Lawson’s status still up in the air

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Call it the “Toe Jam Blues.”

Looks like it could be a game-time decision this evening whether or not North Carolina’s starting point guard Ty Lawson will play against LSU in the NCAA tournament’s second round.

Lawson missed the ACC tournament and Thursday’s NCAA opener against Radford due to a sprained right toe. Lawson’s toe has been the talk of the town all week, just as it was in Atlanta last week.

“The plan is to have him practice a little or a lot, just depends on how well it goes,” Carolina coach Roy Williams said prior to Friday’s closed practice. “That will be the first test. Then at 11:30 [Friday night] we’ll have the second test. Because by that time we’ll know whether there’s going to be any swelling or not.”

Williams said he probably won’t decide until game time, but that if Lawson can play, he’ll play.

Coach K vs. Coach B

Back in the early Mike Krzyzewski years at Duke, Coach K interviewed Rick Barnes (then at George Mason) for a vacancy on the Blue Devils staff.

“I remember [Krzyzewski] telling me to come down,” Barnes said after Friday’s practice at the Greensboro Coliseum. “He wanted me to be casual. What I remember is he and Mickie (Krzyewski’s wife) taking me to a barbecue place.”

At the time, Krzyzewski told Barnes he was concerned about Barnes returning to the state where he grew up and how people were going to be tugging at him constantly, which might distract from his job. Barnes assured him that being from Hickory, that he never spent much time in Durham and told Krzyzewski that not that many people in Durham even knew him.

“All at once, I kid you not, someone from Hickory walked by the table we were eating and said, ‘Rick Barnes, what are you doing here?’” Barnes laughed. “And I remember looking like, ‘I don’t know you.’”

Anyway, Barnes didn’t get the job. Coach K hired Bob Bender instead.

But the two have known each other ever since and obviously coached against one another when Barnes was head coach at Clemson. Krzyzewski holds an 8-3 head-to-head edge over Barnes heading into tonight’s game.

Krzyzewski said before taking the court to practice Friday that he didn’t remember much about the interview, but said he really likes Barnes.

“He’s beaten me enough times since then to make up for it,” Coach K chuckled.

Faces in the crowd

Dirk Katstra, executive director of the Virginia Athletics Foundation, was in the Greensboro Coliseum for Thursday’s games. While there were media reports that UVa athletics director Craig Littlepage and executive associate AD Jon Oliver would be at the Minnesota vs. Texas game, neither were spotted.

However, Katstra, who also has the title of Associate AD for External Affairs, took time out to go visit with former Virginia All-American Ralph Sampson, sitting with the Minnesota crowd. Sampson’s son, Ralph III, is a starter for the Golden Gophers.

Never forgotten

Ralph Sampson, the greatest player in UVa history, still draws quite a crowd any time he walks into a basketball venue.

The three-time national player of the year was surrounded with hoops fans requesting autographs and photo opportunities. Sampson graciously granted every request while rooting on his son, Ralph III.

Home sweet home

Asked if he felt North Carolina had an unfair advantage by playing in a tournament site that’s supposed to be neutral, LSU coach Trent Johnson said he didn’t have a problem with that part of the process.

“Yeah, they’ve earned it,” Johnson said of the top-seeded Tar Heels. “They’ve been one of the most dominant teams in college basketball throughout the year, so I think they need to be rewarded.

“There will be 20,000 plus people here I guess cheering for Carolina,” Johnson said, “but the difference in the game is going to be Ellington and Hansbrough and how we offset this or that.”

For the record, Carolina is 4-0 in NCAA Tournament games played in Greensboro and 26-1 in tournament games played in the state of North Carolina.

Duke, which is also at this site, is 11-0 in Greensboro and 29-4 in NCAA games played within the state.

Free throws

If Carolina beats LSU, the Tar Heels will tie Kentucky for the most victories in NCAA tournament history (UNC is 97-39; UK is 98-44). ... In a dozen NCAA games, Tyler Hansbrough has scored 242 points and needs 18 to move into a tie for 20th place on the all-time NCAA scoring list, but can crack the top 10 with 38 more points in this year’s tournament. ... Hansbrough, who broke the ACC career scoring record in Thursday’s opening round victory over Radford, got a congratulatory call from former record-holder, former Duke star J.J. Redick (that night). ... UNC coach Roy Williams said he wasn’t surprised because he has always had great respect for Redick. Williams said that when Hansbrough broke the Tar Heels’ scoring record that Williams got a similar call from Charles Barkley. “So, there are some good people out there,” Williams said.