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UNC's Nassir Little has flu-like symptoms, threatening his NCAA tournament breakout

Nassir Little missed North Carolina’s NCAA tournament practice Thursday with flu-like symptoms and could miss the team’s Sweet 16 showdown with Auburn on Friday.

It’s a blow to Little’s breakout NCAA tournament campaign and bad news for a North Carolina team looking to make its third Final Four in four seasons.

Head coach Roy Williams didn’t sound optimistic about Little’s chances of playing when talking with reporters.

“I didn't bring him over here to the arena with us,” Williams said. “I have no idea. I can say it's hard to make a 180-turn because there's no way in the world he could play if we're playing today. He's sitting there and he has a plate in front of him. He felt -- looked to me like it was hard to pick up the fork. And the last time I looked, it wasn't that heavy. I don't foresee making a decision until game time.

“But if he's like he is now, there's no way he can play.”

The freshman forward is officially listed as questionable.

Little appeared poised for tournament breakout

Nassir Little arrived at North Carolina last fall with great expectations.

If you didn’t notice, it’s because that arrival was drowned out by the deafening noise of Duke’s vaunted freshman trio of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish.

But the outlook was enormous for Little, an ultra-athletic wing and a projected top-five NBA draft pick coming out of high school.

Until recently, he has fallen well short of that promise he carried with him to Chapel Hill.

Nassir Little could miss Friday's Sweet 16 matchup with Auburn. (Getty)
Nassir Little could miss Friday's Sweet 16 matchup with Auburn. (Getty)

The hype around Little

While Duke rightfully received the lion’s share of the national hype for a historic recruiting class, it was Little who won McDonald’s All-American Game MVP honors in the same game Williamson, Barrett and Reddish played in.

Not since Harrison Barnes in 2010 had North Carolina head coach Roy Williams landed a recruiting whale like Little. As an academic scandal engulfed UNC athletics, the elite NBA prospects that were once mainstays in the program looked elsewhere.

UNC fell behind rivals in recruiting battles

Players like John Wall and Brandon Ingram who may have once considered wearing Carolina blue ended up at UNC’s fiercest rivals as John Calipari built a recruiting powerhouse at Kentucky and Mike Krzyzewski started landing the one-and-done prospects that had previously eschewed Duke culture.

UNC was lagging. Williams was still landing four- and five-star talent, but the elite prospects went elsewhere.

It may have benefited the program in the long run, as the kinds of players choosing UNC stuck around for three and four years and became the core of Final Four and championship teams. Think Joel Berry and Justin Jackson — not Anthony Davis and Jayson Tatum.

But make no mistake. Williams recruited and UNC craved the top-level players that ended up down the road in Durham.

Little choosing Chapel Hill marked a turning of the page. The risk of fallout from the academic scandal had largely passed, and North Carolina basketball remained the destination it had always been.

Nassir Little is starting to look like the elite prospect he arrived as in Chapel Hill, which is bad news for the NCAA tournament field. (Getty)
Nassir Little is starting to look like the elite prospect he arrived as in Chapel Hill, which is bad news for the NCAA tournament field. (Getty)

Little comes off the bench

But when the season started, something strange happened. Little couldn’t crack the starting lineup.

Veterans Luke Maye, Cam Johnson and Kenny Williams had three starting positions on lockdown. Sophomore Garrison Brooks joined Maye in the front court.

But it was another freshman — Coby White — who earned and thrived in a starting role. White was no slouch. He also arrived as a five-star prospect with NBA aspirations. He just wasn’t a top-line prospect like Little.

Little’s play, bench role draw criticism

As Little came off the bench, UNC struggled. Carolina lost to a mediocre Texas team in Las Vegas and looked completely outmatched in early season losses to Michigan and Kentucky.

It prompted questions for Williams about why Little wasn’t starting.

“Think about this, if I'm holding the guy back, why am I playing Coby?” Williams said after the loss to Kentucky. “I mean, come on. If I'm holding the guy back, why am I playing Coby?

"The guy that is playing in front of [Little] makes six out of eight from the 3-point line and was the ACC Player of the Week last week, so that's all I'm going to say about some report," Williams continued, referencing Johnson, who starts ahead of Little.

Criticism over Nassir Little's bench role was a source of early-season frustration for Roy Williams. (Getty)
Criticism over Nassir Little's bench role was a source of early-season frustration for Roy Williams. (Getty)

UNC turns season around with Little on the bench

Since its early struggles, North Carolina has largely looked like a national title contender again. The Tar Heels finished 16-2 in ACC play, winning a share of the regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament in the process.

Meanwhile, White has played himself from a fringe first-round NBA prospect to a likely lottery pick. UNC has won despite inconsistent play from Little, who’s averaged 10 points and 4.7 rebounds off the bench while shooting an underwhelming 28 percent from 3-point distance.

Carolina was winning and didn’t need Little in a starring role to do so.

Little breaks out under bright NCAA lights

But last week, something appeared to click for Little in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. He showed off the unstoppable athleticism and scoring ability that followed him from high school but hadn’t showed up consistently at the next level.

Against Iona in the the first round, Little hit 9-of-13 shots to score 19 point in just 17 minutes off the bench. The outmatched Gaels had no answer for Little’s prowess at the rim or his mid-range game.

But that was against a No. 16 seed. How would little perform as the competition got tougher?

Nassir Little took on a starring role in UNC's first two NCAA tournament games. (AP)
Nassir Little took on a starring role in UNC's first two NCAA tournament games. (AP)

Washington got that answer in the form of another dominant performance as UNC advanced to the Sweet 16 in an 81-59 win.

Little tied Maye for the team scoring lead against the Huskies, netting 20 points in 21 minutes in a remarkable display of efficiency that saw him hit 8-of-11 field goals while adding seven rebounds and a block. As Washington threatened to make it a game late, it was Little who fended off the rally in a crucial second-half stretch.

Little’s illness a potential big blow

This was the Little that UNC expected when Roy Williams secured his commitment.

It’s a big blow for the Tar Heels if he can’t play Friday again Auburn. Instead of having an NBA prospect reaching his stride at the perfect time leading the team’s second unit, they may be completely without his services.

The Tar Heels learned to win this season without depending on significant contributions from their star freshman and became a title contender as Little settled for a secondary role.

It’s looking likely they’ll have to learn to win without him if they intend to advance.

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