Three things we learned at Late Night with Roy

1. P.J. Hairston impresses Roy Williams, and the crowd.

There’s no telling when P.J. Hairston will take the court in the regular season, but Friday night he played and danced alongside his teammates during Late Night with Roy. His entrance was much less electric than the other Tar Heels, but a simple hand over his heart and high-fiving the crowd gathered at the stage was enough to send the Smith Center crowd to a cheering frenzy.

The understated entrance caught the eye of coach Roy Williams, who applauded his guard for entering without “gyrations.”

Hairston shied away from the spotlight during the skits and dancing section of the evening, but once the Blue and White scrimmage started up, he took the spotlight and netted the first points of the game, sinking a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc.

Williams said after the scrimmage that he was closer to determining the number of games Hairston and senior guard Leslie McDonald would miss for their summer activities, but there are still things that need to play out before the final decision can be made. The NCAA will have a hand in determining the punishment for both Hairston and McDonald, who got into some hot water for his involvement with a designer mouth guard company.

2. There’s still no set starting lineup

Williams told reporters at media day on Oct. 16 that only two of his players had secured a starting spot — Marcus Paige and James Michael McAdoo. After the Blue and White scrimmage, Williams is no closer to determining the final three starters. In the scrimmage, Hairston, J.P. Tokoto, Nate Britt, Isaiah Hicks and Joel James started for the Blue team while McAdoo, Paige, Leslie McDonald, Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks started for the White. After the scrimmage Paige said that it’s still a toss up to determine the starting center between Meeks and James, and added that he changes his mind about who has the edge on a daily basis.

3. Kennedy Meeks: slimming down and doing big things

The freshman big man came to UNC weighing 317 pounds, but after intense workouts he’s dropped down to 284. In his unofficial Dean Dome debut, Meeks earned a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. James told the media after the scrimmage that Meeks has been doing extra conditioning to enable him to get up and down the court during games. James added that he can sympathize with Meeks, having undergone a similar bodily transformation from his freshman year to the present.

And a bonus thing we learned:

J.P. Tokoto sat out during the secret scrimmage on Sunday, and he will also miss the exhibition game against UNC-Pembroke on Nov. 1 after participating in an NCAA-sanctioned Milwaukee summer league without filling out all of the proper paperwork in time. He eventually filled out the correct forms and had them processed, but Williams made the decision to sit him for the two games. He’ll be back in action for the Nov. 8 season-opener against Oakland.