CHAPEL HILL – The college basketball regular season doesn’t start for another 20 days, but North Carolina makes a highly anticipated trip to Memphis for an exhibition game that has the trimming of something slated for March Madness.
Instead of playing a secret scrimmage, as it has going back many years, UNC faces the Tigers on Tuesday night at FedEx Forum. The game is being played to support St. Jude Children’s Hospital and includes a second game between the women’s teams from South Carolina and Memphis.
While the game won’t count as part of the regular season, and the NCAA selection committee won’t use it in any manner when breaking down teams for the tournament, it’s an important game nonetheless. The Tar Heels are certainly taking it that way.
“It’s a very good test,” junior guard Seth Trimble said. “I think Memphis will be really good for us. Johnson C. Smith will be good for us as well right before the season. But Memphis is a real game for us. We’re preparing like we do for every other game.”
The Heels face Division II Johnson C. Smith on October 27 at the Smith Center. For obvious reasons, that game won’t generate the attention Tuesday’s is.
Memphis, which is coached by former star player and longtime NBA veteran Penny Hardaway, finished 22-11 last season, including 11-7 in the AAC. The Tigers are No. 43 in the initial KenPom rankings, released Monday.
“It’s huge, it’s huge,” Trimble said. “It’s a great test just to see where we’re at. It’s a great test to see how we’ll compete, how we’ll have that competitive spirit.”
UNC Coach Hubert Davis quickly embraced the idea of playing this game when he was approached in the summer.
“A couple of things,” he said. “Teaming up with Penny, we’ve had a long relationship obviously playing against each other in the NBA. So, we have a friendship and just talking when we were together in recruiting, we talked about the possibility of us playing together, and we both really liked the idea…
“Obviously, competing against a great team and program of Memphis early in the season to prepare us and get us ready for the upcoming season, it’s something that is really beneficial to us. So, we’re really excited about the opportunity to do that.”
St. Jude Children’s Hospital specializes in pediatric treatment and research and is located in Memphis. Among the illnesses that are part of its main focus are leukemia and all forms of children’s cancer.
That hit home for Davis.
“To serve St. Jude’s Hospital, it centers around pediatric cancers and diseases, (and) that’s dear to me with the experience of my mom passing away of cancer,” Carolina’s coach said. “So, to be able to play against each other and compete but be able to serve together was something that was a no-brainer for both of us, and I’m really excited about the opportunity.”
This will be UNC’s first time in FedEx Forum since March of 2017 when Luke Maye hit a game-winning shot to beat Kentucky in the Elite Eight. Nine days later, the Tar Heels won the national championship.
Carolina also advanced past the Elite Eight in the same building in 2009 when it beat Oklahoma. That team also won the national title. So, the last two UNC teams to appear inside FedEx Forum won national championships.
The game tips at 7 PM EST and will air on ESPNU.
