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5 things to know before Duke men’s basketball visits rival North Carolina to close regular season

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5 things to know before Duke men’s basketball visits rival North Carolina to close regular season


March is right here, and only one recreation stays within the common season for Duke and North Carolina. When the historic rivals meet Saturday night contained in the Dean E. Smith Heart in Chapel Hill, there’s lots on the road — listed here are 5 issues to know earlier than tipoff.

Defending Bacot

Armando Bacot is a treasure for the Tar Heel trustworthy: averaging 16.5 factors and 10.8 rebounds per contest, the North Carolina senior has established himself as one of many premier huge males within the sport. Nonetheless, within the final Tobacco Street matchup, a 63-57 Blue Satan win in Durham, Duke restricted Bacot to 14 factors on 50% capturing and 10 rebounds. 

“You need to struggle him early and make it onerous for him to catch,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer stated in a media availability Friday afternoon. “… [Bacot is] going to get [his] to a sure diploma. That you must struggle them early and make life as tough as potential.”

The important thing for the Blue Devils: Dereck Vigorous II. Eight blocks highlighted Vigorous’s historic night time in Cameron Indoor Stadium within the final matchup between the 2 rivals. Now, he has the chance to observe it up down the highway. Additionally necessary for the Blue Devils, along with particular person matchups, shall be enjoying intense group protection.

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“We have to have completely different appears. We now have the flexibility to try this or not to try this,” Scheyer stated. 

Expertise, expertise, expertise

Because the postseason nears, Scheyer will want output from his skilled gamers. Going into an away health club on an opponent’s senior night time is a tall job. Two graduate college students, Ryan Younger and Jacob Grandison, have each executed it on a number of events. 

“If you undergo 4 years of faculty and whether or not your group was actually profitable, or whether or not they got here up brief, you undergo hardships it doesn’t matter what,” Scheyer stated. “[Young and Grandison] are so precious for us.” 

Even with the additions of Younger and Grandison, North Carolina holds the expertise benefit. Bacot, together with teammates Caleb Love, RJ Davis and Leaky Black, has performed in quite a few rivalry matchups, together with an 81-77 Tar Heel win on the Ultimate 4 in April 2022. 

Ought to the sport come all the way down to the wire, Duke’s first-year head coach will want his veterans, together with junior captain Jeremy Roach, to step up. Roach has been a useful chief on this 12 months’s younger roster. When the group has wanted him, he has been a gradual participant on the guard place. On Saturday at North Carolina, Roach will want final 12 months’s March magic to return. 

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Rising to the problem

Following Duke’s controversial loss at Virginia, questions started to pop up concerning the group’s potential to compete in March. Nonetheless, a five-game successful streak has answered these calls. In these final 5 video games, Duke has not let up greater than 67 factors.

“Within the final 4 to 6 weeks, we have taken [our defense] to a different degree,” Scheyer stated. 

Most improved stands out as the protection of freshman guard Tyrese Proctor. Coming into the season as a extremely touted reclassification prospect, the 18-year-old struggled to persistently excel. Nonetheless, when the calendar turned to the ACC season, the Australian began to run the purpose, and he has picked up his protection. 

To Scheyer, the expansion of the entire squad is a testomony to their willingness to enhance. 

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“Our guys are available in, and so they have a person routine they do within the morning earlier than apply or after apply,” Scheyer stated. “It is nearly as good of a bunch as we have had with the person time.” 

Main Vigorous

One other necessary piece to Duke’s midseason turnaround has been the play of Vigorous. Beginning the 12 months sidelined with a calf damage, the 7-foot-1 heart had early difficulties making an impression on the school ground. With time, nevertheless, Vigorous has been wonderful defensively.  

Notably, Vigorous has struggled to attain the basketball. If he can win his matchup in opposition to Bacot, it’s doubtless the Blue Devils can safe the regular-season sweep. As well as, as each the ACC and NCAA event close to, Scheyer’s squad will want Vigorous’s inside scoring potential to flash. To the shock of few, Scheyer believes in his freshman.  

“I hope individuals see what a competitor [Lively] is, and the way robust he’s,” Scheyer stated. “He goes on the market each play, and that serves you properly.”

The highway forward

As beforehand talked about, this installment of the Duke-North Carolina rivalry has intense postseason implications. For the Blue Devils, a top-four ACC end and improved NCAA seeding depend on this matchup. On the opposite facet, North Carolina wants a victory to remain alive on the March Insanity bubble. 

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“We all know it is gonna be a tricky recreation, we all know it is gonna be a tricky atmosphere,” Scheyer stated. “That is why you come to Duke, to play in these video games.”

On Saturday, Duke and North Carolina should keep within the second, forsaking what can’t be managed. The school basketball world shall be watching and the NCAA event committee shall be watching, however which facet will keep level-headed and safe the all-important victory? 





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North Carolina

Thaddeus Dixon Joins in Husky Exodus to North Carolina

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Thaddeus Dixon Joins in Husky Exodus to North Carolina


In a postseason recruitment that was raw and revealing at times, where decorated cornerback Thaddeus Dixon suggested in social media postings that University of Washington football fans wanted him to come back more than the coaches, apparently received all the assurances he needed at North Carolina.

On Saturday, the senior defensive back from Long Beach, California, told On3 he would join the Tar Heels for his final season of college football, adding to a growing list of one-time UW players and coaches headed to Chapel Hill.

So far, the departing group includes linebacker Khmori House, safety Peyton Waters, wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr., defensive coordinator Steve Belichick and defensive analyst Armond Hawkins, all moving from Montlake to the ACC.

The 6-foot-1, 187-pound Dixon would have given the Huskies three highly accredited corners, joining fellow UW starter Ephesians Prysock and Arizona transfer Tacario Davis, to fill out a secondary that could have had few equals this coming season, and still might.

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Dixon reportedly took recruiting visits to Mississippi and North Carolina, and fielded overtures from Michigan, before settling on the Tar Heels.

The disconnect for Dixon appeared to show up when the Huskies landed a portal commitment from the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Davis, a second-team All-Big 12 pick this past season, presumably to take his vacated spot.

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The 6-foot-4, 193-pound Prysock and Davis teamed together at Arizona in 2023, with both earning All-Pac-12 honorable-mention accolades.

Dixon originally was supposed to run out of college eligibility when the season ended, hence the Huskies went looking for cornerback help, but the NCAA gave the veteran an extra year when it changed the rules governing players with junior-college backgrounds. He came to the UW from Long Beach Community College.

One of the Huskies’ top individual success stories this past season, Dixon went from a back-up player in 2023 to unseat returning starter Elijah Jackson, who opened all 15 games for the national runner-up team.

Thaddeus Dixon soaks up the moment after an Apple Cup interception.

Thaddeus Dixon soaks up the moment after an Apple Cup interception. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Moving into the lineup, Dixon started 12 of 13 games and received All-Big Ten honorable-mention honors for Jedd Fisch’s coaching staff. He had a team-best 10 pass break-ups, an Apple Cup interception and several textbook tackles in the open field. He’s easily made himself into an NFL prospect.

With three accomplished cornerbacks, the Huskies could have picked two starters and put the odd man out at nickelback.

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Dixon clearly wasn’t going to go that route at the UW, likely figuring his past performance should have provided him with more cornerback guarantees.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington





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Bill Belichick's girlfriend seemingly shuts down rumors coach will leave North Carolina for NFL

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Bill Belichick's girlfriend seemingly shuts down rumors coach will leave North Carolina for NFL


Bill Belichick’s girlfriend on Thursday seemingly shut down any talk of her boyfriend leaving the North Carolina Tar Heels football program for a job in the NFL.

Jordon Hudson responded to rumors that suggested Belichick had one foot out the door when it came to his Tar Heels gig. Belichick had been rumored to be interest in coaching the Dallas Cowboys, but the head coaching job wasn’t open until he had already committed to North Carolina. CBS Sports reported that Belichick didn’t sign his contract with the school.

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Oct. 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey: Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and girlfriend Jordon Hudson enter the field before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Navy Midshipmen at MetLife Stadium. (Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images)

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She posted a photo on her Instagram showing the two posing with a football and Belichick dressed in Carolina blue.

“Pictured: two people who are overtly committed to @uncfootball,” she wrote as the caption.

Michael Lombardi, who is the general manager of the North Carolina football program, also threw cold water on the rumors of Belichick jumping back to the pros.

EX-NFL COACH JON GRUDEN RIPS STATE OF COLLEGE SPORTS

Jordon Hudson in December 2024

Dec. 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC: Jordon Hudson, the girlfriend of Bill Belichick, in attendance at Loudermilk Center for Excellence.  (Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)

“Bill is recruiting in DC today, and Baltimore tomorrow.  His focus is on North Carolina football, hiring staff members and developing the team. The NFL isnt a option so please stop making it one. Thank you,” he wrote on X in response to the CBS Sports report.

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“The reception towards UNC and Coach Belichick has been amazing from every school we visit. We are going to fight to keep North Carolina players here and bring the best to Chapel Hill,” he added.

Belichick was hired as the Tar Heels’ coach in December. He called the job a “dream come true.”

Bill Belichick fields questions from media

The North Carolina Tar Heels’ new head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)

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“​​I’ve always wanted to coach in college football,” Belichick said in his introductory press conference. “It just never really worked out. Had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. But this is really a dream come true.”

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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North Carolina man arrested for pandering – The Tribune

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North Carolina man arrested for pandering – The Tribune


North Carolina man arrested for pandering

Published 2:19 pm Friday, January 17, 2025

Met up with Scioto County juvenile 

A North Carolina man is in the Scioto County jail after he traveled by to Scioto County to meet up with a with a minor and then allegedly took videos of them participating in sexual acts.

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Scioto County Sheriff David Thoroughman said in a press release that his office was contacted on Jan. 13 by a female wanting to report a juvenile runaway. A deputy responded and obtained information and the preliminary investigation revealed the juvenile had been in contact with Braceon Madison, 18, of Laurinburg, North Carolina.

Two days later, deputies got information that the runaway juvenile and Madison were seen at Burger King in Wheelersburg. Deputies found them and the juvenile female was taken to the Southern Ohio Medical Center for evaluation. The initial contact with Madison revealed no probable cause for an arrest.

Deputies obtained all the needed information to continue their investigation and released Madison. The investigation was then turned over to detectives.

As this was occurring, the detectives were contacted and advised that the Madison had shown up at the hospital requesting to see the juvenile. Detectives responded to the hospital and observed Madison walking away as they were nearing the hospital and he was detained.

Detectives interviewed the juvenile and her guardians and they learned that Madison and juvenile met through Facebook on Dec. 24, 2024.

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The two remained in contact and Madison traveled by bus from North Carolina to Portsmouth.

Upon his arrival, he obtained a ride to Wheelersburg and was snuck into the juvenile’s residence. The two then took off on foot and they located a building on Ohio River Road where they stayed for a few nights before being found.

Thoroughman said the detectives learned through the investigation that Madison had taken videos and pictures on his phone of a juvenile participating in sexual acts.

On Jan. 15, deputies arrested was Madison and charged him with eight counts of second-degree felony pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and is currently being held in the Scioto County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

Thoroughman stated that this is still an ongoing investigation that will result in more charges being presented to the Scioto County Grand Jury on a later date.

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Anyone with information should contact Detective Sergeant Jodi Conkel at 740-351-1091.



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