CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina freshmen Seth Trimble and Tyler Nickel met with the media Friday afternoon at the Smith Center in advance of the top-ranked Tar Heels’ opener Monday night versus UNC-Wilmington.

Trimble is a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Menomenee Falls, WI, and Nickel is a 6-foot-7 forward from Harrisonburg, VA.

Below are videos of their interviews as well as some notes and pulled quotes from what they had to say:

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Trimble discussed his transition to college, the biggest challenges with that, how much his older brother, former UNC player J.P. Tokoto, helped him prepare, his defensive prowess, how mediation is an important part of what he does, and much more.

*Trimble arrived in the summer and has been grinding ever since. One surprise that stands out given his expectations before coming to college is something that hits a lot of young plays.

“Conditioning aspect,” he said. “I don’t know why, all my high school career preparing for college, I never thought about the conditioning aspect. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t do, but I will say it was something I wasn’t too ready for.”

*As a freshman on a team with four returning starters that played for the national championship, Trimble explained one of those challenges.

“I’d say finding your role in the system,” he said. “When you come to a high-level school with high-level teammates, you kind of want to do your best to play with them and fit in with them. And how I approached it, I tried my best to make them better.

“And I think finding my role those first couple of weeks, first couple of months, was a bit of a challenge. But I was able to find it and go with it.”

*When asked to describe Trimble as a player, both RJ Davis and Caleb Love said he’s a lock-down defender. That was the first thing out of their mouths. So, Trimble was asked to describe himself as a defensive player.

“I think with me, it all just comes with a mentality,” Trimble said. “First of all, my athletic ability really helps me be able to be the defender I am. But I think just having that mentality going into the games: you want to shut down the best point guard; you want to out-perform this point guard; and you want to do everything you can to shut down your opponent.”

*As noted, Trimble’s brother is J.P. Tokoto, who started for a couple of seasons at UNC, leaving following the 2014-15 season after his junior season. Trimble had an affinity for Carolina basketball at a young age, but he didn’t go to UNC just because of that.

“As a kid, I was like, ‘This is my dream school,’” Trimble said. “When he was here, I had no doubt in my mind that I was going here as a kid. As the recruiting process came along, I was like maybe I wanted to make my own path.

“So, I went back-and-forth with myself, but I put dream school… I put all that aside and I sat down with myself and asked myself what was best for me, and no doubt in my mind, Carolina was it.”

*Nickel, who is the all-time leading scorer in Virginia prep history says he has been fueled by playing with a chip for years, and he brought that mentality to Chapel Hill.

“It’s something I’ve always had; just a competitive edge and competitive nature,” Nickel said. “It’s something I’ve always been taught by my mentors in my life, everybody that’s coached me and been a part of my process coming up. (They have) always told me, ‘If you don’t play with that edge, somebody else will, and they’re going to take what’s yours. So, you can’t let that happen.’”

*That fuels Nickel, but he also finds things to add even more to his chip.

“I would say that generally does, that idea and message, but also I definitely find things that get me going a little bit,” he said, smiling.

*Nickel doesn’t lack for confidence in any way. In fact, graduate wing Leaky Black said last week that when Nickel arrived, he asked Leaky to guard him. Black was surprised, but also impressed.

“Leaky, that’s my guy,” Nickel said. “Leak, he’s been pushing me and making me better every single day in practice. So, that’s honestly, a big reason why Carolina was a great fit for me, saying I could go up against, in my opinion, the best defender in the country every single day. Where are you going to get better reps than that?

“I always talk to him, ask him to guard me, looks like if he’s on me on the ball or when he’s closing out or different stuff. Can’t get a better look than Leaky Black coming at you. It’s definitely good.”

*Nickel’s reputation coming in is as a shooter, but those who have watched him play previously recognize there is more to his game. And he says there is, too. He doesn’t scoff at the narrative he’s just a shooter, but it’s easy to see that’s one of his chips, too.

“I can score anyway you want, honestly,” he said. “Shooting makes that a lot easier, but we have a lot of guys that can make plays, so if they’re going to attack me on a close-out, they’re going to have to close really hard. And I can take advantage of attacking you in a lot of different ways, whether it’s getting into the mid-range, getting into the paint, making a decision myself, or whatever the case may be.

“I’ve gotten better at taking the term ‘shooter’ because I know I can shoot the ball really well. But at the same time, definitely a scorer. However you want, you can get.”