Seventh Woods, Jalek Felton battling for starting spot at North Carolina
North Carolina starting point guard Joel Berry is expected to be out for about a month with a broken hand.
The injury is a tough blow for the Tar Heels but also presents an early-season opportunity for a pair of Columbia natives.
Former Hammond star Seventh Woods and former Gray Collegiate star Jalek Felton are battling for UNC’s starting point guard job to open the season.
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams is anxious to find out whether the two are up to the challenge.
“It remains to be seen if they’re ready,” Williams said Wednesday at ACC Media Day in Charlotte. “Yesterday in practice we gave Seventh a chance and Jalek a chance and Theo (Pinson) a chance … But it doesn’t make a difference whether or not they can or not; they have to. That’s who we have.”
Woods, a sophomore, appeared in all 40 games for North Carolina last season, averaging 7.7 minutes while playing behind Berry at point guard.
Woods averaged 1.5 points, totaled 55 rebounds and finished with 49 assists as the Tar Heels won the national title.
His teammates have seen a big jump in his play from his freshman season and believe he is ready to step up in Berry’s absence.
Williams said Wednesday that Berry injured his hand after hitting a door after a loss in a video game.
“Seventh has got all the confidence in the world. He’s shooting the ball well and not turning the ball over as much,” junior forward Luke Maye said. “He worked a lot this summer on his jump shot. In season one, as a point guard, it’s hard at North Carolina. He’s got one season under his belt and can really gain confidence each year.”
Felton is a freshman who was rated as the No. 30 overall player in the country for the class of 2017 by 247Sports.
He averaged 26.8 points, 5.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds for Gray Collegiate last season.
Williams said Felton is experiencing some of the same hurdles that Woods had to overcome as a freshman. Last season, Williams explained to Woods that to play significant minutes he couldn’t turn the ball over on offense and he had to stay in front of the ball on defense.
Woods passed that message along Tuesday.
“Yesterday I pulled Seventh and Jalek over, and I said, ‘Seventh what did I tell you last year?’ And he repeated it so Jalek could hear it,” Williams recalled. “ If you want to play in this league, just think in those terms right there.”
Maye said he is eager to see what Felton can add to the Tar Heels.
“Jalek coming in being a freshman, pretty highly touted, I’m really excited to see what he brings to the table,” Maye said. “He’s an unbelievable scorer, unbelievable facilitator. I can’t wait to see how his season progresses.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Seventh Woods, Jalek Felton battling for starting spot at North Carolina."