
It's also worth mentioning that during most of Smith's tenure, Carolina played very few true non-conference home games in Carmichael Auditorium. There wasn't much need to figure out who to play in half a dozen preseason games in Chapel Hill. Further, Carolina then was in the habit of playing in Greensboro regularly as well as in various doubleheaders in Charlotte, giving Tar Heels fans in other parts of the state an opportunity to see the team live without stooping to play the in-state schools.
This policy began to relax in the 1990s, largely for the same reason Carolina is playing ECU tomorrow: the emergence of members of the UNC basketball family as coaches at the in-state schools. Carolina played UNC-Asheville during the 1994-95 and 95-96 seasons when they were coached by former Tar Heel assistant and player Randy Wiel, the start of a semi-regular series that has continued since. Then Carolina under Guthridge gave Appalachian State a pair of games when another former player, Buzz Peterson, took over that program.
For a school like App State to get to play Carolina, anywhere, is a coup for that program, and Smith, Guthridge, and now Roy Williams are willing to hand out games to in-state opponents to friendly coaches as not just a goodwill gesture but a sign of solidarity.
ECU is now coached by former Tar Heel guard Jeff Lebo, a three and a half year starter and one of the most fundamentally sound players Smith ever coached. At 6-1 (3-1 vs. Division I opponents), ECU is ranked a respectable (by December ACC opponent standards) #150 in the Sagarin ratings.
The likelihood is they will be 6-2 come Saturday afternoon. If the Pirates play hard and perhaps manage to cause the lunchtime Tar Heel crowd a few uncomfortable moments, Lebo will probably not be too upset.