The North Carolina men’s junior varsity basketball team suffered a big loss against Hargrave Military Academy on Tuesday, losing to the Virginia prep school, which featured North Carolina varsity signee P.J. Hairston, 120-76.
Hairston, a 6-foot-4-inch Greensboro native, finished with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, and he made all four of his free throws.
A transfer from Dudley High School, Hairston is playing his senior season at Hargrave alongside fellow Division I recruits Marquis Rankin, Robert Brown, and C.J. Barksdale, who are all bound for Virgi?nia Tech next season, and Dez Wells, a Xavier signee.
“Every day (P.J.’s) got to compete against somebody else who’s going Division I. I think that’s helped him tremendously because at our place you can’t take a day off, or you’ll look really bad,” Hargrave coach Kevin Keatts said.
“He was able to hit shots from a range that most people that we play on the JV team don’t hit,” UNC sophomore guard Shaun Scott said. “His shooting ability really opened up the court for his teammates.”
Hairston is ranked as the sixth-best shooting guard in the country by Scout.com, and he will play in the 2011 McDonald’s All-American game as well as the 2011 Jordan Brand Classic alongside fellow Tar Heel recruit James McAdoo.
North Carolina coach C.B. McGrath commented last week after a win against Milligan College that Hairston and Co. would pose a significant challenge for the JV team, but said he was happy with his team’s intensity in the second half, especially after going into the locker room trailing 69-36.
Though the Tar Heels (6-6) struggled against the 22-0 Hargrave squad, the loss is nothing compared to the 161-47 drubbing of Virginia Western Community College that Hargrave doled out Jan. 13. Hairston recorded 24 points and seven rebounds in that game.
“He’ll bring a lot to the table,” said McGrath, who has seen Hairston play several times. “He can spread the defense and that’s somebody we’ll need in the future.”
