Change is rarely easy. For my part, I avoid it whenever possible — unplanned changes cause an uncomfortable static in the brain that makes it hard to focus. Unfortunately for me, college sports as a whole has been in a protracted period of change, and the shifting faces of the sports I grew up loving no longer feel as familiar. Rosters, seemingly all new each year, are harder to get excited for, and any player I look forward to watching in the years to come always carries an implied caveat of “…wherever they end up next season.”
Tonight, for only the second time, the Tar Heels will take the floor under the command of Coach Michael Malone, a jarringly new face on the sidelines.