Rashad McCants didn’t just think he was done playing basketball at Carolina. He thought he was done with college basketball after reading a story in the Raleigh News and Observer Saturday.

“I honestly thought my career was over,” said North Carolina’s junior shooting guard in a press conference Tuesday before practice. “I didn’t know what to do, or how to approach practice.”

The paper ran a story with the headline: “McCants compares UNC to prison,” which included the following quote:

“"You're not allowed to do certain things," the North Carolina junior shooting guard was quoted as saying in the newspaper. "You're not allowed to say certain things, but once you get out of jail, you're free. [I'm] in my sentence and I'm doing my time."

UNC head coach Roy Williams and McCants both addressed those comments, which also aired on local TV stations, at the press conference.

“My initial reaction was that I was really ticked off,” Williams said. “I’ve never been more mad at any player over anything they have said.”

Williams banned McCants from practice Saturday night and gave copies of the article to his players before the practice.

“I told Rashad there is a huge difference between playing basketball at UNC and being in jail,” Williams said. “First of all this is like Monopoly. If he wants to quit he can and I can give him a get out of a jail card.

“First of all, it hurt his teammates, because it must be like prison to play with the other guys. This is college basketball and it’s supposed to be fun. Second, I told Rashad I appreciate that other schools that will use this info with recruits for the next five years. That really makes my job and the jobs of our other coaches easier.”

McCants claimed the comments were taking out of context and that he definitely doesn’t think playing at UNC is like being in jail.

“First, I want to say I love North Carolina,” McCants said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think so. This is my childhood dream. I’ve been with my teammates for three years and I love them to death. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

“What I said was misprinted and I did use the wrong choice of words and made the wrong analogy.”

So what was McCants trying to say?

"I agree with the idea that playing at UNC is like a 9-to-5 job," he said. "You have to be very responsible and accountable. You have to be alert and stay focused."

Williams isn't buying it.

"My mom worked in a factory for 51 years and Rashad has it a lot better than she did," he said.

Williams did feel that the media mishandled the interview.

“Right before Rashad made the comments about jail he said some nice things about me and how I was trying to help him. He didn’t call me a warden. I think if you look at the interview as a whole and take out those two sentences it was fine.”