Early in Friday night’s “Blue vs. White” scrimmage at Late Night with Roy, highly touted freshman swingman Harrison Barnes caught the ball on the top-left edge of the 3-point line.
In one fluid motion — a slash to the basket and a thunderous one-handed slam — the 6-foot-8 Iowa native let North Carolina fans know that after a dismal 2009-10 campaign, “next year” had finally arrived.
The dunk accounted for two of Barnes’ team-high 13 points, as the explosive freshman helped the White team tie the Blue team, 31-31.
“I’m kind of used to guarding him,” the Blue team forward John Henson said. “So I kind of know his little moves, but I feel sorry for the other opponents we play.”
Barnes looked just as comfortable in the post and on the perimeter as he did driving to the hole, scoring a rebound put-back early on and drilling a 3-pointer later.
The Blue team was led by guard Dexter Strickland, who led all scorers with 16 points.
While Strickland’s speed and scoring ability weren’t a surprise, the sophomore showed off an improved jump shot and played the game with newfound control.
With his team down late in the 20-minute scrimmage, Strickland nailed an impressive cross-over pull-up jumper over Leslie McDonald and assisted Henson in transition to cut the White team’s lead to 31-28.
“He’s been more confident and he’s been working on his jump shot, which is something that he needed to do,” Henson said. “He made a couple jump shots and he was looking good out there. That’s going to bode well for us as a team.”
