CHAPEL HILL – Roy Williams didn’t bother waiting for the questions he knew would come, instead, North Carolina’s coach opened his press conference Friday updating the media about the health situation for his team.

“I really don’t have any idea. Sterling (Manley) will not play, he still hasn’t gone full court,” the Tar Heels’ coach said at the Smith Center. “Leaky’s (Black) not going to play, he hasn’t practiced. Cam (Johnson), I assume will play and he practiced some (Thursday) and made it through the whole thing and did everything, just didn’t do as many reps.

“Nassir (Little) didn’t do anything past half court, and only did that the first 30 minutes of practice. And so we’re going to practice (soon after the presser) and we’ll see what he does today.”

Williams discussed a variety of topics, all of which are in the complete press conference video posted just below, but we decided to pull out everything he said regarding the injuries and the players that may or may not play Saturday when the eighth-ranked Tar Heels (19-5, 9-2 ACC) visit Wake Forest (9-14, 3-9).

In addition, Johnson was the player made available Friday, so his presser is posted below along with some of the transcribed Q&A regarding his health and how the Heels are dealing with this issue.

Here is what Williams and Johnson had to say about the health of the Heels:

On if he’s had to change what he’s been doing because of the number of guys getting banged up…

“A little bit, probably some because of that. Before the (Virginia game) I decided we were going to give them Tuesday and Wednesday off, so we did that and after the game I thought it was best for those two or three guys, particularly.

“But you have Thursday and Friday to get ready to play a game because that’s normally what we have because it’s usually Saturday-Wednesday or something like that. So, (normally) we just give them Tuesday off then I made the decision before the game to make it Wednesday (also). All we did Wednesday is let them come in an lift and if they went and shot that was on them.”

On if Manley has been able to do increasingly more…

“Yeah, I think he’s doing a lot, it’s all he’s been doing for 17 years is just get with the trainer and go swim and lay by the pool and do those kinds of things, it’s all he’s been doing since he got hurt. He’s worked really hard with (strength coach) Jonas (Sahratian) and (trainer) Doug (Halverson)… They’ve spent a ton of time with him during this time period trying to strengthen his knee.”

On what the biggest challenges are when he’s down so many bodies…

“You don’t do as well in your preparation for the other team, for sure, because you’re not getting the same kind of competition in practice. If Cam and Nassir, for example, are going against each other that’s a lot better competition getting them ready for the kind of competition they’re going to face in the game.

“Our walk-ons do a great job, but pick any walk-on and he’s not as athletic as Nassir (and) probably doesn’t shoot as well as Cam or he wouldn’t be a walk-on. We do everything with our walk-ons, if I eat steak they eat steak, if Luke (Maye) has to run 10 33s they have to run 10 33s, but it’s a fact of what kind of preparation you’re competing against in practice.

“And the other thing, you guys were in here in press conferences early in the season, ‘What are you going to do with all these guys?’ Basketball is a long season, I try to prepare for as many things as you can that might be a surprise to you, as many negative experiences that might come up

“Needless to say, when you have Leaky, Cam and Nassir, that’s three guys that are in the same boat, they’re all three perimeter players. Now, Sterling is in a different category because he’s a big guy. But, test your depth.”

*Senior wing Cam Johnson was the player UNC made available Friday, so naturally he was asked about his own injury and how the team will deal with perhaps not having as many as three players available Saturday.

Here are three questions Johnson got about this followed by his responses:

On his ailment and how he feels right now…

“Just my ankle, rolled it up at the end of the game versus Virginia. I’ve been dealing with it for a couple of weeks now and am just trying to get it back to 100 percent. But I’m feeling alright right now.”

On dealing with it for a while, if it happened prior to Virginia as well…

“I first turned it I think in the Harvard game and every now and then I kind of tweak it again. I’ll be alright, just kind of rolled it over a foot (and) you know how those are, it can be a little annoying.”

On how not having Leaky, Sterling and possibly Nassir affect things…

“We rely on depth sometimes. We like to play a fast pace and like to enforce that on the other team. Obviously, without a couple of players, you’re missing a little bit. But, it just means that everybody else has to do a little bit more, contribute a little bit more.”