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Countdown to Tipoff: North Carolina Tar Heels

Tar Heels Notes

• ACC Coaches and The Blue Ribbon Panel selected Xylina McDaniel to their Newcomer Watch List.
• North Carolina freshman Xylina McDaniel ranks No. 26 according to ESPN's HoopGurlz's analysis of incoming recruiting classes.
• North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell is the second-winningest active coach in Division I with 879 career wins. Hatchell also won her 600th career game at Carolina during the 2011-12 season at Virginia Tech on Jan. 19, joining Kay Yow and Debbie Ryan as coaches with at least 600 wins at an ACC school.
• This season's squad figures to be one of the youngest in program history with just three seniors and no juniors on the roster. The Tar Heels welcome five freshmen as well as a sophomore transfer in Erika Johnson, who comes to Chapel Hill from Cal.
• UNC opens the 2012-13 season in the Preseason WNIT. The Tar Heels are looking for their second consecutive Preseason WNIT title - UNC defeated Western Carolina, VCU, Xavier and No. 2 Oklahoma to win the crown in 2008.
• Despite a rash of injuries that was possibly the worst in the history of the program, Carolina still won 20 games in 2011-12, including 10 over ACC opponents. The 20 wins gave UNC its 23rd season with at least 20 wins and its 18th under Hatchell.
• Senior guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt will enter her final season at Carolina as the team's starting point guard. A versatile player who has seen time at no fewer than four positions during her career and the team's best on-ball defender, Ruffin-Pratt will be asked to run the Tar Heel offense in 2012-13.
• Senior Waltiea Rolle is in the best shape of her career after a strong offseason of conditioning. The Nassau, Bahamas, center missed the first semester of the 2011-12 season after giving birth to her first child, a baby girl. Rolle currently ranks fifth in school history in blocked shots and has two of the top 10 single-season totals at UNC.
• Senior Krista Gross spent a second consecutive summer training and playing with the national team of Finland, her mother's native country. Gross, who played with the team in 2011 as well as with a junior squad at the World University Games, holds dual citizenship that allows her to compete for Finland.
• Carolina took its fourth international tour over the summer, traveling to Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The Tar Heels were 3-0 on the trip with wins over club teams in Prague and Vienna and the Hungary U20 National Team.

Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina Head Coach

Sylvia Hatchell enters her 27th season at the helm for North Carolina, and has guided the Tar Heels to 14 ACC Tournament finals in the past 19 seasons and eight ACC titles ... In the past 21 seasons, North Carolina has received 18 bids to the NCAA Tournament ... Hatchell directed Carolina to its fourth consecutive 30-win season and a flawless 14-0 ACC showing in 2008, and guided the team to a 28-7 overall mark in 2009 … The Tar Heels have recorded 20 or more wins 17 times over the past 20 seasons ... Hatchell guided Carolina to ACC Tournament titles in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 ... Hatchell, who was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in 2009, became just the fifth Division I women's basketball coach to reach 700-career wins, a feat that came on Jan. 15, 2006 versus NC State, and reached her 800-career win on Jan. 11, 2009 versus NC State, a feat that only four head coaches in Division I history have accomplished ... In addition, Hatchell is the third-winningest active coach in the nation and has been named national coach of the year three times and has led teams to at least 20 wins 27 times, fifth-most nationally ... In 1994, Hatchell guided the Tar Heels to 33 wins and the NCAA Division I title, the first NCAA title won by an ACC school ... Hatchell was named USA Today's National Coach of the Year in 1994 and ACC Coach of the Year in 1997 ... Hatchell was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on June 12, 2004 ... Prior to coming to Chapel Hill, she coached 11 seasons at Francis Marion, where she led the 1986 team to a 36-2 record and the NAIA national championship ... Her 1982 team won the AIAW national championship in the small college division ... Hatchell has accumulated six gold medals and one silver in international competition as either a head or an assistant coach for U.S. women's teams ... Hatchell graduated cum laude from Carson-Newman, where she played basketball and volleyball ... She was named Carson-Newman Alumnus of the Year in 1994 and inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1999.