Norfolk Christian star says he will play at UNC

NORFOLK

James McAdoo said Sunday evening he'll play basketball at North Carolina.

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound McAdoo, who is just beginning his junior year at Norfolk Christian, told Tar Heels coach Roy Williams of his intentions over the weekend, ending what had become a three-way race.

McAdoo, who had narrowed his choices to UNC, Duke and Virginia, was in Chapel Hill, N.C., over the weekend to attend a charity pro alumni game at sold-out Dean Smith Center. The game kicked off North Carolina's celebration of its 100th season of basketball.

McAdoo and Williams met while he was on campus. Their conversation sealed the deal.

But all along, UNC had been the front-runner.

"Even if you take basketball away from the equation, I'd still love to go to that school," said the 16-year-old McAdoo, who starred on the USA Basketball Men's Developmental Team that won the FIBA Americas U16 championships this past summer. "At North Carolina, basketball is a brotherhood."

McAdoo's summer has been a quiet one: He tore the labrum in his left shoulder during the FIBA Americas tournament and the injury required surgery. McAdoo's mother Janet said he suffered a "45 percent tear of the labrum, not a full tear, and he's ahead of schedule in his recovery."

He expects a full recovery by December. The Men's Developmental Team has scheduled a mini-camp the second weekend of October and McAdoo will likely attend, although any participation will be limited.

A first-team All-Tidewater selection as a sophomore,

McAdoo averaged 25.2 points and 11 rebounds this past season and has been rated a top-five recruit in the class of 2011 by a variety of national scouting publications.

"We told James that if he was sure about where he wanted to play, then go for it and make the commitment," Janet McAdoo said. "This should relieve a lot of recruiting pressure.

"He couldn't go wrong with any of his final three choices. But now, he can relax."

Rich Radford, (757) 446-2463, rich.radford@pilotonline.com