The Capital Sports Report

North Carolina had plenty of opportunities to beat Alabama in regulation and at the end of each overtime but the Tide found a way to defeat the Tar Heels 103-101 in a controversial four-overtime game. (11/27) Carolina lost its second game in a row in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland in heartbreaking style in a game that will be remembered as the one where a goaltending call was reversed to the detriment of the Tar Heels. It appeared that the Tar Heels had taken a 103-102 with nine seconds left in the fourth overtime as Caleb Love scored on […]

North Carolina, despite all five starters scoring in double figures for the first time this season, could not pull away from a hot-shooting Portland team until hitting free throws late to get past the Pilots 89-81 in the Phil Knight Invitational. (11/24) Pete Nance’s 28 points led the way for Carolina, who took a lead with just over four minutes to go and didn’t relinquish it again as the Heels hit eight of their last 10 free throws. “In the second half when we need to respond, we did,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Pete is an unbelievable player. I’m […]

North Carolina fans, after an up-and-down early season, were more than satisfied with the 2021-2022 year after ruining Mike Krzyzewski’s going-away party. Winning in the NCAA title game would have been the proverbial cherry on top. This season Tar Heel fans want that cherry. With four of five starters coming back, including preseason ACC player of the year Armando Bacot, the Carolina players are on a bit of a crusade to not only get to the final game but to win it. This season reminds many of UNC’s redemption year of 2017 when upperclassmen returned after losing to Villanova in […]

Clifton Barnes of Cary has won a national writing award for an online post promoting high school classmate Buck Williams for inclusion in the basketball hall of fame. Writing for his CapitalSportsNC.com website, Barnes won an Award of Excellence from the DC area-based Communications Concepts through its 2022 Awards for Publication Excellence competition. Barnes, a UNC-Chapel Hill journalism and political science grad, was one of only two people across the nation to win Awards of Excellence in the Best Single Blog Post writing category. Dr. Stephanie Graff of Brown University was the other winner. Admittedly, Barnes was irked when he […]

By Clifton Barnes (NOTE: Barnes is a Rocky Mount Senior High classmate and former junior high football/basketball teammate of Buck Williams.) Brash. Trash talker. Controversial. Showy. A jerk. Ah, no. Competitive. Hard worker. Consistent. Team player. A winner. Yeah, that’s more like it. That’s Rocky Mount native Buck Williams. You could also say he’s overlooked, underappreciated, forgotten even. Known through much of his childhood as Charles, the Buck that came to be led the Rocky Mount Gryphons to the 1978 4A state basketball title. He took his game to the University of Maryland, where he helped lead the Terrapins to […]

Clifton Barnes of Cary has won a national writing award for a series of online posts. Writing for his CapitalSportsNC.com website, Barnes won an Award of Excellence from the DC area-based Communications Concepts through its 2021 Awards for Publication Excellence competition. Barnes, a UNC-Chapel Hill journalism and political science grad, was one of only three people across the nation to win Awards of Excellence in the Best Series of Blog Posts writing category. The articles that propelled Barnes to win the honor dealt with UNC-Chapel Hill sports news coverage and analysis. One piece pointed out by judges was in regard to the death of UNC and Rocky Mount, N.C. […]

He could have chosen George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John Adams or Benjamin Franklin. That’s what other kids were doing. But this 9-year-old from Cary, NC chose a North Carolina-product who was a star quarterback for the Washington Redskins in the 1960s and 1970s as his historic figure. Read more. Source:: Redskins