Drew II's move makes no sense

Ok, I get it that Larry Drew II didn't like losing his starting position and I get it that his minutes were down about six minutes a game from last year. But quitting in February with your team in a virtual tie with Duke for No. 1 in the ACC?

He has to sit out a year to play at another Division I school regardless of whether he quits now or at the end of the season. Plus, he had been playing well coming off the bench. I remember John Havlicek was an all-star as the Celtics' sixth man a couple of seasons. There's something special about being able to come off the bench and excel. And Drew was doing that.

While he scored no points against Boston College the other day, he dished out nine assists and had only one turnover. That's a valuable contribution. He also was one of the strongest defensive players on the team. However, he didn't have real strength - both in character to stand up to his father, who very well may have made the decision that he leave, or the thoughtfulness to discuss the possibility with his coach before making the decision.

By leaving now, rather than at the end of the season, he has forfeited his opportunity to be part of the Carolina family for the rest of his life. I felt a little of that feeling just as sports editor of The Daily Tar Heel when I was in college. I occasionally traveled with the team, including to the Final Four twice - once on the team plane and once with the cheerleaders.

To give up that connection and cameraderie for life to simply sit out the next two months makes little to no sense. And it certainly won't make him a better player to not be playing those games.

Further, word is that his teammates didn't know about the decision until ESPN broke the story. Heck, we may have had it up on capitalsportsnc.com before all his teammates knew.

This leads me to believe there is more to this story than just the loss of a starting position. I'm not going to speculate now about what that could be. But it does appear that, as my mom used to say, "he wanted to show his rear end." He wanted to make a spectacle out of himself and the situation, possibly to hurt Coach Roy Williams, his teammates and/or the Carolina program.

Or maybe his father did.