UNC’s Sterling Manley back at practice but won’t get homecoming against Kentucky
North Carolina forward Sterling Manley, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, has returned to practice — just not in time for an unofficial homecoming when the Tar Heels take on Kentucky Saturday at 2 p.m. in Cleveland.
UNC coach Roy Williams said the 6-foot-11 native of Pickerington, Ohio, still doesn’t have a clear timeline for his return to the lineup. Williams said Manley has yet to participate in a full-court drill, and “I don’t know if we can do anything with him full court.”
Neither Manley nor redshirt freshman guard Anthony Harris have played in a game this season. Harris, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after playing in just five games last season, returned to limited practice in October.
“He and Anthony both haven’t been involved in any full practice in any way shape or form,” Williams told reporters on Friday. “Initially, we were hoping January (for Manley’s return), but I have no idea if that’s going to be legit or not, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
That hasn’t stopped Manley’s teammates from getting excited about the possibilities. Sophomore forward Armando Bacot said even though he’s only been in halfcourt drills, Manley is back to contesting shots at the rim. In his only season uninterrupted by injuries, Manley had 24 blocked shots as a freshman in 2017-18.
“I’m telling you, Sterling’s been great,” Bacot said on a video conference. “He’s going to surprise a lot of people.”
Just not in the same way that Carolina has been surprised the last two weeks. The Heels (4-2) played N.C. Central last week instead of Elon, which shut down basketball activities due to a positive test, in a game that wasn’t finalized until three days before UNC’s 73-67 win.
The Heels were originally supposed to play Ohio State as part of the CBS Classic. On Wednesday, the opponents got flipped around and the Wildcats (1-4) were paired with UNC, the Buckeyes paired with UCLA. According to the release from organizers, it was done to better align the COVID-19 testing protocols of the schools.
“It was upsetting a little bit,” Williams said. “We’ve got to understand this is not normal times, but I think this decision might have been able to be made a few days earlier.”
The change brought a shrug of the shoulders from Bacot, who says the Heels only turn their attention to their opponent two days before the game, so it wasn’t a big deal from a preparation standpoint.
“Nothing’s normal now,” Bacot said. “I mean, everything is just crazy with just the scheduling and just the different protocols and things like that. We obviously wanted Ohio State just based off of what happened last year.”
The Buckeyes beat UNC 74-49 in the Dean E. Smith Center last season. Carolina hasn’t played UK since it lost 80-72 in the CBS Classic in 2018.
UNC vs. Kentucky
When: 2 p.m., Saturday
Where: CBS Sports Classic, Cleveland, Ohio
Watch: CBS
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 4:10 PM.