role in 2024-25, but with three remaining scholarships, bringing in someone with a different skillset makes tons of sense for Hubert and his staff.
As all of the portal noise begins to die down, all eyes will be on North Carolina and how they close out what has been a poor performance to date. Talent is still on the market, but needs have to be addressed before the Tar Heels just try to fill out a roster with the best available.
North Carolina
North Carolina man extradited to Pa. for $100,000 ATM theft spree: police
A 42-year-old North Carolina man on Tuesday was extradited to Pennsylvania after state police said he stole more than $100,000 from ATMs in Snyder and Union counties.
Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, Antoni J. Garcia-Cordoba, of Raleigh, North Carolina, stole from four ATMs at Central Penn Bank and Trust locations, state police said.
In a five-hour span, Garcia-Cordoba took $43,000 from three separate ATMs in Snyder and Union counties, according to a police report. On Oct. 1, he stole an additional $58,000 from an ATM in Titusville, bringing the total amount stolen to $101,000.
Garcia-Cordoba is charged with two counts of corrupt organizations – employee, a first-degree felony, and two counts of theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree felony.
After being in custody at a jail in Boone County, Missouri, Garcia-Cordoba was extradited to Union County on Tuesday.
He is being held in the Union County Prison after being unable to post $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2026.
North Carolina
11 firefighters and 2 others injured after North Carolina house fire and explosion
SALISBURY, N.C. — Eleven firefighters and two other people were injured in a house fire explosion in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, officials said.
Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell said firefighters did not have life-threatening injuries but were getting treated for contusions, concussions and smoke inhalation following the fire Monday evening. Two other people were taken to the hospital, but Parnell said he didn’t know their conditions and couldn’t confirm whether they were in the house at the time of the fire.
The Salisbury Fire Department responded to the single-family home around 5 p.m. and found it engulfed in flames.
Eleven of the 22 firefighters at the scene went inside the house to search for occupants and “get water on that fire,” which preceded the explosion, Panell said at a news conference.
“It was enough force that the outside walls blew out, the roof came up and went back down,” Parnell said.
An investigation of the fire and explosion is continuing.
North Carolina
Harrison Bertos scores in OT to help Washington beat N.C. State 3-2 and win first Men’s College Cup
CARY, N.C. (AP) — Harrison Bertos scored 1:54 into overtime after Washington blew a two-goal lead in the second half, and the Huskies beat North Carolina State 3-2 to win the Men’s College Cup at First Horizon Stadium on Monday night.
It was the first national championship for unseeded Washington (16-6-2), who became the first team to win six road matches in the tournament — beating six seeded teams along the way under the guidance of coach Jamie Clark. The Huskies won in their second trip to the final after losing 2-0 to Clemson in 2021.
No. 15 seed N.C. State (16-3-4) made the final for the first time behind coach Marc Hubbard. The Wolfpack were aiming for the school’s first national championship since Jim Valvano led the men’s basketball team to the title in 1983.
Zach Ramsey scored unassisted with 1:12 remaining in the first half and Washington took a 1-0 lead into the break. It was only the second time this season that N.C. State trailed at halftime.
Ramsey scored into an empty net after Wolfpack goalkeeper Logan Erb couldn’t corral the ball at the top of the box. It was Ramsey’s second goal of the tournament.
Richie Aman sent a cross to the center of the goal and Joe Dale knocked it in for a 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute.
Donavan Phillip answered in the 66th, scoring with an assist from Nikola Markovic to cut it to 2-1 with his fourth goal of the tournament. The Wolfpack entered 11-0-1 when Phillip scores.
Taig Healy scored the equalizer with 3:28 remaining with assists from Justin Mclean and Calem Tommy.
Egor Akulov had an assist on Bertos’ winner.
Huskies keeper Jadon Bowton, the only remaining player from the 2021 squad, had five saves.
Erb saved six shots for N.C. State, which was the last school to concede a goal this season.
The temperature was 28 degrees when the match between two teams that had never faced each other began.
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