COLUMN: A sarcastic view of Late Night with Roy

If you’ve never been to Late Night with Roy, I’ll let you in on a little secret: the whole thing is silly. 

With that in mind, and my editors expecting several hundred words after they graciously sent me to go watch and tweet about the event, I have brought you some silly takeaways.

Meme-ability

Nassir Little has real star potential. A shot-making wing that flashes a rare interest in playing defense against other wings. 

At 6-foot-6-inch, 220 pounds with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, he has good size. More important than literally any of that are the elite intangibles he flashed during the event. 

He made that face for 12 seconds. I counted. That’s not a first-year meme moment. That is the meme of a seasoned veteran, just enough of a thousand-yard stare to be slightly unnerving, but still relatable enough to become plastered over the UNC meme pages captioned with things like “Me looking at Alert Carolina telling me there’s a hurricane warning but class isn’t canceled.”

Problems With Leadership

One of the events was a classic egg-in-a-spoon race. The premise was simple. Two teams race to carry an egg in a spoon without dropping it, passing it off relay style. Here’s the thing: 

Kenny Williams dropped the egg. He dropped it before the race even began. What kind of leadership can we expect from someone who drops the egg before the race even started? 

Did he lead the team in scoring during the scrimmage? Maybe. Does he seem prepared to take on the role as the vocal leader of the team? I’d certainly say so. 

But can we really expect him to carry on the torch of Tar Heel greats such as Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Rasheed Wallace, Vince Carter and Tyler Hansbrough if he can’t even carry an egg? 

I don’t try to read too much into these events, but personally, the entire season has been cast into doubt for me. 

The Prince Takes on The King

Speaking of potential issues amongst the leadership, we saw a power struggle right before our eyes, in the air of the Smith Center. Newcomer Coby White saw something he wanted, and he tried to take it. By Force. 

Perhaps White saw a weakness in graduate Cameron Johnson. Perhaps he knew something the rest of us didn’t. Perhaps he was just foolhardy. Either way, the first-year point guard made what can only be described as an absolute attempt to throw one down on his head. 

Johnson, to his credit, blocked the shot. The elder retained his position on the council of five (the starting lineup). But this may just be the first sign of trouble. How long before White tries to pull his best Vince Carter impression again, turning another unsuspecting teammate into his Frederic Weis? 

And what of the other first-years? We already saw Little blow by sophomore Andrew Platek for an open dunk. Will he too taste blood in the water and try to send one down on top of Luke Maye in practice? Will Rechon Black use that length and versatility to try and preemptively end Kenny Williams, especially given his lowered standing amongst North Carolinians due to what shall be referred to as “the egg incident?"

Something is rotten in the state of North Carolina. Usurpers are afoot. If we don’t watch out, the first-year trio could develop a taste for head-hunting, including members of their own team. 

@bg_keyes

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com