Ex-UNC Star Rashad McCants Says Tar Heels Can Beat Ole Miss, But Won't Be Easy

TMZ

The University of North Carolina can show people they belong in the NCAA Tournament on Friday by beating Ole Miss ... but it's gonna be a helluva tough game, according to Tar Heels legend Rashad McCants.

Transcript

00:00So, Rashad, Selection Sunday

00:05comes. There's a lot of

00:06naysayers saying you guys don't

00:07belong in there. You clearly go

00:09into the playing game and and I

00:11guess prove prove you do belong

00:13there. Just just your thoughts

00:14heading into tomorrow's opening

00:16round for the for the Heels.

00:18It's a big game. Um like you

00:21said, it was one of those

00:22decisions that was up in the

00:23air. Um a lot of controversy,

00:26strength of schedule, and all

00:27that. Um ironically, I was able

00:29to speak with Hubert before the

00:31season when the guys was

00:32getting um acclimated and um

00:36first time I got to speak to

00:37him. He's very excited. He's

00:38very optimistic about them. So,

00:40um for them to be there is good

00:42testament for his coaching. Um

00:44because you know, he had a lot

00:45of freshmen and and things like

00:46that. So, it's good for them.

00:48I'm sure you're motivated to

00:50see them do well when people

00:51are trying to tear them down.

00:53How much do you think the team

00:54is motivated? You know, going

00:56into this Ole Miss game

00:57Well, it's a lot of

00:58expectations if you really

00:59think about it. Um just with

01:01everybody that came before this

01:03team and um all the

01:05championships that we've won

01:07since then and the landscape now

01:09when you got NIL,

01:10expectations, uh the transfer

01:12portal, things like that can

01:14affect the program drastically

01:16when you don't adjust to the

01:17time. So, I think right now,

01:19it's about trying to figure out

01:20what time you wanna adjust to

01:21and you wanna try to figure out

01:22how to get these kids to your

01:24program. How do you see the

01:25game playing out versus Ole Miss?

01:29You know, just seeing that the

01:32slot wasn't as as deserving as

01:34we, you know, we've gotten, I

01:37think it's gonna be a tough

01:38game. I think it's gonna be a

01:39very tough game. I think

01:40traditionally, we'll we'll edge

01:42out but I think if Ole Miss

01:44shows up to be who they are,

01:45they'll win. How how do you fill

01:48out a bracket? I know, I fill

01:49out a bracket and I'm, you know,

01:51tied to teams that I grew up

01:52rooting for. When you play for a

01:53team and win for a team, how

01:55far do you have the Tar Heels

01:56going in your own bracket? Um,

02:00well, I would say, I'm very

02:02realistic. You know, I don't I

02:05don't see like the Cinderella

02:07matchups being surprises more

02:09than I see number one seed

02:11supposed to be in the final four.

02:14Like, I always go with the

02:15number one seeds all the way up

02:17to the elite eight or the final

02:18four. So, everything in between

02:20is just up in the air and I

02:22I'm really there for it because

02:23it's Martin Madness. That's what

02:25you're supposed to be doing is

02:27upsetting the world. Who do you

02:29see going all the way?

02:32He's turning. I would say

02:35Houston. I say Houston. I'm

02:38giving the edge to Houston but I

02:39see Florida getting there and I

02:41got Alabama getting there. But

02:45it would be more exciting if if

02:46UNC goes on a run and does

02:48something special especially

02:49when they're unexpected. It is

02:52difficult. They don't have the

02:53star power to do it. They don't

02:55they don't even have the

02:56Cinderella energy to do it. You

02:58know, I think when you have

02:59certain teams like if Cooper

03:01Flagg comes back in time, you

03:03can see Duke making a run

03:05because they have the talent to

03:07do so. You know, Carolina don't

03:09have those type of players that

03:10you can rely on to take you over

03:12the top. RJ Davis is good,

03:13right? But he's a little small

03:15and it starts to look a certain

03:17way of style of basketball when

03:19he's just doing it by himself.

03:20You guys are killing it. I see

03:22Gil over your shoulder on a

03:23dartboard behind you. What's it

03:25like? What's it like doing

03:26Gills Arena with the guys? You

03:28guys are having a lot of fun.

03:29Oh man, you want to talk about

03:31changing traditional media,

03:33giving us players a landscape

03:35where we can speak for

03:36ourselves and have fun at the

03:37same time. I think a lot of

03:39people kind of misconstrued the

03:40energy and the landscape of what

03:42we do and how we do it. It's

03:43really how we are in the

03:44locker room and nobody takes

03:46anything serious. We can all

03:47throw jabs and shots and then

03:50still go bowling after.

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