Seeing double at UNC

At North Carolina, freshman basketball players aren't allowed to speak to the media until after their first game.

That's been the rule since former coach Dean Smith couldn't break 90 on the golf course.

Not even George Karl and Vince Carter, who might as well have been handing out business cards that read "Have Mouth, Will Chat," dared breach the gag rule that since has been extended by Bill Guthridge, Matt Doherty and now Roy Williams.

Never mind that many of today's college freshmen have Web pages, Facebook addresses, MySpace sites and exchange Twitter messages with half the northern hemisphere. If you are a freshman basketball player at Carolina, there's always a slight chance that you'll say something terribly interesting: "I'm pretty sure I've got more game than Michael Jordan" or maybe "Duke ain't squat anymore."

Once the freshmen are allowed to be quoted, they've been so schooled in what to say that their first comment is something along the lines of "Wow, what a great, great win! For me to get in the game and for us to beat a great team like Florida South Beach, that's just the greatest! Oh yeah, I owe everything to my great teammates. Make sure you get that in the story, OK?"

But this year, there might be a dab of logic to the freshman quote quarantine. The Tar Heels have rounded up a couple of twins -- David and Travis Wear -- who could create all sorts of confusion for the media.

For one thing, they look alike. Well, duh, Tudor. Actually, the official roster lists one -- Travis, I think -- as 10 pounds heavier than the other. But when you're almost 7 feet tall, which they are, 10 pounds can get overlooked easier than an extra ornament on a crowded Christmas tree.

Travis is slated to wear jersey No. 43, David No. 34, but we all know what'll happen eventually with that. One will get in first-half foul trouble while he's having a hot game, and when the team returns from intermission, David will have on 43 and Travis 34. Even ol' eagle-eyes himself, referee Ted Valentine, won't know the difference. Some frustrated coach -- Gary Williams probably -- will be screaming so loud for a fingerprint specialist that Teddy will T him up and Carolina will go on a 15-point run.

In postgame interviews, David will start pretending to be Travis and vice versa until it won't be long until you pick the morning paper and read, "I thought the key to our win was when we got inside their zone," said the Wear wearing No. 34.

The ACC just doesn't have much experience in dealing with twins. N.C. State football had the popular Buckey boys -- quarterback Dave and receiver Don -- in the 1970s. But it's different in football, where fans don't see a player's face much in the first place.

Clemson had the Grants -- Harvey and Horace -- but that sorted itself out fairly quickly when Harvey transferred after one season.

But it can be confusing enough even when brothers are not twins.

Years ago, the Tigers had so many basketball players named Mahaffey -- Donnie, Richie, Randy, Tommy -- that it was borderline ridiculous. But because it was Clemson basketball, no one bothered to pay all that much attention to who was doing what.

To this day, I still don't know for certain that former UNC big men Joe and Jeff Wolf actually are different people. Jeff came along first. He wasn't gone very long before Joe mysteriously showed up, and with a lot more offensive skills, which we all know is just the sort of thing that can improve with age.

Come to think of it, the Wears have an uncanny resemblance to the Wolfs.

Hmm.

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