UNC celebrates Late Night with Roy

North Carolina celebrated the start of a season with aspirations of a national championship during an annual Late Night with Roy event Friday night at the Smith Center.

It was the first chance for fans to get a glimpse of the 2015-16 Tar Heels and as soon as the doors opened fans ran to grab the closest seats. They were shown the lighter side of head coach Roy Williams and his team as the players danced and sang.

Former Chapel Hill guard and current TNT commentator Kenny Smith served as host.

“The last time I did this we won the national championship,” Smith said. The Tar Heels defeated Illinois in the NCAA Division I championship in 2005.

After performances by the Tar Heels, they played a friendly scrimmage between the white and blue team. The White team led by Marcus Paige, Justin Jackson and Nate Britt beat the Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks-led Blue team 41-32.

This year’s team is expected to go far into March and maybe into April, as they were picked No. 1 in a few pre-season polls.

The Tar Heels return four starters from last season, including seniors Paige and Johnson, and all of their key reserves.

While the game was just a scrimmage, junior forward Isaiah Hicks looked good on the court. He led all the scorers with 14 points.

“Isaiah has had a good preseason,” Williams said. “He’s worked his tail off in the offseason and we need him to score, take the ball to the basketball and be a lot more agressive than he’s been in the past.”

Expectations are high for sophomore forward Jackson and classmates Joel Berry and Theo Pinson, both of whom went through injuries that hampered their progress as freshmen.

Pinson could start this season in replace of J.P. Tokoto, who left for the NBA in the offseason.

Pinson scored five quick points to start the scrimmage. He said his knee is feeling much better and he started going full court in practice two weeks ago.

“It’s been a battle, just staying patient not trying to rush back and get on the court,” he said. “Just thinking about long term. It’s a long season so I want to be healthy throughout the whole season.”

The event also brought a tribute to ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, who died last January and who served as the host for Late Night with Roy for 10 years, starting in 2001.

“When I think of Late Night with Roy, I don’t think of Roy,” Williams said. “I think of Stuart Scott. One night he said some very personal things to me and I told him how I felt about him and it was one of the neatest feelings for two macho kind of guys to say that kind of thing.

“And he was a family guy. But he was a North Carolina basketball kind of guy.”

ESPN’s Sage Steele appeared at Friday night’s event. She was a close friend of Scott’s and said he meant the world to her.

She said she got to know Stuart not only as a colleague but as friend.

She recalled the day she moved from Connecticut to Arizona, and her young son was sad to leave his best friend.

“He was sobbing and Stuart was there and saw my son and sat on the porch with him for 20 minutes,” Steele said. “Because he moved when he was about the same age and knew what it was like to leave your best friend when you’re a 10 year old boy. Stuart was in a lot of pain that day and he took the time to do that for my son and for me.

“So I remember the personal stuff,” she said through tears.

The highlight of the night was when Williams attempted to hit the Quan, a popular dance that has gone viral recently.

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 10:02 PM with the headline "UNC celebrates Late Night with Roy."