North Carolina
Mack Brown slams North Carolina admin after firing, questions timing before NC State loss | Sporting News
Mack Brown’s rollercoaster week came to a bitter end as North Carolina fell to in-state rival NC State, 35-30, on Saturday. Brown, recently dismissed as the Tar Heels’ head coach, spoke candidly about his frustrations with how the situation was handled by the university administration.
“All I wanted to do was wait until the end of the year,” Brown explained, according to On3. “And they wanted me to retire on Monday, before the (NC) State game. We haven’t beaten State—it was really important for these kids to play well and have a chance to win. I didn’t want to break their hearts on Monday. So I said, ‘No, I won’t do that.’ And then they wanted me to do it Friday. Well, I sure wasn’t going to do it Friday before the game.”
Despite his protests, North Carolina opted to part ways with Brown ahead of the rivalry showdown, leaving the long-time coach disheartened by the timing.
The Tar Heels’ loss on Saturday only deepened the sting, as the team fought hard—and even harder afterward in an attempt to prevent the NC State players front planting their flag at midfield—but ultimately couldn’t overcome the Wolfpack.
Reflecting on the week, Brown expressed disappointment not only with his dismissal but also with the administration’s approach to the transition.
“As far as the he-said, she-said and the, what you’d call the ‘source close to the university,’ I don’t need any of that,” Brown stated. “There were three people that talked about this. And it was me, John Cryer, chairman of the board of trustees, and athletics director (Bubba) Cunningham. I never talked to the chancellor, didn’t have one conversation with him.”
While Brown acknowledged the need for new leadership, he felt the decision should have been delayed until the season’s end, citing the hardships his players had endured, including the death of teammate Tylee Craft.
“These poor kids have had so much turmoil in their lives,” Brown said. “I wasn’t thinking about me. I wasn’t thinking about my future. I was thinking about what’s best for these young people.”
Despite the challenges, Brown praised his players for rallying to earn wins against Virginia, Florida State, and Wake Forest before the NC State game. North Carolina will now begin its search for a new head coach.
There is some sad news from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s popular Barn Owl Live Cam.
Wildlife officials say a Great Horned Owl entered the barn Wednesday around midnight and killed one of the barn owl owlets. Biologists have not been able to determine which owlet was lost.
They have confirmed it was one of the three youngest birds in the nest. The Wildlife Commission says the incident is heartbreaking but also a natural part of life in the wild.
Great Horned Owls are one of the main predators of Barn Owls, and encounters between the two species do happen. The attack was captured on the live camera.
Officials say the video also shows an extremely rare moment when the adult female Barn Owl fought the Great Horned Owl on top of the nest box. Despite the loss, the surviving owlets are expected to continue growing over the coming weeks.
They will lose their fluffy down feathers, begin exploring outside the barn, and continue developing hunting skills.
The Wildlife Commission says some of the young owls could leave the nest as early as July.
After leaving the nest, they usually travel alone and may eventually move hundreds of miles from where they hatched. The Barn Owl Live Cam remains available for the public to watch.
(WLOS) — In a tragic update, one of the baby barn owls being monitored by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has died after a great horned owl entered the barn and killed the owlet. The barn owlets had attracted worldwide attention through the wildlife commission’s ongoing observation efforts.
Officials with N.C. Wildlife said it is not yet clear which owlet was killed, but confirmed it was one of the three youngest.
The wildlife commission said it captured a photo of the great horned owl and the adult female barn owl fighting on top of the box, calling it an “extremely rare encounter to capture on camera.”
PHOTOS: OWLETS ‘HOO’ GAINED WORLDWIDE FAME ARE GROWING QUICKLY INTO YOUNG ADULTS
The wildlife commission said that while this loss is tragic, it is a common encounter because great horned owls are a top predator of barn owls. Officials also said this will likely not be the last encounter.
Over the next few weeks, the commission said viewers will likely see the remaining owlets start exploring, leaving the barn and learning to hunt. The fledglings may leave the barn as early as July to start hunting on their own, according to the commission.
You’ve got to feel terrible for former North Carolina standout Henri Veesaar right now. When he announced that he was leaving Chapel Hill to take his game to the NBA, plenty of eyebrows were raised. However, he was getting first-round grades, which made the decision a bit easy for him. That call has come back to backfire on him.
The first round of the NBA Draft has wrapped up, and the star big man never heard his name called. You’ve got to be kidding. There was always a bit of a worry that Veesaar would fall to the second round, but the recent buzz calmed worries there. Now, though, this setback has surely proverbially slapped him in the face a bit:
UNC’s Henri Veesaar does not get selected in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft. He slips into the second round.
Turned down between $3-4 million to return to UNC? Maybe more?
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) June 24, 2026
Henri Veesaar falling to the second round of the NBA Draft is a bit of a stunner
It’s no secret that Michael Malone and his new UNC staff were quite aggressive in their pursuits of bringing him back to Chapel Hill, as he would have easily had the Tar Heels in the Top 15-20 conversation. At first, with mock drafts popping up with him as a second-rounder, it felt like a return to the ACC was going to be in the works. The narrative changed there not long after, though.
He indeed bolted for the NBA Draft, with the assumption that he was going to be a first-rounder. Veesaar took a bit of a chance there, and things just did not go to plan for him. Let’s make one thing clear here too: we’re not happy in any way. With Veesaar leaving, Carolina fans were wishing him the best, the same way they were for Caleb Wilson.
Wilson ended up getting his life-changing news early during draft night, with the Chicago Bulls taking him off the board at No. 4 overall. Things were only made better for Wilson and North Carolina as a whole with Hubert Davis on hand for the former 5-star freshman’s big moment. It was a surprise not many of us were ready for.
On the flip side of things, Veesaar was left waiting for his special moment, but it never arrived. Is it possible that he’s having some serious regrets over things? We don’t want to speak for Veesaar or make any assumptions, but this just sucks as a whole for him. After averaging 17 points and eight rebounds per game, while taking home all-conference honors, it’s a bit of a stunner that his draft slide has taken place like this.
Had Veesaar returned to school, North Carolina’s 2026-27 outlook would have been looking much stronger. Instead, Malone went overseas to bring in Sayon Keita and Alexandros Samodurov to help carry the load near the glass. That helps, but replacing Veesaar was always going to be a difficult task, as he’s a dominant force. We can play the ‘what if’ game all we want had he stayed in Chapel Hill for one more season, but that’s pointless. Still, it’s now feeling like Veesaar got some bad advice, and that playing for Malone would have been the best thing for him next campaign.
Follow
-
Missouri2 minutes ago
Missouri Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 winning numbers for June 24, 2026
-
Montana5 minutes ago‘Hannah Montana’ Alum Mitchel Musso Reveals Why He Missed 20th Anniversary Special With Miley Cyrus
-
Nebraska10 minutes agoScattered severe storms bring large hail, heavy rain to parts of Nebraska
-
Nevada17 minutes agoNevada Secretary of State calls court ruling on Trump election order a ‘big victory’
-
New Hampshire20 minutes agoNew Hampshire has highest share of adults who identify as atheists
-
New Jersey25 minutes ago2 tractor-trailers crash on NJ Turnpike, burst into flames snarling traffic
-
North Carolina30 minutes agoGreat Horned Owl kills barn owl owlet on North Carolina Wildlife Live Cam
-
New Mexico32 minutes agoGovernor asks AG to investigate DEA agents over fentanyl in New Mexico
