UNC's game with Vanderbilt is top secret

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina's men's basketball team, a Final Four favorite, will play for the first time this season against Vanderbilt -- on Nov. 2 at the Smith Center.

But it's not on the preseason schedule.

You can't buy a ticket. It won't be on TV.

And the score will never be made public -- if one is even kept.

"We can't publicize it, can't let fans in, can't give out any stats,'' said UNC associate athletic director Larry Gallo, who wouldn't even name the opponent, place or date.

So: Shhhhhhh.

Under a strange NCAA rule, Division I teams such as UNC can only scrimmage against other Division I teams if it is done in secret -- doors locked, no media, no fans, no official scoring. Even when it's conducted in a public building.

Typically, the top teams in the nation play two exhibition games against lower-division schools, foreign teams or club squads.

But teams can substitute an "informal practice scrimmage," as it is called in NCAA rules, for a preseason exhibition. The caveat: The only people allowed in are coaches, players and staff members necessary to conduct the workout. Recruits making official visits can also attend.

The (secret) practice rule has been around for about a decade. Wake Forest, for instance, scrimmaged UNC-Greensboro last year and has another conspicuous blank spot on its current preseason schedule. Davidson, which scrimmaged at Texas last season and made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, will make a return trip to Austin in the coming weeks. Vanderbilt has also done it for the past few years.

But the private workout will be a first for the Tar Heels, who are looking to pit All-American Tyler Hansbrough and point guard Ty Lawson against better players than any Division II or III team can provide. Vanderbilt lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season and finished 26-8 under coach Kevin Stallings, a longtime friend of UNC coach Roy Williams.

Practice for NCAA teams officially begins at 5 p.m. today. The Tar Heels open the regular season on Nov. 15.

"[The private scrimmage] gives your guys an opportunity to practice against a top-ranked team, and sometimes to travel, be on the road, to go through the same routine and environment that you hope you're going to see during the regular season,'' said Davidson coach Bob McKillop, whose Southern Conference Wildcats have quietly worked out against a Division I foe for the past six seasons. He said he was not allowed to name the who and when of those opponents.

Why all the the secrecy? That remains unclear. NCAA spokeswoman Gail Dent said in an e-mail: "The motivation of the bylaw is the concern over the demands placed on student-athletes and the games/scrimmages they play."

Exhibition games, she added, are similar to regular-season games which require media, and post- and pregame responsibilities. But not private scrimmages.

That doesn't explain why playing an open exhibition against a Division I team would be any different -- or add any more responsibility for athletes -- than playing an open exhibition against a smaller division team.

The genesis of the NCAA rule is also unclear. But the schools have interpreted it to mean that they can't discuss the stats, publicize the game or disclose the opponents or dates. UNC's Williams was not available for comment, and officials at UNC and Vanderbilt were reluctant to acknowledge anything related to the game for fear of breaking NCAA regulations.

"I love the rule," said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz, whose team privately practiced at UNC-Wilmington last year and has also held private scrimmages with South Carolina in the past. "In fact, it's a great help since we don't have as much practice time as we did several years ago. I think games start too early and practice starts too late in the season."